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Click to read
our individual diaries:
Meghan
Danielle
Rory
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Meghan McDonald
New York,
NY
Birthday:
June 21
Hometown:
Nashville, TN
Bio:
Click
here
Contact:
Meghan@alt9.net
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Diary
entries: |
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Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
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Week 9
July 11 - 17 |
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DATE:
July 11 |
ENTRY:
Oh, it was
time to relax today. There are some
rocks around here, but they all seem to
be pretty flaky. I’m not into taking
another big fall, so I’m keeping my
distance. That, and I want to finish
watching T2.
Lisa worked her magic this afternoon and
got the second half of the day off- no
thanks to me giving her only half a days
notice of our arrival. Next time, three
days, I promise. Once we finally got
up after a very long night sleep Lisa
arrived to take us to the lake. Belle
just about dragged us in the water with
no regard for the near freezing
temperature. How do you get back at a
dog that big? Lisa had the best seat in
the house with legs dangling in the
water from a cushiony chair. On the way
back home we saw a woman who apparently
has 42 dogs! Is that about right Lisa??
The day wasn’t over yet. Next was a
very filing vegetarian dinner. Montanans
don’t exactly know what to do with
non-meat eaters. I wonder what my Dad
will think!! Lisa, you did a great
job. Besides, anything topped off with
cheesecake is good in our book.
With full stomachs we took off in search
of mountain goats, but missed out this
time. Too scared of New Yorkers is what
I heard. They are pretty amazing
animals- climb much higher, quicker, and
more gracefully than we do. We may have
missed them, but the evening was topped
off with seeing a herd of 100 Elk. And
if you listened carefully you could hear
them talking to each other. They seem
to have as much trouble deciding which
way to go as we do- they went one way,
seemed to holler back and forth and took
off the other way. But like a true
herd they stuck together. |
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DATE:
July 12 |
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ENTRY:
What a
drive! We pulled into a rest area
outside of Billings and when
Danielle and I got into the bathroom
that annoying beep they do for bad
weather was going off on the loud
speaker. We could barely make out
the weather report, but we heard
enough- 60 mph wind in Columbus
Montana, take cover. Columbus,
hmmm, that sounds familiar- didn’t
we just pass that. We found out
just how close we were to the storm
as Danielle and I struggled just to
get back to the car from the
bathroom. The sky was an eerie
gray, brown mix of trouble. We did
make it to Billings all right, but
not before having the wind blow just
about every loose piece of garbage
and tree branches right across the
interstate (yes, there are
interstates in Montana, speed limits
too!) I don’t think anyone was hurt
in the storm, but it certainly
caused some damage. All the brown
we saw in the sky was actually smoke
from one of the three fires that
took off with the high winds. It
just reminds me how careful you
really need to be. At least one of
the fires was caused by a person.
Think we’ll ever learn?
Anyway, we made it to Billings to my
Dad’s place. Yep, I’m spoiled. I
get to see the entire McDonald
family on this trip. I could have
spent the entire two and a half
months out here for sure. My Dad
may not say so, but he secretly
likes that I’m a climber- as long as
it’s with ropes! None of that
bouldering stuff for him. But, for
the next few days there probably
won’t be very much rock climbing for
us. We’re heading to the ranch!
Maybe we could get in a little hay
bail climbing! I wonder if Rory
thinks he could pick up one of
those. I bet I could get him to try.
They only weigh about a 1,500
pounds!
We had a great night of
cards. I beat my Dad at cribbage,
twice!That has to go in the record
book. This was right before the power
went out. The rest of the night was by
candlelight. Rory and Danielle are in
for a treat. They’ll get a taste of the
Montana life- a lot of work and a lot of
cards.
Lisa,
Mark, Belle, Cowboy, Max, and Chief-
thanks for having us over. I can’t wait
to do the same for you in NYC (well,
leave the horses at home, sorry guys
they may not go over very well in the
big city).
