The Old West still exists . . .

. . . and it's not as cool or romantic as it appears on Tombstone or Lonesome Dove, at least not the majority of the time.

I do admit to loving Tombstone too. I'm married to a guy who's been said to look like Doc/Val Kilmer, one more reason to love the show. Then there's the fact that there was a Tombstone/Wyatt Earp marathon on the History Channel my husband watched while I was in the hospital having my son. Oh, the memories. I guess you could say Tombstone has had an impact on all that matters in my life.

Anyway, here's a bit of history for you that's not quite history, it's present day. I had no idea jobs and places like this still existed and I grew up in a farming/ranching community. My cowboy, when he was a junior in high school, decided to go live in a sheep camp in the middle of nowhere for a year. Here's what a sheep camp looks like if you're not familiar.

Yep, that's right. He lived in something like that for about a year. There's no running water inside and no electricity. He had a wood stove to cook on and to heat the place and an outside spigot he pumped to give the cattle water and to provide water for his own use. He chopped wood everyday for his heat supply and had a huge metal bowl that he filled from the outdoor spigot he used to wash his dishes in. He home schooled during this time and learned to play the guitar.

He was hired to live out in no-man's-land to keep an eye on the cattle, doctor sick ones and pump the water regularly so they had a water supply. He had no communication with the outside world besides a two-way CB radio. He'd go home on Sundays to see his family, shower and go to church. It was a two hour drive across mostly dirt roads to get to his own family's ranch. His groceries were delivered to him by the people that had hired him. About every two weeks they'd call him on his CB radio and ask what he wanted from the grocery store that would last him the next few weeks. He had to call in on the radio each morning at six a.m. to report that he was still alive and that all was well with the cattle in his charge. Yep, I'm married to this guy in real life. Pretty sexy, huh? He's been a cowboy, a firefighter and is now a pilot. I know, every 'hot' job my guy's done. 'Course the only thing sexy about the wild-land-firefighter and sheep-camp-living cowboy job is he's now done with them, got the sex appeal and now I don't have to live like that, which in the end does make the whole thing pretty cool. The sheep camp experience happened about 12 years ago.

Even though it's been 12 years since that experience was present day these stories still exist. They really do have what they call 'buckaroos' on Nevada ranches. No, buckaroo is not just the slang term for your neighbor's kid when you can't remember their real name, like I always thought. Buckaroos just move around from ranch to ranch, live in the bunkhouses (yep, like the ones in Young Guns with no running water), don't necessarily get showers, eat what the camp cook cooks and usually are paid far less than minimum wage. ($500 a month is not unheard of, but it's OK because they're provided food and lodging . . yea right. Still not OK in my book, but that's just me.) Seriously, this really happens in real life today.

Here's another real life story that happened just last week to show the Old West still exists. My cowboy's little sister is a pretty handy ranch hand. She's a hard worker and knows a lot about cattle. She's quite a catch for you single cowboys out there. You do have to be taller than she is, which is kind of a feet since she's six foot and you'll have to work hard to catch her to be eligible, but all besides the point. Anyway, a family friend who manages a ranch broke his ankle badly (by being run over by a cow) and is on bed rest. His wife is trying to run the ranch which consists of 900 head of cattle by herself. Sis was hired to go work for them and help out. Her living arrangements agreed on at hire were she lived in a tack room (a room in the barn where they keep saddles, bridles etc. which are notorious for rodent problems). The tack room was furnished with a mini fridge, some shelves, a cot, a microwave and a space heater. She had an old fashioned outhouse for toiletries, not even a port-a-john but a hole in the ground with a shack around it. Yes those too still exist. Her water supply for everything from brushing her teeth and washing her dishes to drinking water was the same spigot and outdoor sink used to prepare medicine for sick calves, wash those sick calves' bottles and was out in the elements where who knows what could get in and around that sink. The ranch manager who lives out at this place in a trailer house was kind enough to say she could use their shower if it was necessary. Seriously, this is a 18-year-old girl born and raised in America living like this. Unfortunately (or VERY fortunately depending on your view point) her foray with the Old West came to an end when she came to our home for a hot shower and home cooked meal. We're the closest relatives with indoor plumbing (and we're a 45 minute drive away). Poor girl didn't look great when she got to our place and said she didn't want much for dinner. Shortly after sitting down to the table she became violently ill. She ended up camping out on our couch for 3 days deathly ill with E. Coli which I'm sure was contracted from that icky, cow germ infested sink, her only source of water. I've NEVER seen anyone that sick. All I could think about was how glad I was that she wasn't out in the boondocks with no hot running water that ill. Can you say, 'death-on-a-stick?' Luckily all is well now. She's feeling better and is back at home at her parent's ranch where although she works with cattle daily she gets all the amenities of modern living.

So, if you still think living the Old West Tombstone/Young Guns lifestyle would be the thing to do there are opportunities for you out there. But if you're like me you'll realize the movies are cool, but opt to leave that kind of fun to the movie stars. (And if you're super lucky like me, you'll marry Doc's look alike.)