Things I've Learned While in Montana

• Living in the middle of town is actually really fun. We gained some serious pounds and spent more money than normal. It was so smokey outside that there wasn't much hiking or working out, and a whole lot of visiting the bakery next door and going out for dinner. And almost everything we needed was in walking distance. 
• You don't have to have every detail planned out for the next 6 months. In fact, it will be ok if you don't know where you will be sleeping that very night. We had multiple problems with our reservations and locations we planned to stay. But we learned to go with the flow, and not stress. 
• I can do my job practically anywhere. From my car, a bathroom, a hotel, the deck.... as long as I have wifi, a solid wall behind me, and a few lamps for good lighting, I can make almost anywhere work.
• Bear safety. We haven't run into any (yet), but we stalked up on bear spray and have practiced what to do with our kids if we see one.
• Getting trapped inside on a Saturday isn't so bad. We built a giant haunted house, and took turns scaring each other and being the scared person going through. Beckett and Nolan loved it. 
• There is one downside to staying in vacation rentals instead of living in an RV. You have to make reservations well in advanced, and they are often hard to get out of. If we had an RV, it would have been easy to get away from the  nasty smoke .
• Even though going to Glacier is a major bucket list item for me, and the main reason I wanted to come to Montana, pouting about not going doesn't do any good. I had a pity party for a minute, and then remembered there are much bigger problems in the world. Luckily, we were able to reschedule our reservation there for later in the year, which just means we'll have to come back!