Montana is the best state in the United States. I have not visited all of the states, but I don’t think that is necessary to come to this conclusion. So thanks, Montana. Thanks for letting me spend the last twenty-one years here. Thanks for letting me be a part of the place that so few people get to call home. Thanks for all of the incredible sunrises and the breathtaking sunsets. Thanks for being a place that I can call my own. Montanan pride is real, and it is for good reason too.

Thanks Montana for…

1. Being a TOTAL BABE.

Glacier National Park? Gorgeous

Yellowstone National Park? Gorgeous.

Missoula? Gorgeous

Bozeman? Gorgeous

Flathead Lake? Gorgeous

Everywhere else in Montana? Gorgeous.

Looks aren’t everything. But still, "you lookin’ good," Montana.

2. Wheat Montana.

They make bomb sandwiches and other baked goods.

3. Having NO sales tax.

Because when I go to the store, I know how much an item is going to be --without doing some basic math that I’m not capable of doing.

4. Allowing residents to witness how incredible nature is; as well as teaching them how to appreciate it.

When you are raised hunting, fishing, and hiking you learn to respect the natural world at an early age.

5. A community of people that are supportive and caring.

Montana is full of people that will help others whenever they are in need.

6. Being enormous.

There’s so much room for activities.

7. Good books.

Books are good. This House of Sky by Ivan Doig, Indian Creek Chronicles by Pete Fromm, and A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean are all awesome Montana books.

8. Good beer.

Moose Drool Brown Ale, Coldsmoke Scotch Ale, Big Sky IPA, and the list goes on.

9. Being oddly obsessed with all things huckleberry.

I dunno. Cuz it tastes good.

10. Being home to the Cowboy Capital of the world.

Hey, Miles City.

11. Lookin’ good even when it is negative one million degrees and there are sixty-two feet of snow.

I mean shiver me timbers, but snow activities are cool.

12. Having the largest observed snowflake.

Get on our level. 15 inches wide. I really don’t know how that happens, but I won’t question it.

13. Butte.

What a weird, weird place…in a good way. It's a place that is like your weird aunt or uncle that you love very much.

14. Giving us a variety of weather.

Snow in April? Check. 110 degrees in July? Check.

15. Having so few people.

People always complicate things. Elk are easier to get along with.

16. Wilcoxson’s ice cream.

That’s some damn good ice cream.

17. Being the inspiration behind some pretty cool songs.

Marie Osmond and Dan Seal’s “Meet Me in Montana,” Jon Denver and Emmylou Harris’s “Wild Montana Skies,” Jewel’s “The Missoula Song,” and John Mayer’s album “Paradise Valley”

18. Being the home to the most grizzly bears out of all the lower 48 states.

Grizzly bears are cool.

19. Being great.

Words can never really do Montana justice. It is incredible in its own simple and unasked-for way.