Today we undertook the annual migration from Billings to Big Sky in Montana. Nash's dad drove. Montana has the third lowest population density of all the United States, so there's a lot of open snow-covered land dotted with cows. We stopped to eat at a Burger King - we eat at fast food so rarely that it was pretty exciting.
But the highlight was definitely driving past some bighorn sheep. They were just chilling and licking the salt off the road - I hadn't considered before that the practice of salting the roads to reduce ice also invited wildlife to get some extra minerals. It seems dangerous. These fellows were all rams, whose horns can weight up to 30 pounds (13.6 kg).
Big Sky is the largest ski resort in the United States, an hour's drive north of Yellowstone National Park. Even though I've been here for the last few New Years, I've never skied here - a single day's lift ticket costs $140! Every year this is where Nash's family hosts a huge New Year's bash.
This year promises to be the quietest ever, since a lot of our friends couldn't make it. Only 6 of us stayed in the condo that comfortably sleeps 10 this first night, and some more will trickle in over the next couple days. At least nobody will have to sleep on the couches and in the closet this year.
-Katie, @therovingreader