The Ranch At Rock Creek

To say we had never experienced family time like this is an understatement. My fascination with the Wild West and ranch life had put The Ranch at Rock Creek on my bucket list but I didn’t imagine getting to Montana any time soon. With the help from the team at Mr & Mrs Smith Hotels this was about to change....

The allure of the Wild West had been calling for some time and due to a fortunate state of events we found ourselves heading in that direction this September. We had gone as far as Yellowstone and I could literally finger walk there on the map in one step - I couldn’t let it go. What’s another 4hrs on the road when we had literally been driving for a month?

Driving over the border from Wyoming it was as clear as the crystal clear pastel sky above us; we were in Big Sky Country now. I remember everyone was asleep including a very hung-over co-pilot and I literally gasped out loud to no one. It was like drinking a glass of iced water too fast and being short of breath. The sky rolled on, so open so crystal and a shade of blue I had not seen before. It was as vast as I was small and I felt in that moment truly still, and so grateful for this beautiful planet.

As I drove through towns like Anaconda (collecting treasures from the gun toting locals), Butte and around Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Park I was in heaven watching ranch after ranch roll on by. It was exactly how I’d imagined, all I needed now was an encounter with Tristan from Legends of the Fall and my Montana montage would be solidified.

Lucky for us, even though The Ranch At Rock Creek is five star, the attitude is not and we were welcomed with open arms. There we were; a bleary eyed Sam, kids still in their pyjamas with pancakes stuck to their onesies, and car that was full to the brim with a very un-classy assortment of cargo. As Manpreet, our incredibly patient host waited for us to collect toys, laundry, cameras, artwork and old pancakes I knew the bucket list was about to get ticked.

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