Remember the movie City Slickers starring Billy Crystal? I loved that movie! We had the chance to live real life City Slickers in Alzada, Montana. You probably have never heard of Alzada. There is no national park in Alzada, but Ken’s brother, Jake, is a real-life cowboy in Alzada and we had the opportunity to get a peek into his life on the ranch. We parked our camper right on the ranch. Higgins was in all his glory running wild and free with Jake’s dog, Sarge.
The first day ended up being too rainy and wet to go out on the ranch so we did some sightseeing. Jake took us to Devils Tower National Monument, the first National Monument established in 1906 by Theodore Roosevelt. The tower is an amazing geological feature that rises up out of the surrounding prairie. Hundreds of parallel cracks make it a popular place to mountain climb. Unfortunately because of the weather there were no climbers. Scientists believe that it was formed by magma which cooled underground and was later exposed from erosion. We did the 1.8 mile hike around Devils Tower. When we reached the 1/2 way sign, the downpour and thunder started! We made it back to the van a little wet!!
The second day we toured the south ranch and spent time with the wonderfully kind family who owns the Ranch, the Arpans. We met the horses, got a tour of Brandon and Sammy’s Yurt (amazing!), the boys took some side-by-side rides, and we ended the day with a cookout and bonfire with the family.
Sunday dawned with sunshine and we headed out to the north ranch! I know my description will not capture the day, but I will do my best. We had an absolute blast! We drove 20 minutes north, toured the calving barn, hopped on side-by-sides and went out to the pasture! A little perspective, the ranch is 37,000 acres! It is mind-blowing! We went to the pasture where the cows were and started driving them down to the corrals. Oh my goodness! What fun! Jake was on a four-wheeler with his dog Sarge doing his job, Grant and Miles were with Sammy, and Charlie and I were with Ken! Between our 3 vehicles we moved the cows into the corrals. I was laughing with excitement the entire time! Once we got the cows in the corral, the ranchers separated the male calves, loaded them on a truck and took them to town to be weighed for selling.
After the truck headed to town, Jake and Sammy gave us a 2 hour tour of the ranch! Trust me, it was amazing! The views were spectacular! We laughed, we learned, and we came home exhausted! We loved seeing Uncle Jake doing the thing that he was created to do! He was in his element! We vowed to stop begging him to move back to Ohio because he was made to be a rancher! 🙂Â
It was a really sweet visit. The boys loved playing with the two grandchildren and lots of games of Charades with Mr. and Mrs. Arpan. Tate adored spending time with Mrs. Arpan and her daughter and granddaughter while we explored the north ranch. Their hospitality was second to none. We had a great time catching up with Jake and getting a small glimpse into his life! This is a stop that we will never forget!
