What I Miss About Montana

My sister and I decided on a road trip to see family this past weekend. Road tripping with 3 kids all under the age of 3 can be fun and definitely a lot of work. We made it though back to Nana and Papa’s (as the grandkids like to call them) here in Montana.

We left warmer temps, and were greeted with blue skies, the bright warm sun and a frosty chill. Every time we come home we discuss what we miss about Montana and growing up here. I can’t help but feel a little bit of homesickness whenever we are gone for too long. The trip always seems so short, but this time around we will be in Montana for a week.

It’s always funny to me that no matter how long it’s been since we’ve been back home, nothing seems to change. It’s almost as if we were never gone. There’s so much about Montana I miss, especially while growing up here. So much I took for granted. If you’ve never been, you have to go, for a variety of reasons. It’s a gorgeous state, and it’s not nicknamed the Big Sky State and God’s Country for nothing. 😉

I was born and raised in Montana, and only left when I graduated high school to attend college. I thought I would eventually find my way back to start a family after graduating, but then I met my one and only and fell in love with the Pacific Northwest.

Nothing will ever compare to my stomping grounds in Montana though and it will be forever my “home.” For a variety of reasons I miss this great state. So I thought I would share some sappy thoughts on Montana, because I am feeling a little emotional today 😉

10 Things I Miss About Montana

1. The Big Blue Sky – It’s true, Montana is truly the Big Sky State. You’ll see when you visit. There’s no blue, like the blue skies in Montana. Living in the PNW was tough the first couple of years, because it was so much more gray, and even when it was blue skies and sunny, it was never sunny and blue skies like Montana. We know how to do blue skies.
   
2. Small Town USA – The Miranda Lambert “Famous in a Small Town” song really holds true here. Everyone dies famous in a small town. You can’t go anywhere without running into someone you know, and you feel like you know everyone; even Jimmy’s uncles wife’s grandma’s nephew’s girlfriend….oh yeah I forgot all about her. Everyone is important. There’s more cows than people in the state of Montana, and tons of little towns. You get the picture.
   
3. Peace and Solitude – Growing up on a ranch miles and miles away from the nearest big city, and a 15 miles from our high school and nearest convenience store, made for lots of quiet. Stop lights don’t exist where I roamed and played, and traffic was never an issue. It was just rolling hills and wildlife.
4. Backroads – The best place to run, especially if you needed a good hill workout. Back roads could get you anywhere and everywhere, and you didn’t need a license to drive them. In fact, I had my first car accident before I even had my drivers license. I was 12. 
5. No Traffic – There’s no such thing as rush hour in Montana. Getting from one end of time to another only took 15 minutes in what we called the big city. Getting from one end of town from another where I attended school maybe took all of 2 minutes.
   
6. Family – Most of my family lives here in Montana, so whenever we had any holiday dinner or birthday dinner, both sides of my parent’s family was involved, and it was always a big celebration. 25 adults for Christmas plus the handfuls of kids was common.
7. Hiking – There are so many great places to hike. I am sure every state has great trails, but I am bias when it comes to hiking in Montana. The views are always breathtaking.
   
8. Stars – I never realized how much I loved the dark, starry nights until I moved to the PNW. There’s too many street lights to see stars, or it’s always too cloudy. I took for granted all the starry nights in Montana. I just thought I would never have to go without seeing stars I guess.
9. Less Rushed and Simple – Maybe it’s because there’s no big city’s in Montana, so life seems so much more simple and less rushed. It doesn’t seem like everyone’s always in a hurry, rude, and short. There’s more conversations with others, complete strangers (if there’s such a thing in Montana). You learn to live a simple, care free life. Probably because the weather’s so unpredictable, you just learn to go with it.
   
10. Friendly People – Maybe this goes back to small town USA. Everyone waves at everyone when driving by, and no one feels like a stranger. There’s just a feeling of safety in Montana. The small communities are always banding together to help others out, families in need, funding the public pool or the library, funeral costs. the local church etc.

I am sure we can all feel a little nostalgia when it comes to home. Maybe even more so if it’s small town USA. I guess I felt a little sappy today, along with some Montana pride. Sometimes there’s really no place like home. I love coming home and feeling like I was never gone. It will forever be where I call home…….Montana!!

Now I need to grab some hot tea or maybe a matcha latte to warm up and a Kleenex, because my run left me numb and Montana has me sappy again. 😉

Until Next Time Be Whole and Be Fit

What do you miss about home? Where do you call home?