Alaska Bound…

Sunday, September 18

Surprise! We weren’t sure if we would be able to do a last day blog, but we can and are!  We left Cheney Washington this morning around 9am and headed West, homeward bound. We crossed open plains that were golden brown, and then entered into the county that is the largest producers of potatoes in the US, Grant County. There were fields of potatoes, corn and green beans that we could recognize. There were other produce fields, but they remain a mystery.  We rain into small rainstorms, but mostly sunshine.  We communicated on the trip with CB radio and we were able to keep in contact regarding stops, fuel prices, where the heck are we….those types of communications!  This afternoon we caught a radio user who was bouncing off the clouds and from his accent and one-sided conversation was not from these parts.  He always ended his chat with “quack quack, sure ya know I be the best thing to happen to ya”…and that’s all we can capture here without an adult rating. We stopped in just after the Vantage Bridge for an early lunch. They had a “concert menu”, and were still serving breakfast – but they only had scrambled eggs, any other type would take too long to cook.  We found out that there had been a concert at the Gorge, Zach Brown Band. Lots of vehicles heading back home, most looked like they probably attended the concert.  We made one last stop at a huge fruit stand in Thorpe. We bought peaches (had been looking for fresh peaches since day one of the trip but the harvest was late due to the weather), they were $8.50 for a box.  Kim picked up a couple of doughnut peaches – 39 cents for three.  Uncle Harold and Auntie Reva also got a box of peaches which Auntie Reva cans, hope she will give lessons on the process! They also got some onions.  We were also looking to buy some corn, but we had heard that due to a disease that was killing the bats that kept the bugs off the corn in the fields, most of the corn was attacked by bugs and the harvesting was very small. Kim and Uncle Harold packed the box of peaches to Uncle Harold and Auntie Reva’s rig, this place was a zoo!  There was very little parking, lines to check out and no shopping carts left!  We were lucky and had found parking, were in a newly opened checkout lane and had grabbed a cart.  There were a slew of motorcycles as well as a tour bus, made driving around there a bit of a challenge. Auntie Reva shared that the Zach Brown Band bus passed them on the road, guess that means Auntie Reva is a Zach Band Roadie – literally!  We were back on the road within 30 minutes and ran into a rainstorm. We had said our goodbyes at the fruit stand as we were parting company. What a great time with such a great group, always up for an adventure, always smiling or laughing…..never a boring day or night! We will remember this trip for a long time, hope you will too!  Who knows what the next trip will bring, maybe heading South towards Utah to see Bryce Canyon, or maybe to Mt. Rushmore, or there’s always the Grand Canyon……camping anywhere, anytime…..Life is Good!  Thanks for “riding” along by reading the blog, we enjoyed recapturing the days and sharing…til the next time, be safe, be healthy and be happy! Hugs!

Saturday, September 17

We slept in til after 8:30am, must have been because the weather has changed. It’s much cooler today with overcast skies. The high today was about 62, big difference from the temperatures earlier in the trip that went as high as 97. We would wake up by the warmth of an early sun, and when it’s this cool, one does not want to get up. Today was spent driving through parts of Spokane and the afternoon we stopped in at the Kalispel Tribe of Indians Casino. We played for a bit and some of us won, some didn’t. We had lunch at the Fatburger where they take your order and the cashier yells it out to the staff, the staff repeats it back. When the end of your order has been taken, the cashier yells out “that’s it”, and the staff yells back “thank you”. While we ate our lunch, we had free entertainment. Back to camp to relax, read or take a nap. We had signed up for the steak and salmon dinner tonight, so around 5:15pm we walked to the clubhouse and had a good dinner – they have hosts who cook your steak to order and have too much food on your plate for one meal. A short walk back to our trailers felt good, the weather cool and Uncle Harold and Auntie Reva played hosts for the after dinner movie. We watched Due Date with Robert Downey Jr. If you haven’t seen it, don’t. If you’ve seen it, we are so sorry! There were a few moments that caused us to smile, but mostly we grimaced through the movie, and then laughed after it was done because we couldn’t believe we had watched the whole thing! A nice evening to bring closure to a great trip. We have seen some amazing things, have laughed every day and enjoyed just having this time to share with each other. We will be leaving tomorrow and heading home. The weather says it’s going to rain, but we have high hopes for at least just overcast skies. Besides photos from today’s adventure, we have some pictures from past days that we did not attach due to time constraints or space constraints. Some of them include the following, not in any particular order: The Mountain Goat was not seen in Glacier National Park, although the Park is best known for those as they are an icon of the Park. Kim bbqing pork chops on Friday night. A can of Moose Drool, actually not such a bad tasting beer. A sign of work at the Lake McDonald Lodge. Kim finding her next RV -a teepee! Auntie Reva bundled up! Uncle Harold captured the moon over Lake Osoyoos. Uncle Harold determining which way the river was running.  Took another look at the photos taken during the last twelve days, and we realize how much we’ve seen. We have met new people (left most of them with smiles), traveled into new towns, toured Glacier National Park in a bright 1936 Red Bus, casted a few lines into the rivers, had s’mores, walked along lakes and rivers, and laughed a lot! We have traveled many miles together and loved every minute of it! Would we do it again? Absolutely!! Where would we go? Now, that’s the question — gather up the maps and look out, we will be doing this again and invite you to join us via the blog! So as Roy and Dale would say…..happy trails to you….until we meet again….!!!

