We’ve talked for years about making the time and saving the money to get up to Montana to visit Willy’s Aunt Kathie, who has lived there for the past couple decades. It’s haunted my to-do lists for longer than I care to admit. And if you’re wondering if I include bucket list type stuff on my to-do list, I do. Otherwise they’d stay in the bucket and in the end, I’d kick – probably haphazardly – a full bucket.

I managed to find a great deal on Allegiant air, an airline we won’t ever be flying again. What started as a couple hundred bucks grew literally exponentially after choosing seats (yes, you pay for your seat choice) and paying for luggage (you pay one price for checked bags and another for carry-ons). Even the water they offered during the in-flight service came at a price. Let me repeat that, they charged for water.

That said, we’ve gotten quite lucky on seats the last few flights we’ve been on and this trip proved no exception; with an entire empty row behind us we had plenty of room, which makes having kids on a plane much more enjoyable.

Kathie lives about an hour and a half from the airport and the love affair with Montana was born on the drive to her house. Following the two lane highway around the bends, the sun set just behind the mountains in the distance only to reappear around the next curve in the road. We must have watched the sunset and reset at least five times as the golden rays lit up hay fields, made silhouettes out of the cattle that grazed the acres of fields, and reflected off the Yellowstone river that more or less seemed to follow us all the way to our destination.

Despite our late arrival, Kathie was awake when we got there and quickly showed us around her home. We walked over wood floors that creaked with vintage kilim rugs, inherited from Willy’s great-grandma’s collection, throughout. With her son off at college, the boys made his old room their own and quickly ransacked the closets to find knick-knacks they’d treasure for the entire week we were there; a plastic sword, a handheld windmill, a soccer ball, and a bug jar, to name a few.

The house sits at the end of a long dirt road, on 50 acres, so when the sun rose in the morning, we had the most brilliant view of all we drove past the night prior but had not seen. Deers in the distance, with snow-capped mountains as their backdrop. A view so beautiful, at all hours of the day, that not even the whining and incessant fighting that comes with having two young children in an otherwise peaceful home, could ruin.

The boys spent much of their time outside, pushing the wheel barrel about, unstacking neatly stacked piles of wood, chasing the cats, killing spiders despite our instructions not to, catching bugs, peeing in bushes, pretending to drive the old mice infested Chevy truck (that still runs like a champ, mice n’ all) and making make-shift forts in the garage.

We spent a day in Yellowstone, a few afternoons in Livingston, a day in Bozeman, and many afternoons at the house shooting guns, listening to music, drinking, talking about life, and collecting rocks and driftwood down by the river (with Neil Young playing perpetually in my head).

I packed for the wide range in forecasted weather and used everything I brought, which might go down as the first occurrence of such in our family record book. Shorts and tank tops to sweaters and beanies. And with each change in weather pattern came with it a change in light; all equally parts impressive. From storm clouds, complete with thunder and lightening, to rays of light impeding their way through breaks in the clouds, to full on uninhibited glorious bursts of light that, when juxtaposed next to snow capped ‘crazies’  mountain range seemed to come from none other than heaven itself.

When you marry into a family, you tend to see one another often at the typical family events but you never really get the chance to know one another. It was such a nice opportunity to get to know Kathie, to get to know people that are – or have been – important in her life, and to hear the stories that make up parts of her life’s tale (and there’s a lot of great ones). I’ve actually asked her to participate in an interview, as I think she has a lot of valuable things to share.

Our flight was delayed several hours on the way back (have I said that Allegiant sucks?), but we managed to make it on-board with seven unpaid carry-ons that housed thrifted and found Montana treasures, so – ya know – it is what it is. We also inhabited the still-empty row behind us… actually, Willy sat in front with the boys while I inhabited the empty row all my lonesome. The little things really are the big things.

And with that, Montana doesn’t really get crossed off the to-do list, just added back to the bottom.