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DATE:
July 13 |
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ENTRY:
I’ll
let the other two talk about Montana
and what we’re doing. I’m pretty
engulfed in the family. I’ve been
waiting a long time to make it out
here. My brother Cody and his wife
Nancy have the cutest kids, Alli and
Lane. I haven’t seen them very
much, so this is a huge treat for
me. It’s hard to be an aunt from so
far away. I hope I get to spend
more time out here and get to know
them as they get older. My brother
and I are notorious for not talking
on the phone. I keep telling him he
better get email if he ever hopes to
hear from me. One day his kids will
introduce him to the computer world
the rest of us are living in. Get
ready Cody!
The ranch looks amazing.
They’ve done a lot of work out here.
Tonight it was more cards. Cody had
officially the worst hand ever. Some
how my Dad managed to keep all his luck
from being passed on to Cody. He shared
a little with me.
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DATE:
July 14 |
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ENTRY:
Figuring that we’re rock climbers
and surely in shape, everyone out
here encouraged us to try the hike
up to the ice caves up through the
snowy mountains. Well, we managed
to get to the top, but just about
keeled over in the process. Getting
to the top was exhausting.
Impossible to believe how slight
slopes that go on and on can wear
you out. Actually, the worst of it
wasn’t getting to the top. The worst
was getting to the top thinking that
you’ve made it, starting the cheering,
feeling good about yourself for such
a great accomplishment and then
realizing that you’re not even half
way done! Okay, okay, it was only a
10-mile hike, but it wasn’t easy!
Lucky for me, I have an excuse with
my bum ankle, but I can’t say the
same for the other two although I’m
sure they’ll manage to come up with
something.
After
the hike we loaded up the
information center with Leave No
Trace information and stickers.
It’s conveniently located so I hope
a lot of people take a look.
We got
over to my cousins’ place tonight.
Dennis is taller than I remember- a
future rodeo star and Nikki is ready
to take on the world of basketball
(she had at least fifteen balls
rolling around the garage- is it
possible to dribble that many at
once??) We had a great time riding
four wheelers, attempting to go
horseback riding (ask Rory about
that), and eating dessert. Pretty
good afternoon. See you next year.
Remember Nikki, it’s your job to
keep me up to date on the Montana
happenings.
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DATE:
July 15 |
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ENTRY:
I feel
like I’m ten years old again
spending my summers in Montana.
Today we took off for Great Falls to
go to the annual Shrine Parade.
Just about every other week as a kid
my Dad and I traveled the state
going to rodeos and parades. I only
watched, but he rode. My Dad and
brother are part of the Black Horse
Patrol, a Shriner organization.
You’d probably recognize Shriners as
the guys in the fine red hats. If
you don’t know what they do you
should definitely definitely check
out their website at
www.shrinershq.org. They are
amazing and I’m proud to have my
family be a part of it. And to brag
a bit for my Dad, he just was made
President of the International
Shrine Horse Patrol. A very big
honor. Go Dad!!!
After
the parade it was on to the East
West Shrine Football Game. Who knew
high school football could be so
fun.
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DATE:
July 16 |
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ENTRY:
Another playback of my childhood
today. We spent the day at the
lake. Fond memories of this for
about as long as I can remember. My
Dad sure has gotten good at driving
the boat these days. I remember when
we first got it and I was kind of a
test dummy on the tube he dragged
and flung around the back of the
boat. Ah, the good ol’ days.
Cody
certainly is good spirited. He was
so eager to get in the water that he
managed to dive in the water with
his only pair of glasses still on
his head. Unfortunately, they
didn’t manage to come back up with
him. He didn’t seem at all phased by
the loss. He’s either very laid back
or that water was colder than I
thought.
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DATE:
July 17 |
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ENTRY:
I'm loving
spending time with family and meeting
new people but I'm missing my friends at
home. Big hugs to Aya, Dylan, Becca and
Rukhein.
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