Somewhere with Katie

In the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz,” Dorothy Gale (the main character) coined the phrase that “there’s no place like home.” Although I would agree in some ways, I have to say that I have never been somewhere that speaks to my soul more than Montana. From the moment I first stepped foot in Missoula in 2016 I felt at home. My grandma whom I was incredibly close to was a Montana native, born and raised there. That is likely part of it. However, there is also something so special about Montana skies that I have not been able to find anywhere else.

Montana is often called “God’s Country” and “Big Sky Country” and both names are incredibly fitting. Montana is the most gorgeous state I have ever been to, hands down. I have visited the state 4 times, twice with family, twice on my own driving through as a social worker. I have seen it mainly in autumn and late winter/early spring and every single time it is beautiful.

My grandma spent the majority of her youth and young adult years in Deer Lodge and Helmville, Montana. To this day when I go to Montana I can feel her all around me.

In August of last year my family and I visited Montana again to go view my grandma’s land and once again saw the most beautiful landscapes. We stayed in Helmville specifically. The weather was absolutely beautiful and everything was just as gorgeous as I remembered it. One thing that made this trip really special is I was able to experience some of processes that our family friends who have a cattle farming business do! That’s right, for those of you who are Yellowstone fans… I got a taste of the cattle farming life!

I even got the opportunity to ride on the back of a 4×4 with our family friend Randy while he was herding the cattle. I got to watch his handy dandy sidekick herding dogs help him too!

The area in Montana I stay when I visit my family is incredibly rural and there is really only one restaurant in the entire town of Helmville called the Copper Queen Saloon. They have delicious food, my favorite item is an appetizer which is the fried pickles with homemade ranch dressing. You cannot go wrong!

One of my favorite things to do while I am in Montana is just to take pictures of the astounding beauty of everything around me 💛 Every morning I would wake up and take photos of the gorgeous sunrises and of fog or low clouds surrounding my family’s home.

The above photo was taken on my last morning in Helmville and it was a gorgeous morning as you can tell.

My absolute favorite part of being in Helmville though? I couldn’t post any of these photos until I was at the airport because I was completely unplugged. That’s right! There was absolutely no internet, no reception anywhere out where we were staying. We could read, we could visit, and we could write. Those were our options. I would not trade the time I spent with my family nor our visit we had for anything either 💛

My trip to Montana was amazing. I would recommend Montana for anyone who wants to unplug a bit, who loves rural settings, or who just appreciates natural beauty.