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Day #16. What’s not to love about solo RV travel with your girl pup pack? I’m feeling so much more confident than when I started after 16 days on the road. Never having done anything like this, I’ve had a learning curve with everything – the driving, resource management, and all the daily details of taking care of myself and Nova and Cleo. I struggle constantly to get enough yoga stretching in. All the driving makes for tight hips. I’m very grateful to have the advantage of traveling in such a comfortable RV. I love her. She’s taken great care of us. She needs a bath.

The daily challenges are unpredictable. It feels amazing to pick up and leave as the spirit moves – or sometimes, as the weather dictates. Meeting new friends and learning their stories widens my view of what is possible. Most inspiring are the many opportunities for spending time outdoors in varied settings. The trip feels like the perfect antidote to the years of routine raising a family. Showing up and attending to the needs of my dear husband, son and the community is extremely satisfying. Volunteering for PTA, building community gardens, teaching kids to garden, compost etc. have been and are all valuable and worthy efforts. And yet, a transition from middle age has arrived. Time is growing short.

I’m excited to be staying at Holmes Farm, a 3200-acre Angus cattle farm in the Yellowstone River valley in southeast Montana. We park for our overnight stay next to a 100-year-old Cottonwood tree. My hosts are Mark, a third-generation rancher, and his wife Patti. Patti shares a personal story about her husband’s love of cattle ranching.

Mark was born and raised in Rosebud and always loved working the farm. He’s never wanted to do anything else. As a boy he would look longingly out of the window of the Rosebud Elementary School, dreaming about being in the fields with his dad. When we have a chance to chat, Mark explains that he built the business the way farmers do, taking on debt to expand the size of the farm, then working years to reduce the debt to begin making a profit. It’s a business where you have little control over critical external conditions. Mark says even with his dad’s mentoring it has taken him years of skill building to master the challenges.

Patti enjoys being off for the summer from her work at the local school. It gives her a chance to welcome Harvest Host guests and make friends with people traveling from different parts of the country. A few years back she started an ironworks business, using scrap metal from the farm to create art. She’s been successful at selling her art both to farm visitors and online HERE. When she’s not managing Harvest Host guests or helping Mark out on the farm, she’s tending the couple’s garden and making her iron art. Patti turned me on to a great FB page, “Girl Campers.” Patti told me she’s interested in doing some solo camping and this group has given her great ideas on different types of camping set-ups.

Patti says as Mark reaches his 60th decade, they are pondering downsizing the farm in favor of less back-breaking work. They see a path for growing the agritourism part of the business. I’m inspired by their story and feel a kinship with them hearing of their ideas for transitioning from middle age.