Accolades
The food at Paws Up was so good that all of us followed a routine I’ll call “meal speculating.” This is when you’re eating one meal and already planning the next–– with food still in mouth. All of this did this and it came to us naturally. We’d share bites of food with each other. Then we’d dream about ordering whatever dish we sampled from our tablemate for the next meal. Simple things like pancakes were made into the most extraordinary pleasure. “Best I’ve ever had,” was a very common utterance at our table with practically every meal. The tenderloin. The chocolate torte dessert (my youngest daughter almost broke into tears one night when she thought we forgot to order one for her). The beef ribs. The bacon. My wife had the entire week planned out and fell one meal short of food nirvana, missing out the roast turkey sandwich because our plans changed. That’s when Mark the Bartender (our favorite staff member) started to plot for a way to have the meal boxed up for our car ride home. We told him not to bother out of sheer embarrassment of being fawned upon.
Another example of great service by the Paws Up staff: As we sat solving the world’s problems one night with Mark the Bartender, we got into a discussion about different vodkas. Mark poured us a sample of a Polish brand called “Bison Grass.” I’m not a vodka drinker, but my wife was amazed at how good it was. She had never seen the brand in Chicago. So Mark did some research and found a liquor store that sold it in Missoula. He heard I was making a trip into town one night to see the Globetrotters with the kids at U of M. Shortly before we were leaving for the game, he delivered a map to our home with directions to the liquor store right near the stadium. It worked out perfectly and I bought four bottles. One for the little lady. Three for in-laws and brothers. Christmas shopping is done. In March! Thanks to Mark’s attentiveness.
The staff at the Wilderness Outpost are genuine Daniel Boones. Especially Jeff. He knows the land and the wildlife like the back of his hand. And taught us some very cool things about the terrain and animals during our hike and raft trip. I now know the difference between deer poop and elk poop thanks to his insightful comparison (Deer poop is similar in size to Milk Duds and just as tasty). Jeff has that cool laid-back Montana way about him and was great with the kids. Then there’s Bill who runs the sporting clays pavilion. I was worried about letting my 14 year-old son shoot a gun for the first time. He is kind of clumsy (like me) and I had this awful vision of him getting over excited after a shot and pointing the gun the wrong way. Bill made the activity fun and was very safety conscious, literally standing behind us on the platform. His conscientious instruction allayed any of my fears and we had a great time. The bad news my son out-shot me in our playoff round and he’s still bragging about it. Then again so did my wife. Also, the two female horse wranglers were awesome (sorry I’ve forgotten their names). They were especially kind and complemented my daughter who’s an English-style rider. Made her feel great.
The lodging: When my daughter first walked into our house she took a look around and hugged me. True story. Never happened before. The decor and appointments are all very well done and there is great consistency to the look and feel. It looks just as Montana should look, albeit upscale Montana. The beds are amazing. I wondered how a bed could be that comfortable. I’m sure you hear that all the time. The washer and dryer were a nice touch. We used ours quite a bit and it was nice because we didn’t have to pack as many clothes. The loft is a great spot for kids. Hot tub was great.
In conclusion, I think Paws Up is truly a trip for the ages, that once-in-a-lifetime family vacation that gets talked about for years. They call it “The last best place,” and I think that sums it up perfectly. The landscape, the staff, the food, the homes… it’s all amazing. Aside from the many cow pies in the pasture, it’s a thing of beauty. Actually, those were some impressive cow pies. We hope to be back some day. Next week would suit me fine. Thanks for the experience.
Respectfully submitted,
Bob Volkman
Back To Accolades
