Pipes of Pam: Jerry's Montana Bell Cross Ranch and More Lois Time

Jerry Moyes, Roger's WHS classmate, is tenth part-owner, including John Elway and others, in a 10,000-acre dude ranch in Montana. For the last four years, he has invited the Lake Powell gang (20+ classmates and spouses) who have been going to spend four or five days on his houseboats for over 30 years, to spend four days at this beautiful ranch instead. Roger and I got to go in 2019 and loved it! In 2020, about half of those planning to go went and we opted to not go because of Covid. I was looking forward to it this year, then the heatwave that hit Portland, Seattle, etc., hit there, too. We were watching the temps several days out, and the forecast was in the mid-90s, which is very unusually hot for there. All of the activities are outside and most locations for them have no shade. My #1 concern was we didn't have one of the ten rooms, but would be in the un-air-conditioned bunkhouse. Roger was sooo looking forward to it, and I said, "For sure, absolutely go!"

We drove to Rick and Jodie's the day before, and I stayed with them for the four days.

The next morning, off he flew in Jerry's private jet, and was he tickled!

Jerry is to Roger's right, and his wife, Vicki, is back right. The other couple is Larry and Pam Maw.

Roger is next to two of our favorites, Dan and Carol Gibson.

We love Linda and Fred Stettler and Lyle and Chris Johnston.

The beautiful Bell Cross Ranch and bunkhouse

Every comfort and convenience is available; surprising for a ranch out in the middle of nowhere!

As it turns out, the bunkhouse was ACed after-all, but it was uncomfortably hot during each day's fun and games. Roger and Jimmy Smout, both without their spouses, were alone in the bunkhouse.

Fleet of 4 by 4s

After a two and a half hour evening ride, they hung out in this lovely meadow.

Roger's FAVORITE activity at the ranch is skeet shooting. He got to do it two different days. The first day he went through a couple of boxes of shells, hitting most of the clay pigeons.

Pic taken of the group after skeet shooting

The beautiful man-made Moyes Pond, named after Jerry.

Rog did some fly fishing and caught two fish!

The food is outstanding and beautifully-presented, with a full-time chef and helpers, and is served in a sit-down dinner each night.

It is a scenic ride on the 4 by 4s to this point, named after John Elway.

Wildlife spottings on the rides

Rog is a natural on the horses.

Just 10 people, plus the horse wrangler, rode this year.

There weren't enough riders to hold the competitive games.

Another day of skeet shooting and Roger is driving some of the girls there.

Roger shot about 6 boxes of shells this day, with the clay pigeons flying two and three at a time. Rog loved every moment of it as he mowed them down!

Pic of the whole group on the last night

Don't you think Rog looks like the Real Deal?

They're eating the last breakfast before driving to Great Falls to take off and fly to Ogden and the others to drive home. Forest fires diverted those who drove to side roads, trying to get back home.

The jet is waiting for them.

While Rog was enjoying the ranch, I enjoyed being with Rick and Jodie's family. On Saturday, Jodie and I drove to a great little restaurant and bakery, Gourmandise, to meet Mindy for lunch. We had fun catching up and enjoyed tasty food!

Sunday, before Rog returned, I went to church with Rick's family and heard Sy and Grant Foster, who recently returned from a church mission to Spain, speak about some of their experiences. Sy is well-known in the food blogger world,; her blog is A Bountiful Kitchen. They are lovely people and close friends with Rick and Jodie.

On Monday we began a four-day back and forth from Rick's to Rog's mom's to be with her during the day and spent the time doing much the same as we've done before. She is in more pain with her back and her short-term memory continues to fade. She loves Roger to sit right next to her, show her pics and talk to her, though she doesn't usually remember any of it the next day. But at the time, she enjoys it. Her vision and her hearing are extremely limited and she has other issues of old age. We are just storing up moments of being with her.

Surprisingly, she still likes to go for rides and go to lunch and get out of the house. It is painful for her to get in and out of the car, but once she is there, she enjoys it. We took her to Rainbow Gardens (pictured) and for a sandwich at Maddox Drive-in in Brigham City.