Easter Island + Philipsburg, Montana
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We did the first show of our #10KDrivewayTour in Greensboro, North Carolina at the home of one of our 10K Dollar Baes and previous 10K Saturday guest, Michael Tourek! You can watch the video episode here!
Alison is obsessed with the BlackMagic 4K Pocket Cinema Camera that we purchased to film the live 10K episodes of our #10KDrivewayTour and footage for our forthcoming travel web series, Live From Blank. She feels so tech savvy after setting it up a few times!
Lulu is obsessed with Shana Tucker, the magnetic singer/songwriter cellist that they saw perform live recently.
Alison is really wishes they had a roadie for this driveway tour, because MAN this is a lot of work! Speaking a lot of work, Lulu is already feeling the need for a massage on this long driving tour without a roadie to assist.
Lulu is exploring Easter Island this week, the most isolated inhabited place on earth. It can only be reached by a twice-daily flight from Santiago, Chile on Latam Airways, and sometimes by a layover from Tahiti. It's a five hour flight to get to the 63 square mile island, called Rapa Nui in its native language.
While there Lulu is staying at the Hangaroa Eco Village and Spa, whose philosophy is to deliver unique experiences and support the environment and local culture through their approach to design, decor, and sustainability. There are two types of rooms you can reserve, and Lulu chooses the Maunga double height room, which she thinks looks like a very posh hobbit house, but spacious thanks to their open floor plan and some nature-luxe design elements. Think cypress lining the ceilings, large soaking tubs made from clay, and volcanic stone framing the bed. The room is picturesque, as is the private terrace overlooking the sea!
The one thing the room does not have is a TV, because they "seek disconnection and to concentrate the senses in experiencing the wonders of Rapa Nui” at Hangaroa.
A quick bite for breakfast at the hotel and a stop to get a car rental and Lulu is ready to begin her day! She goes in search of the famed Moai (mo-eye) statues, megaliths that were carved from volcanic rock to honor chieftains and other important figures constructed around 1200-1600 AD. You may be picturing the heads…but did you know they have bodies that are now underground? These things weigh close to 50 tons each…and there are over 800 of them across 60+ miles (96+ km). Since all of them are made from volcanic rock in Rano Raraku, a volcanic crater, that means some of them were transported great distances once finished! Oral tradition claims the statues did this by walking. In reality they were probably walked by rocking back and forth by the artisans, but STILL, that is some serious effort. After this excursion Lulu stops at the local Hanga Roa post office to get a souvenir passport stamp that looks like a Moai, a small donation/tip is appreciated!
Lulu stops at Au Bout du Monde for lunch, which is a Belgian-French-Polynesian-Rapa Nui fusion restaurant. We’re not really sure what that means, but Lulu is hoping for some fresh seafood from right there in Rap Nui, with some Polynesian flavors, and a bit of French presentation?
After her lunch Lulu does shops for a souvenir, dropping nearly $1300 on this 7-ft tall Tiki Totem featuring Moai and Big Kahuna. Carved out of a solid palm tree from Easter Island, it’s the “perfect tiki for any tiki collector or for the tropical home”, so souvenir game is strong with this one.
Next is a visit to the historic Orongo Village which while not as spectacular a sight as the Moai, is a must-visit for anyone interested in culture and fascinating origin stories. Orongo is a ceremonial town built for the purpose of the Tangata Ranu competition. After a time of transition of power from chiefs and priests to the warrior class, new societal and religious rules and culture came to prominence. The Birdman "cult" held a competition where each village would send a representative in an island-wide climbing and swimming match to collect the first bird egg of the season. The winning tribe would be granted certain rights over the island for the following year. Orongo has some breathtaking views and offers a unique glance into a very specific time in the history of Easter Island.
Next Lulu decides to do something she would never do in real life, and she gets a tattoo. Andres “Panda” Pakariti has been tattooing Polynesian-style art for over 25 years, his work is very complex! But Lulu wants a tiny tattoo…has she ever seen Polynesian tattoos, or art, or anything? Usually a half- or full-sleeve, or leg, or a chest piece…these tattoos are not usually…petite. But she wants what she wants and is going to pay him for the tiniest version he can do. She wants to document this experience, so she spends $1995 on the Blackmagic 6K Pocket Cinema Camera, plus another $1000 on accessories like a grip and cage. We just got the 4K in real life to film our current #10KDrivewayTour and our forthcoming web series. Then she is going to get our bae and professional videographer Gregg Monteith to make her tattoo-getting footage look really awesome.
