Is Montana for us? (Billings, Miles City: fit in, house, good schools)

[RamblinRoseRanch]

Let me preface this by saying i'm posting it on a few more western states' city-data forums, so you'll see it there too.

We're, quite frankly, at our wit's end. We like NM, but it sure isn't a two sided love affair.
We've been struggling pretty much ever since we unloaded the horses at the end of May and now we're goin' down for the last time.


What we are:
family of five who love the country life and equine events- be it a rodeo or just a group of friends riding out for a while

horses, cats, dogs, kids

southern accents (so please, don't make fun of us, or our kids, for not sounding like you. A little ribbin' is one thing, blatant disrespect is another. )

not at all high maintenance- a country store or, *shudder* WalMart is all it takes to keep us in the necessities. I.hate.malls. Internet orderin' suits me fine.

simple, drama free and would like to be much more self sufficient

What we want:

a friendly area. No, we don't want to change you and we don't want things how they were where we come from. If it were all that great, we wouldn't have left. We just want to be accepted by you and maybe even make some friends. Drama free, that is.

clean air. I have a respiratory issue that was thought to be totally humidity adverse. Turns out that I can take some humidity, as long as the air is not so polluted it stirs crap up.

four seasons. Snow and cold weather is okay, as long as it doesn't extend to six months of the year and we're not stringin' rope between the house and the barn.

within an hours drive to a city (or town) with a cell phone carrier. That's what my husband has almost 15 years experience in and it's what he'd desperately like to go back to.

I can't think of anything else, so if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask away. Is there anywhere in Montana where we might fit in and begin to have the resemblance of an actual LIFE again?

[~IM~OK~]

Listen...that is allmost the same as I was when I came here...Get this..People think I am from the U.K....Just because I dont sound like everyone else, has made me alot of friend's..(I think it is really because I braught a load of hickory with me Look..What you have to do is...Drive around the state...See what YOU like...Everyone will tell ya what part of the state is best...But you know how opinion's go...Yeah everyone has one...My two cent's...If you want to work...check Billings out..If you dont have to work...Look north-northwest...Not just blowin smoke..This is first hand...

[Heart]

You mentioned you had respiratory issues, after being up here a few years I developed alot of problems with bronchitis, and have fought off a cough for many months. My dr is leaning toward COPD. I never had any respiratory troubles until I moved here (Bitterroot). The very dry air has created some problems for me, but none I can't deal with. Good luck.

[emilieboyles]

You might try Dawson County (main town: Glendive - has a Kmart, Albertson's and Reynold's markets), Richland County (main town: Sidney - has a Pamida, Reynold's and one other large grocery store) or Custer County (Main town Miles City has a Walmart, Reynolds, Albertson's).

Except for a few spots on the highway, most everywhere has cell service...and if your hubby's in retail Alltel in Glendive seems to have trouble with competent staff. The area has both Qwest as well as Midrivers phone cooperative. Check their website as well.....they are a good, stable company. Farther up north you run into Nemont telephone cooperative, also a good stable company and profitable for members.

Your attitude is perfect for the Glendive area, where I live and the people welcome newcomers with open arms who want to embrace the way of life here. Lots of rodeos...county fairs....4H and child-friendly places as well as good schools.

My closest friends moved here from North Caroline..with accents and my pastor and his wife came here from the south a year ago..so accents are embraced.

Hope this helps!

[RamblinRoseRanch]

Thanks, y'all. Alright, I'm OK ya can't just throw that out there- where are you from? lol
Heart- the dry air is actually better for me. I'm one of those rare backwards asthmatics. :0) We thought that the dust here might bother me, but so far, so good. My breathing in TN was so bad, I was a few months away from oxygen and here i'm normal again.
Thanks, Emilie. It's good to know accent persecution doesn't encompass the whole southwest. Not that everyone has made fun of all of us, but it's enough to notice. The funnny ones are when someone comes up and asks us to talk, just because they think it's cool. My boss's son wants to move to TN to sing because EVERYONE there sings, right?

[Reziac]

You'll probably want to stay out of the mountains and river valleys, it can get foggy and damp. Plains/prairie is more steadily low humidity, tho dustier.

Accents are fun, and often historically interesting. What we think of today as a hillbilly accent was an educated Elizabethan accent 400 years ago, so one might argue that these regional accents have actually done a better job of preserving classical Shakespearean English! There are parts of eastern Montana where folks still have a very definite drawl, the sort that sounds perfectly natural saying, "Y'all come back soon, y'hear?" It's a very comfortable way of speaking, not to mention easy on the ears. -- Lots of people, myself included, tend to naturally mimic accents of folks they enjoy being around, so don't take that as mockery if someone falls into doing it. (If I moved to Australia, in two weeks I'd sound just like 'em!)

Is everyone in TN Lutheran? Isn't that how you tell Lutherans, by the casseroles and singing (http://www.saintmark.info/html/lutheran_humor.html - broken link)??
(Having been raised Lutheran, I think that's utterly hilarious, cuz it's so dead-on!)

[RamblinRoseRanch]

Well, Reziac.... I was born and raised (until age 13 anyway) in Eastern Kentucky. Yeah, the one detailed in the tv program... I forget the one, but it wasn't too long ago-showed 'em all as barefooted backwards hillbillies. Spent the next 20 years on TN. So i'm of a hybrid accent, I guess. In both places I get "Yew don't sound like yur frum around heer."

Nope, TN definitely Baptist by nature. :-) Me, i'm more non denominational and of the "those that preach it the loudest need it the most" camp. :-)

Dust is something that NM has plenty of- closing the windows just slows it down. I do have to shake it off the sheets before goin' to bed at night- crunchy bed clothes are one thing I draw the line at!

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by RamblinRoseRanch

Well, Reziac.... I was born and raised (until age 13 anyway) in Eastern Kentucky. Yeah, the one detailed in the tv program... I forget the one, but it wasn't too long ago-showed 'em all as barefooted backwards hillbillies. Spent the next 20 years on TN. So i'm of a hybrid accent, I guess. In both places I get "Yew don't sound like yur frum around heer."

LOL!! Oooh, I can imagine that conversation...
"She ain't fro' 'round heer!"
"Welp, she ain't frum 'roun' heeeer eeetha!"
"Must be one o' them aliens, fell fro' the sky or sommat like."
"Dang, I thought them aliens only came down the Innerstate from Virginny!"
"They's from Warshington, you dumb hick!!"
And then the rolling pins came out.

As to footgear or lack of it -- northern kids shed their shoes the moment they can do so in the spring -- so probably spend more time barefoot than southern kids!!

Originally Posted by RamblinRoseRanch

Nope, TN definitely Baptist by nature. :-) Me, i'm more non denominational and of the "those that preach it the loudest need it the most" camp. :-)

Heh heh, agree with ya there

Originally Posted by RamblinRoseRanch

Dust is something that NM has plenty of- closing the windows just slows it down. I do have to shake it off the sheets before goin' to bed at night- crunchy bed clothes are one thing I draw the line at!

No cookies in bed for you I'm out in the sand desert myself -- doesn't blow around (anything that could be lifted by the wind is long since in Texas) but it tracks in, so there are sand dunes by my front door. Good thing my carpet is the same colour as the sand!

[mtlogger]

You need high altitude, low humidity with no dust - whew!

Only places in MT that come to mind are along the high line (US2) or MT200.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by mtlogger

You need high altitude, low humidity with no dust - whew!

Only places in MT that come to mind are along the high line (US2) or MT200.

Can't beat the beauty along the two rivers, but there's a problem with cell reception in several places on 2 and 200!