Nora Roberts's Blog, page 58

Montana! Day 11

As I’m not sure if the lighter skies will hold, I do a mean cardio workout in the loft. A balancing, I think, of the previous day’s doing not much. BW reports a couple of frisky rabbits outside the bedroom window. We enjoy some time around the fire, then because it looks pretty good out there, decide to get some lunch before hitting The Grizzlyman Trail.

Rabbit, by BW

When we step out, we see under those big blue skies and giant billowy white clouds, that while it rained here, that meant snow...

Montana! Day 10

Sunday morning

A day of steady, soaking rain, and we’re told the first serious rain here since June. Downright chilly with it. Understandably, the locals are thrilled, and it’s a pretty perfect day to stay in with a fire and write. Let’s hope the rain means the only fires are in cozy hearths.

I do just that after my morning workout, and Jason settles in as well. But BW and Kat decide to do a drive out and about. There’s that personality quiz in action.

There’s plenty of quiet with heavy skies...

Montana! Day 9

A lazy, rainy day with temps in the 50s. More fall than summer here at the moment. So the mountains are mysterious with clouds heavy above and smoking along the ridges.

Loft workout area.

After my loft workout, I write awhile in the living area cozy with Kat’s fire. The horses stay out to pasture longer, cropping along the pasture gold in the gloom. As the rain passes, there are some glowing breaks in the sky, a slight lightening of gray.

BW and I head over to Spa Town for massages. So warm a...

Montana! Day 8

Yoga on the hillside is a chillier experience, but wildly beautiful with broody blue mountains rolling up into a sky packed with shades of gray, and a sun fighting to get through. I wear a yoga top, a thin pull-over hoodie and my warm-up jacket, and enjoy every minute.

A little rain falls when we get back to the cabin. We’re hoping it either comes and goes or holds off as we’ve got our trail ride in the early afternoon. We opt to grab a quick lunch first, so this means dressing in layers. I h...

Montana! Day 7

BW and I start the day off with an hour of Tai Chi in the loft. It’s cooler today, and Kat and Jason set off for their ATV adventure. We’re about an hour behind them, in the car. It’s a beautiful ride through thick pine forests on a bumpy, windy gravel road taking us to Garnet ghost town. Steep, steep rises of land, forests deep on either side so the road’s a rough ribbon–intersected with cattle grates–winding through. I don’t think we saw another car until we came to the little parking lot a...

Montana! Day 6

It’s our East meets West day. After some cardio to wake the body up, I head off with BW to yoga over in Spa Town. Colorful mats on a stretch of grass. There are only four of us, the instructor. And the big blue sky over fields and hills and mountains. No better yoga than yoga outdoors with sun and soft breezes and those wild and wonderful views. Bumpy grass under the mat just adds a little challenge. A perfect hour for me.

While we salute the sun, Kat’s in one of the tents getting a massage....

Montana! Day 5

Spectacular day. Sunny and clear with true blue skies. I skip my morning workout in the anticipation of some urban hiking.

It’s Patrick who drives us into the airport. He’s Missoula born and bred, and knows so much about the area. It’s striking to realize how thick the smoke had been on our arrival, as in the clear the scenery is just spectacular. Sharp rises of land covered with Ponderosa pine, the rise and roll of ridges into the distance, the bright glint of the river winding. The flat run...

Montana! Day 4

Rain comes and washes away the smoke. Sunday morning’s sky shows breaks of bleached out blue, but it’s sky, it’s blue. And we can see the mountains, still hazy but clearer through the last of the smoke.

Sunday sunrise by BW

I hope this means the fire areas got rain as well.

Workout and walk for me. Much cooler, and with a real freshness to the air. The endlessly busy squirrels carry on while I walk. They’re like squirrels on crack, skittering, scampering, chirping, chasing each other. No wond...

Montana! Day 3

Slightly less hazy on Saturday, and either that campfire smell has lessened or I’m getting used to it.

Enjoyed my loft workout, then took another walk. Kept to the gravel road awhile, going uphill past other cabins–one has a classic Lincoln parked outside. I spot another marked trail, so why not, and end up going down toward one of the pastures where earlier i’d watched the wranglers round up the horses.

I don’t see another soul, a car or bike. Nothing but pasture, hills, trees, and the quie...

Montana! Day 2

A hazy start to a lazy day yesterday. Or somewhat lazy. I’ve taken the loft area in the cabin for my workout studio. It feels so good to break a sweat after a week of being mostly down.

And when my gang heads down to The Village for breakfast, I take a walk. Not too far as I don’t know my way around yet, but far enough to top a little hill, watch a trail ride snake through that yellow green grass. Then I backtrack, find a path through the pine forest. So quiet the sound of a falling pine cone...