Thumbs Up For Paws Up

Our first two nights in Montana were spent glamping at the 37,000 acre ranch resort known as The Resort at Paws Up. Now if you’re wondering what exactly glamping is, it’s like camping, except your tent has a king size bed with heated blankets,  a second bedroom, a REAL bathroom complete with rain shower and heated floors,  a welcome bottle of wine, a heating/AC unit inside, and lots of other perfect details… 

 So basically, it’s not camping at all. Which is exactly how I like my camping.

There’s absolutely no shortage of things to do at Paws Up, with activities ranging from horseback riding to ATV tours, to rafting and fishing, to hot air ballooning, to cattle drives, to the most fabulous Kids Camp, to a place called Spa Town. The greatest tragedy of this trip is that I never made it to Spa Town. But I can assure you that when we make it back (oh yes, we WILL), Spa Town will be at the top of my itinerary. 

We decided to spend our time at Paws Up reacquainting ourselves with the great outdoors. Mayhem grabbed a fishing pole from the dining and activities pavilion at our camp and we made the short 100 yard trek to the Blackfoot River.  We didn’t catch anything. At all. And it’s entirely possible it had something to do with the super loud kid with us who kept throwing rocks in the river. We tried to explain fishing basics to her, but she was having fun and we were enjoying ourselves, so it was all good.

She got to brush and prep Cookie … 
And then take her for a ride…  

 She somehow managed to sweet talk Velcro (the calf) into a sweet slumber and promptly declared herself an animal taker carer. There was plenty to keep us busy, but we snuck in a little bit of doing nothing at all as well.  We took a ride through the Wild Wild West in appropriate transportation. And found ourselves hanging on every word of every story Cowboy Steve shared with us along the way. (Cowboy Steve is the real deal, folks!)   We ate our weight in huckleberry pancakes And everything else they served … because meals are included at Paws Up. And the food was delicious! Breakfast and dinner were prepared and served by a chef at our dining pavilion in Moonlight Camp, while lunch was served at Trough (a restaurant near the hub of the resort).    And Mayhem’s allergies were absolutely NEVER a concern. In fact, the resort knew of her allergies ahead of time and the chefs made sure to have selections available that were completely safe for her. 

And in case we weren’t wowed enough by our surroundings, we discovered on our first morning that we had some bald friends in camp with us.  And later that day we found they had a nest directly above our tent. And two babies. Let me let that sink in … a family of bald eagles living in the tree directly above our tent. !!!!!

The next morning we watched as the daddy flew in with fish for his squawking babes… I’m not gonna lie, I completely freaked out. After all, it’s not everyday that this suburban mom gets to see something like that.

Nature is pretty darn spectacular and we don’t spend enough time appreciating it. We’ve worried about Mayhem growing up in a time and place where we’re all so wrapped up in our devices and screens that we neglect the awesomeness that’s happens in the world all on its own. Paws Up gave us gave us a little slice of heaven for a couple days. And the chance to immerse ourselves in some of nature’s finest settings in five star fashion.  High five to the entire Paws Up staff who was nothing short of sincerely welcoming and accommodating in more ways than we could have asked. Sure, the surroundings are glorious, but it’s truly the people who make the place.