Distinctly Montana Magazine

20 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 4 - 2 5 ring with Adirondack chairs around it. Inside, we were delighted by what we found. While retaining every bit of its Montana-ness, it was also full of mod- ern conveniences: the restroom con- tained another fantastic shower, while the kitchen had everything you could possibly need to cook anything short of a goose. The fire ring was lovely; we sat around it and toasted s'mores. The thoughtfulness of the decora- tion went beyond mere show. Books on local history and Western interests waited on the shelves and tables for us to pick them up and start reading. On the wall, as if watching over the comfortable couch and big kitchen, hangs a bison's head. The kids named him Gruff, but I thought he was very friendly. We immediately helped ourselves to a cutting board so we could slice off chunks of the local summer sausage, and then we went outside to play in the lake, but not before the grown-ups cracked open a beer and wine respectively. A convenient paddle board and kayak rental service on-site made for an afternoon of tooling around the lake and reading books on the water's edge. I may have fallen asleep and taken a very relaxing nap. That evening we collected around one of the pits, which had been pre-supplied with wood and lighter fluid, and started a roaring fire. At the edge of the firelight, as it grew dark and we began to get sleepy, a few bats flitted and darted at the caddis- flies before they, too, settled down. Soon sleep tugged at the kids' eyes, and we carried them inside and put them to bed un- der big piles of blankets and pillows. They looked like nothing so much as happy sausages wrapped in batter. Anytime that I write about a hotel, by the way, I have to call out the bed. My significant other does not feel the same way I do. To her, any bed is comfortable, however stiff or pillowy. It must be her all-around good health because I certainly don't feel the same way. The difference between a good stay and a bad stay for me is ra- zor-thin, and balances on whether the hotel in question has a good bed and a good shower. I am happy to report that the bed in the Bison cabin was perfect, so comfortable that I almost wished I hadn't slept as well as I did so that I could have lay there and appreciated how comfortable it was. The shower, by the way, was every bit as exceptional, especially when you're lathering up with Pine Creek soaps. In the morning we woke to find animals walking or flying around the grounds. I sat up in bed and, glancing out the win- dow, watched a little deer right outside, munching on some grass and staring back at me. We saw ducks, geese, pelicans, herons and, higher in the sky, eagles swooping and circling. Days proceed there in a happy blur. We went into Virginia City for an old-timey family photo and the next day had lunch at Tavern 287, a local eatery with, I kid you not, the most delicious tomato soup we've ever had (the kids agree). The grown-ups snagged an hour at Willie's Distillery and tried Devil's Brigade Whiskey. We shopped at every store at Ennis that caught our eye and had a lot of fun doing it.

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