Back in Montana we are planning our next trip–a major ATV journey. Mom and I relaxed on Monday after all the wedding festivities. I’ve helped Mom start a new knitting project and I worked on my summer sweater. Tuesday Mom and I went to Little Rock for a doctor’s appointment, had a great lunch, shopped a bit and headed home. I cooked Tuesday evening–paying for pizza which Danny and Ann picked up on their way home from work
A couple years ago Danny and Ann added a porch to the back of their home. It’s such a pleasant place to sit, dine and visit with family. My entire family lives within a 2 mile radius and someone is always dropping or in the case of my niece, walking by. Wednesday morning Ross (my brother) took me to the airport–it was time for the Arkansas visit to end. I drove up our driveway at midnight Wednesday. That 6.5 hour layover in Denver was awful!
At least the Southwest Airline concourse at the Denver airport has been upgraded. Big, open, bright, clean with comfortable couches, booths, chairs and plenty of charging stations everywhere. The restrooms are amazing–huge stalls which accommodate you and your bags. Giant handwashing stations. Dining options are limited–the shops and restaurants are not built/open as of yet.
Unpacking, medical stuff and grocery shopping filled our day Thursday. I did bake a batch of dishpan cookies–not sure where the original recipe originated but I remember Mom making these cookies when she worked on a guest ranch in Ennis, Montana. I’m freezing cookies in advance of our upcoming ATV trip.
The weather is unsettled in Montana–and smokey, oh so smokey! Rain is in the forecast but will it rain–who knows! No, it didn’t rain–only sprinkles.
Friday was spent baking and cooking in preparation for our upcoming ATV trip. Late afternoon we headed north–as in north of Big Timber where friends Jon and Joan live. Jon is our local tomato grower extraordinaire–he has greenhouses and produces lots of tomatoes in summer. Friends Royal and Nancy also joined us and it was a fabulous evening with good food and great friends. These are all people who attended school with the Cowboy. Jon and Joan have an unusual, really cool house which I had never seen. They also have a sweet, sweet English Lab named Sugar Bear. It was dark when we left their home so we traveled home slowly keeping a careful watch for critters.
I baked two cream cheese pound cakes–one was a flop and went in the trash, the second one looks great. I hate wasting all that butter and eggs but sometimes it happens!
The smoke wasn’t as bad on Saturday–we can hope the cooler, more humid weather will help firefighting crews stomp out those fires.
Life is good–in spite of the smoke!
Restoration Cowboy Style 
Janna, I think your Mom is fast becoming my hero! The foggy morning photo is gorgeous…was it taken from the back porch? Can’t wait to see/hear all about your ATV trip. Crean cheese poundcake is my favorite and the only cake I ever asked my grandmother to bake…yum, yum!
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Mom is a hero–she has so much pain and she just plugs along. The foggy photo was taken from my Mom’s backyard looking out over my brother’s fields. Cream cheese pound cake is also my favorite–it travels and packs well too!
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Your family life in Arkansas sounds so idyllic. Such a difference from you life in Montana. Also a great life, but much more adventurous I would say. I have never tried a cream cheese pound cake.
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Like all families we aren’t perfect but in my mind we do have a fabulous, loving family. And yes, I do have a different life in Montana which I also love. I will send you that cream cheese pound cake recipe–it’s foolproof and delicious!
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Glad you arrived home safely. Those long airport layovers are just awful. Sounded like a great family time in Arkansas.. I’m sure your mom loved having you. Good to know you will have lots of sugary energy for your ATV trip. Looking forward to photos. We lots of smoke on our NV travels. Thank goodness it has been beautiful here in Elko. We finally had a deep blue sky today. It’s been awhile with the smoke. We head further east into the smoke in a week. We may cut things short if the smoke doesn’t improve. The Reno/Sparks area has been terrible, as has Lake Tahoe where we will be, maybe, in two weeks.
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We had smoke on our ATV trip but not all days. And we always have sugary treats for our ATV trips–cookies, candy, cakes–too much sugar! Glad you’ve enjoyed your RV outing!
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Your family visits to Arkansas always sound lovely. I’m so glad your mom seems to be doing better…reading about your time with your mom always makes me miss my mom.
Hope that smoke continues to clear for you. Now I want pound cake, haha!!
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I enjoy my family visits so much and my family enjoys having me at home, especially Mom. Mom has so much chronic pain yet she forges on every day, living along, doing most of her own housekeeping and cooking and drives locally. She will be 86 years old soon and my dad has been gone 20 years. I can send you the pound cake recipe??
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Your mom really is an inspiration! I hope she does well for a long time to come. 🙂 And yes, I would love your pound cake recipe! Thanks!
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