Crazy Mountain Ranch


The past four days I haven't been home but freezing my butt off in Montana.  Actually the first and fourth days were spent in airports.  My hubby won a trip for two to the Marlboro Ranch (Crazy Mountain Ranch) which is an hour from Bozeman, Montana.  Go figure that his long-time bad habit of smoking would pay off in such a great way.  When he got the exciting news in a Fedex box, our first thought was that it was a scam.  I told him that when you call the number provided and they ask for money, it's a scam and hang up!  That never happened.  It was the real deal, an all expense paid trip for two courtesy of Marlboro.  It paid off entering their many contests.

By the time we arrived in Bozeman on Sunday, it was in the evening.  We were greeted by some of the ranch staff who ushered the group of us who arrived from Salt Lake City to a bus.  We missed out on the beautiful Montana scenery on the hour long trip from the airport to the ranch because it was dark.  After we arrived, one of their guest service reps took us to get fitted for bibs to be ready for the activities we signed up for.  Right afterwards, she took us to our room.  The room was decorated in a western theme with no TV or cell service.  It had a claw tub in the bathroom and two single beds.  We decided that we wanted our own beds (can you tell we have been married almost 30 years, lol).  On each bed was a bunch of gifts for the contest winner and guest.  WOW, we got lots of winter wear, backpack, camera, and a few smaller items.  We were blown away by all the freebies and how well we were treated so far.  After changing putting on our new snow boots and parka, we headed out to get dinner.





We were surprised to see that the ranch, which is a working ranch, was laid out like a small western town.  Our room was in the bank.  We headed to the saloon, which was where the dining hall was located.  We sat with other couples from different parts of the country.  Like us, they thought it was a scam too.  We all agreed that making the phone call to verify the trip was the best thing we did.  We ate, mixed and mingled, and then went back to our room and get a good nights sleep.  We had events planned for the next day.  Those will be on my next couple posts along with tons of pictures.  Meanwhile, here is a video I did of us walking from our room to the saloon.  It will give you an idea of what the place looked like.


Comments

  1. Oh what fun! I've never been to Montana and would LOVE to go! This place looks like so much fun! I can't wait to see the rest of your photos et. al. HOW on earth did your hubby win it through Marlboro? I don't smoke and neither does the Beau, but this is really cool!

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  2. Tara, I think if you get on the Crazy Mountain Ranch website, you will find ways of taking a vacation there. Everyone was so nice that worked there and were extremely accommodating. I wouldn't have entered any Marlboro contest if my hubs didn't smoke. His bad habit got us this fantastic trip. (Don't start smoking to win the trip, lol)

    Zoe, we had a blast. I don't think either of us, as well as many of the other guests, had any idea what this place was going to be like. It was wonderful!

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  3. Except for the snow, that could be AZ. It was so western and cool! I'm so jealous you got to play in the snow. I haven't seen snow in about 15 years or so!

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  4. That is exactly how it felt Sis, like we were in an AZ western town with the exception of the snow. I was so glad Mother Nature let it snow!

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  5. We are glad you had fun while here in Montana! I work for the company that runs the gift shops in the airport and the people coming to and from the Marlboro ranch are always the best! Thanks for posting pictures, too. Very few of us "locals" ever get to see what the ranch actually looks like!

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  6. Cassi, you are welcome. We had a great time in Montana. Everyone was great. I will be posting more pictures of the ranch and some of the activities, so check back in the next few days.

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  7. What a great prize! Not somewhere you'd ever get to see otherwise.
    I can accept snow in places that are supposed to be snowy.

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  8. Sucio, it was the best prize. We just don't win things, so that is why we didn't believe it was real at first. I'm just glad it snowed for us on our last day. We just don't see that in Phoenix.

    Doo, we did, thanks.

    ~Adsila~

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  9. I hear you Max, we would love to have some here too.

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  10. Great trip! The dog sled ride would have been awesome! Now that looked really FUN!

    Debe Branning

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  11. I just found out I won the winter 2012 trip and I wanted to say thank you for your posts or I would have gone on thinking it was too good to be true. I sent my release forms back the same day and now I am just waiting for my dates. I am so exited.

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  12. WE JUST GOT OUR INVITE ON FRIDAY! WE ARE SO EXCITED. I WAS WONDERING WHAT FREEBIES THEY GIVE YOU?! I SAW ON SOME PREVIOUS TRIPS THAT THEY RECEIVED COWBOY BOOTS AND MY HUSBAND HAS ALWAYS WANTED A PAIR. DO THEY STILL GIVE YOU COWBOY BOOTS?

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  13. We went in the winter and got snow boots. I don't know if summer visitors get cowboy boots but we did get cowboy hats. It was a blast.

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  14. Excited as well! My Daughter and I got our winter 2012 invitation today too!!

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  15. Also got invited for Winter 2012! So excited to get paperwork back with dates

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  16. Going march 9! Super excited!!!

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  17. I'm leaving in two days. me and fiancee are looking forward to it!! we live in TX so montana will be a big change lol. i hope we have as much fun as you and your husband did!

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  18. Just got back from the ranch yesterday. Beets any vacation I've ever been on, and I've been on some great vacations. No cowboy boots are given in winter. My daughter and her husband got cowboy boots on a summer trip there. But the snow boots are really great. Pack lightly, you will need the extra room to bring back everything you get while there.

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  19. Looks like the Lincoln room we stayed in.

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  20. Just got my call from Marlboro, sounds awesome!!!!

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  21. Going July 15th! Cant wait!!

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  22. Hey there!!
    My best friend & I went on that trip in 2006 and stayed in that same room! Great trip!

    But my best friend and I had both had a crazy dream/vision the 1st night. Did you have any dreams about horses by any chance?

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    Replies
    1. I don't remember having any unusual dreams. I am glad you had fun.

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