Bozeman, MT

Monday, September 9

My back was still killing me Monday morning. I could barely move! First thing Monday morning, Andi called a sports medicine chiropractor in Bozeman for an appointment. Fortunately, the clinic had an opening at 8:45am which meant we had to book it to get to Bozeman, about 45 minutes away from the Livingston, Montana area.

Andi and I let the kids sleep while we packed up the RV. It was still raining outside.

Before we left for Bozeman, Andi stopped by Murdoch’s Ranch & Home one last time to return some extra wiring supplies he didn’t use.

Just before 9:00am, Andi dropped me off at the chiropractor’s office while he took the kids to fill up the RV with gas. The doctor examined my back and confirmed that I pulled a muscle. He did some massage and adjustments in the office and said it should feel better in a few days with continued stretching.

After Andi picked me up from the doctor, we drove to REI and World Market in Bozeman. Andi ran into the stores while I did school with the kids in the RV. Then, he took Aden with him into the grocery store while I finished school with Tory. Another parking lot school day! Tory is learning cursive writing this year, and loving it. She was super proud of her work today and asked me to take a picture.

The chiropractor suggested we have lunch at Clark’s Fork, so that’s where we headed after we finished school. It hit the spot! Soup, salad bar, and burgers. It was perfect. Aden ordered a side of bacon with his meal, of course.

Originally, we’d planning to go biking in Bozeman, but I was still experiencing a lot of back pain. We opted for a trip to the Museum of the Rockies instead. We’d heard a lot of good things from locals about it.

The museum feature this month was called “The Real Genghis Kahn” which had some very beautiful pieces to look at, but was way over the kids’ heads. They did enjoy the dinosaur exhibits and the kids play area on the upstairs level.

Before we left the museum, we caught a show at the Taylor Planetarium. The kids loved the dome ceiling and reclining chairs. The subject matter was a little over their heads — the birth of Planet Earth — but they hung in there! Andi, on the other hand, was asleep within the first three minutes.

I’ll just come out and say it —we thought the Museum of the Rockies was boring! After two hours, we decided to try biking around Bozeman instead. My back really still hurt, but maybe sitting on a bike wouldn't feel too terrible.

One of the city’s bike trails picked up from the University of Montana (next to the Museum of the Rockies), so we hopped on and followed the trail.

Along the trail, we stopped at a bouldering rock for the kids to climb. We continued on into downtown Bozeman, past the library, and through a few neighborhoods. My back was really hurting, so we decided to loop back toward the RV still parked at the Museum of the Rockies.

I found an interesting place for us to camp that evening — at an alpaca farm! We drove to the farm located north of Bozeman in Manhattan, Montana. Andi and I are Harvest Host members, a company that allows RVers to camp at unique locations like wineries, breweries, farms, museums, etc., and Sentinel Alpaca Ranch is one of the site locations in Montana.

This is the first Harvest Host location we’ve stayed at, so Andi and I didn’t tell the kids much about where we were going because we weren’t exactly sure what to expect ourselves. When we arrived at the farm, the ranchers greeted us in the drive-way and asked if we wanted to see the alpaca nursery. In this field located close to the main house, there were 50 cria (baby alphas) and their mothers. We all had a chance to feed them (though the kids still weren’t sure what to think of their surroundings!) and ask questions about alpacas.

After we visited the cria (babies) in the nursery pen, we all walked over to the farm’s gift shop to look at alpaca products for sale, and to sign in to the Harvest Host campground. I bought each of us a pair of alpaca socks, which are said to be 4x warmer than merino wool and better at wicking moisture, too. I was surprised when Andi almost bought an alpaca jacket, but they didn’t have his size.

It started pouring rain outside, so we high-tailed it to the RV parked in the drive-way and headed out to our campsite. The rancher hopped in the passenger seat so he could show us where to park.

We had the entire field to ourselves! It was a beautiful piece of property. Andi parked the RV next to a row of trees for wind protection, and right next a field of 350 alpacas.

The rain stopped as quickly as it started, and the sun peeked out from behind the clouds for a few minutes. The mountains behind the farm lit up like fire.

Tory called Grandma Janie on FaceTime who was interested to learn we were sleeping in an alpaca field that night. Tory said, “My mom asked if I wanted to sleep with the alpacas tonight. I thought she was kidding!”

The evening sun was just beautiful. I couldn’t help snap a few pictures of the kids in the pasture.

Our friends Sophi and Taylor sent us home with a big steak from their ranch, so Andi grilled it up for dinner. Paired with roasted red peppers and salad, it was the best dinner we’ve had on our trip yet. Delicious!

It started to rain again after dinner, so we called it an early night. Tory, Aden and I slept through the many noises of the country that night. Andi said he listened to coyotes howl all night long.

Tomorrow, we’re moving on to Helena, Montana as we make our way north to Glacier National Park.