Rainbow Ranch - Better than a sock full of quarters in the face - MUCH BETTER

This second week in Big Sky we decided to stay down at the Rainbow Ranch for a change of pace. The Rainbow Ranch is down off the main highway and the property straddles the Gallatin River, also known as the river that starred, but never won an Oscar, in A River Runs Through It.

The Rainbow Ranch is great - and we really had a blast!

Before coming, I worked with a nice lady named Turi Heatherington (which I still think is a made-up name) and she decided my family would be best suited for the 4-bedroom Bald Eagle cabin which sits right beside the river. It did end up being the perfect size. The room we used most was the common living room which had a huge couch and a ponderous fireplace that one normally finds in a medieval castle.

They have a lot of other room-types here for big parties or just couples. I went on an ill-advised run/hike through the property and the other cabins and whatnot I saw were very nice as well.

When we checked in, there was a very nice heavily-bearded fellow named Mike that set us up. There is another girl that works at the front desk named Binka that is way prettier than Mike so I will post her picture instead.

By the way, producers and directors that read my blog, Binka is currently seeking an acting job and she has various skills that include dance and polish sausage-making. A lot of famous people end up coming here to the Rainbow Ranch for dinner, and I suggested she have a pile of 8×10 glossies ready to hand out. She thought this was a dumb idea but was nice enough to laugh anyway.

Here are a few pictures of the cabin:

And here is my mom teaching my son how to play poker and gamble hard. He picked it up very quickly and busted in the door to the bathroom while I was busy and said, “Dad Grammy just got a full house!”

And here is one of the frozen Gallatin right beside our cabin.

On Valentines day, we had a very nice dinner up in the restaurant. This is considered one of the best restaurants in the area, and now we see why. I had the seared ahi tuna, but I almost got about ten other things that sounded great. They also have an impressive wine selection… Not that I would really know since I don’t drink, but I had several serious-looking people that worked there tell me how amazing their wine cellar was.

Here is a shot of the fireplace in the lodge. This is where I would hang out and surf on their wi-fi connection while a super-nice bartender attended to my every need except for a back rub.

Here is a really bad picture of the outside of the Bald Eagle cabin. The light level was low and the temperature was a balmy negative 12, so the lens naturally de-saturated everything.

Anyway, to sum up, we had a great time at Rainbow Ranch, Indians know “corn” as “maize”, and the South shall rise again. The property is probably best in the summer and ideal for fly-fishing. It’s great for families in the winter too that do no need ski-in ski-out amenities. I found the prices quite reasonable and the management was extremely friendly and willing to help. We will most likely visit the Rainbow Ranch again one of these summers…

It’s hard to imagine the summer now. I’m stuck in Belgrade and the windchill is 37F below zero. Ouch!