Alison is going to The Ranch at Rock Creek, whose website states it is "The World's First Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star Ranch", which is a lot of words strung together that leave us feeling oh-so-impressed. You can stay on-site in the lodge, in glamping cabins, or in luxury homes sprawled across this spacious ranch where luxury meets the outdoors. This sprawling ranch claims to “balance Western adventure with lavish all-inclusive amenities”, and we think that may be underselling this majestic getaway. Alison opts to book the Original Homestead Barn which is a remodeled 19th-century barn surrounded by wildflowers. The barn actually consists of three accommodations that can be reserved together, for larger groups, and so she’s going to bring the audience from this live recording with her. The Loft is a 700 square foot space with a king bed, a sipper tub with a view, and a gaming table in the living area. This is not your average one-room accommodation. The Wrangler is a cozy couples hideaway in the corner of the building, and The Stables were originally just that, and now with a king size bed and two sets of bunk beds, can lodge a different type of herd.
Getting around the ranch is easy with the personal mountain bike per person included with your booking, and Alison discovered that there is such a thing as a cowboy hat bike helmet! Okay, it’s actually for rodeo-type horse riding professionals who want to look the part while still being protected…but we’re going to make it work as we bike around the ranch.
Also included in your stay is your breakfast (and your lunch, and your dinner), as well as a delivery of fresh pastries, coffee, and tea right to your door every morning!
Alison is so excited to embrace the western dude ranch life, as TWO daily ranch adventures are included in your booking. They even have a handy search filter on the website page devoted to on-site ranch activities, where you select the season and then pick from categories "Romance", "Family", and "Corporate". Or you can just look through all of them and get inspired to take a trip here every season!
Alison selected the Photography Workshop & Scavenger Hunt for her group to participate in. They have you download a scavenger hunt onto your smart phone then send you off into their 6,600-acre "photography studio" - aka the great outdoors - to capture Southwest Montana’s terrain and wildlife. They even provide you with Sony mirrorless digital cameras! They did not mention prizes for this hunt and so Alison buys a pony from Equine.com that will go to the winner!
Next it is time for the group to learn some Frontier Skills! The Ranch’s own advanced trained outdoorspeople teach the basic skills required to survive overnight in the wilderness, such as sourcing clean water, setting snares to catch small animals for food, starting a fire, and building a shelter. This is just good to know in general, so Alison bought her and her guests each a Hero9 GoPro ($349.98 USD, each) and headstrap ( $19.99 USD, each) so that they can capture footage handsfree, to be edited together later. They'll have some memories to share and can brush up on the skills they learned by watching prior to any future adventures in the wild!
With all this adventure under their belt, it's time for the group to eat some lunch in the Buckle Barn. A Copper City Chop sandwich, a Montana wagyu beef burger, or a fresh salad and sweet potato sandwich, there are options for any dietary needs or restrictions, and all is included in the price of your stay!
A stop by the outdoor heated pool and hot tub is a must before heading to the spa for a massage in a creekside covered wagon! You pay a $200 fee for the upgrade to the covered wagon, in addition to the price of he massage of your choice. They have a CBD oil massage, a hydration wrap, and reflexology offerings, all of which would be good after the adventurous day this group has had!
Now for the good stuff. Every night between 5 and 7pm, they have a service where they bring the bar to you at your accommodation. Their bartenders craft seasonal cocktails and select local beers and delicious wines and bring them right to your door! How incredible is that?
Now for some dinner, and their dining options do not disappoint. Each day of the week has a different dining offering, like a tasting menu, supper club style, a craft beer dinner, or Alison's choice, Wednesdays in Winter's Northwest Barbeque & S’mores. A feast of smoked meats and chili spiced oysters served in dutch ovens followed by s'mores!
Feeling like an on-brand end to the evening, the group sits around the fire with some more drinks, an acoustic guitar, and some gazing into the night sky.
This place is for real on Alison's in real life bucket list, as she barely scratched the surface of all there is to do here at the Rock Creek Ranch. There is the Silver Dollar Saloon, with bowling alley, billiards, a private movie theater. There are sip 'n shop events at the Mercantile where you can get custom fitted cowboy hats and boots. Then there's the plethora of activities not mentioned above, like fishing, skiing, horseback riding, and archery, to name just a few.
CHECK OUT THE CHARITIES WE FOUND IN THE CITIES WE VISITED:
Granite County Medical Foundation
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