Monday wrapped up 7 long days of hay camp here in North Central Montana! I've spent the last week sleeping in a tent under beautiful big sky country, spent more hours than I care to count in a tractor, and a made a whole lot of memories that will last a lifetime!
After a long first day with 13 hours of tractor time under my belt the dogs and I settled into our tent and all was good for the first few hours... Then 1 am rolled around and so did a pack of coyotes! My dogs were loosing their minds and for a second I thought there was going to be a dog fight through the thin walls of my temporary home! When the dust settled and the growling stopped the coyotes decided that peeing all over every inch of my tent was enough damage and they took off!
The next morning my loyal tractor pups and I set out for another long day of haying. At the end of every day the crew all ended up back at base camp. There stories were told, farm talk was had, beer was drank, and laughs were shared by all. Pair all of that with the delightful cooking of the boss lady and I almost couldn't think of a better way to spend a week.
Here is where things get a little PG.... The second night rolls around and I was determined to not to have another visit from the yotes so I got creative! I decided it was my turn to mark my territory around the tent! After a lot of water consumption and some logistics, we slept peacefully through the night without any snarling visitors! Over the next few days there were beautiful rises enjoyed over coffee and energy drinks, acres on acres of hay baled, and gorgeous sunsets taken in while drinking cold beer! In the spare time (which was far and few between) the dogs and I went down and played in the clearest creek I've seen, conveniently named "Clear Creek". By day five I was ripe ( and I am sure most of the crew would have agreed if asked) and my two options were sudsing up in the creek or making the almost two hour trek home for a nice warm shower.... So I started driving home as soon as the haying was done for the day! I was so excited to wash my hair and stand under the hot water, that you can only imagine my excitement that my hot water heater wasn't working! I might as well have lathered up in the creek because that was the fastest, coldest, and most unrelaxed shower of my entire life! After some food and a good nights rest (four hours) the pups and I hit the road again to hay camp.
As the week came to an end everyone was exhausted, covered in hay and ready for a nap. But like most days on the ranch the work is never done. The bulls had got to fighting and flattened a fence, leaving 30 head of pairs in the neighbors alfalfa field and things like that just can't wait. So we raced home grabbed some horses and went back to do some cowboying, and oh did it get western... but that is a story for another time!
Thanks for reading! See ya next week!
XOXO Syd
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