Whew! What a week! We are just wrapping up "cookie season" at Big Sky, which is a relief. We distribute the Girl Scout Cookies throughout the western half of Montana, which is a huge job. There are approximately 40,000 (that's 8 full semi loads!) cases that we receive into our warehouse on pallets and break down into individual orders for each town/city. Each order has to be hand stacked in the trucks; some of the runs are done with smaller trucks and others are done in full size semi trucks/trailers.

Vern is the cookie KING! He knows exactly how to stack the cases so they fit tightly, how many cases he can fit on each truck or trailer, and how to plan the routes in the most efficient, cost-effective ways. Believe me, it isn't nearly as easy as it may sound! Each and every town, big or small, gets a hand stacked and delivered order. For example: we drive to Lincoln and drop off 10 cases of Thin Mints, 15 cases of Samoas, 3 cases of Lemon Cremes, etc. etc. Then off to Seeley Lake to deliver their "custom" order. Some of the places we have to deliver can be very challenging to get into with a semi truck; expecially when there is snow, ice, or mud. The larger cities are a bit easier because they get so many cases, they usually end up having them delivered to a warehouse or large storage unit rather than each leader's home. With these larger orders, we are able to leave some of the cookies palletized and thake them off with a forklift, which is really nice.

Every year, Vern, Trevor, and I take the route that goes up through Seeley Lake, Kalispell, Libby (because his parents live there) then down through the Thompson Falls Valley to home...(many little towns in between not named...approximately 12-15 towns in all). This route consists of over 5,000 cases and fills the entire trailer (53 feet). The route takes about 3-4 days of very HARD running...just go, go go! We always take an extra day to spend in Libby to visit Vern's parents and sneak up to Turner Mountain to ski, which makes it fun.

I love cookie season because it is one of the very rare opportunities I get to leave town and drive. I also love to drive the truck on crappy, icy roads because it is great experience for me. Even though it is very hard work and the schedule is a bit stressful, I really enjoy "our run" because most of the leaders have known us for years and we have built a rapport with them. They always comment on how big Trevor is getting and how fun it is to see him grow. Trevor is a hard little worker and an expert cookie handler (he started when he was 3). He can handle cookies better than some of the adults! The three of us have a system; together, we are like a well oiled machine.

Anyway, goodbye to another cookie season; I'm not sure if there will be another one or not because of the financial condition of Big Sky. Actually, last year was supposed to be the last because Big Sky was only 3 months away from being taken over by another agent. The sale fell through at the very last minute, which was devastating. On the way home from our run last year, I cried all the way from Bowman's Corner to Great Falls because I was so sad that I would never get to do another cookie run, would probably never drive truck again (further than accross town) and mostly because my little boy would never get to go on a cookie run again. We'll see what next year brings; I just try not to think about it too much.