So, like, what is there to do out there?

This is one of the first questions people ask me when I start talking about Eastern MT. And really, there's a lot to do. Sometimes you just have to be creative, or drive a long ways to get there! Well, let's face it. You have to drive a lot to get ANYWHERE here. Culbertson is 12 miles away, and the bigger town of Sidney (where I work) is 25 miles away. I have to drive an hour to Williston, ND to go to the movie theater. Whenever I travel, I do try to take in a movie, because it is one of my favorite things to do.

So, what IS there to do here? Well, with summer (read: road construction) season upon us I thought I would give some insight on things that people do around here for fun.

1. RODEO...First let me clarify for my lovely Los Angeles folks...this is not Rodeo Drive. This is Rodeo, that involves horses, mud, cows, and cowboys. There are rodeos in every town in Eastern MT throughout the summer. Even if it's a town of 200 people, they still hold rodeos.

2. Street Dances. Yes, the streets are the only places big enough to hold the amount of people that come to these things. People literally come out of the woodwork for these things. They usually have LOTS of alcohol and a band.

3. Hiking. There are several areas around my house to go hiking in the hills. Just gotta be careful of those rattlesnakes!

4. Lake/river. Usually we would head to the lake or river a couple of times during the summer, but with the sale of our jet ski, I don't think that will be happening for us as much this year. However, it does take about 2 hours to get to the nearest big lake, Fort Peck.

5. Shoot Stuff. Birds, cans, bottles, coyotes, signs, anything really.

6. County Fairs/Concerts. There are several county fairs within driving distance of our home. They usually have lots of different commercial booths with free giveaways, the 4H barn with all of the farm animals, lots of greasy fair food, a rodeo (I told you, they're everywhere!) and a concert. This year our lovely Fair Board for Richland County decided to bring in someone with high upstanding moral values to our conservative community, Ms. Leann Rimes (homewrecker!). Isn't she just lovely?

And last but not least,

7. Cow tipping and Snipe hunting. HA! Tricked ya....no, we don't actually tip cows here, or anywhere in Montana for that matter. I would LOVE to see anyone get close enough to a cow to put two hands on it while the cow just stood there. And then just push it over. They're like 1,000 pounds. Good luck with that-let me know how it goes! And snipe hunting, if you've never been, I HIGHLY suggest you try it! It's awesome! :)