Friday, September 16

We woke up still in Haugan, Montana ($50,000.00 Silver Dollar Bar) this morning around 8:30am. We prepared to leave and had to go into search mode. Kim had lost a $50.00 bill. We searched the campground and area close but found nothing. We started driving, our stop today would be Cheney Washington. We drove over Look Out Pass and it’s covered with dense green pine trees, a spot now and then of fall colors. It’s happening, summer is winding down quickly and fall is taking its place. This morning it was around 48 and warmed up to 68. There were blue skies with a few wisps of white clouds. We looked for a spot to have breakfast. Our first attempt was at Mullan. We passed by three cafes, but all were boarded up, closed permanently. The town of Mullan looks to be slowly disappearing, there were no gas stations, restaurants, taverns or grocery stores open, all had closed signs or the windows were boarded up. We got back on Interstate 90 and exited at the next small town, Wallace. Wallace is called the Silver Capital of the World and it is open! There are active businesses, post office, taverns, tourist activities and more with their doors open and lights on! There are two downhill ski areas. Lookout Pass, Idaho’s second oldest ski area and Silver Mountain which has the world’s longest gondola that takes you to the slopes. All other winter sports can be found here. Found within the town itself are multiple museums, Northern Pacific Depot Railroad museum, Wallace District Mining Museum and the Oasis Bordello Museum. Wallace also offers tours of the Sierra Silver Mine and the Pulaski Tunnel. We found a place for breakfast in Wallace called The 1313 Club. How did the 1313 Club get its name? There are a couple of different stories. The most popular is the fact that the original bar area was 13 feet high by 13 feet wide. The other story is that when they opened there were now 13 bars and 13 brothels in Wallace. The building was built in 1891 and has interesting decor – almost like being in a taxidermist’s display area! When we were wondering where to have breakfast (a tossup between a couple of places), a local was out walking her dogs so Reva asked where to have breakfast. The local recommended The 1313 Club, and rightfully so – great breakfast! Wallace was a fun town to walk through, enjoyed the historic buildings and the mining industry still alive in the form of old time photos, historical documentation and actual mining tools. If you are in the area, swing by!  We continued on I90 and as we were driving over 4th of July Pass, a red pickup truck drove by us with an Elk in the back! Bonnie yelled out “look at the moose in the back of the truck!” Ok, because it was such a large animal and that it was the first sign of wildlife (besides wild turkeys and squirrels) that Bonnie had seen, she assumed it could be a moose, but it wasn’t, still impressive.  We came down the pass and started the drive along Coeur D’Alene, what a sight! Not too many boaters on the water and the boat moorage docks looked almost empty, the area is prepping for winter. We arrived in Cheney Washington around noon and found our way to Ponderosa Falls Resort. When we were checking in, Kim was standing next to the counter and reached into her back pocket and found her $50 bill, she was extremely pleased!!  This is a nice RV park complete with more perks than we’ve seen in a long time. We have full hookup facilities in addition to the indoor heated pool, hot tub, spa, exercise room, game room with pool table, play area (you have to see the pictures to understand that some of us are still just kids) and Laundromat. We got laundry done, had hot showers and had a great dinner! We watched a movie and called it a night around 9:30pm – however, some of us thought we were still on Montana time and that instead of 9:30, it was 10:30! Finally, all of us are on the same time! We called it a night and settled in. Outside it’s feels like fall, cold and crisp with clear skies and the moon casting shadows. Another amazing day that was filled with new adventures, new sights, lots of laughter and fun, can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Thursday, September 15

We packed up and said goodbye to Glacier National Park. What a fabulous time we enjoyed at this park and recommend to all! We ran into a Montana rainstorm for about 2min and it cleared up, but still overcast. We headed towards Kalispell and stopped at a Les Schwab’s because Kim thought she had a low tire (driver’s side, rear tire). Bonnie walked into the store and explained the situation and was told that there were 3 requests ahead but they would call our name when it was our turn, about 30minutes. After reporting to Kim and Uncle Harold, Bonnie went over to Reva to give her the update. Walking back to Kim’s truck, Bonnie saw Uncle Harold and Kim walking with Jesse, a Les Schwab technician. Only 8 minutes had passed, and in that 8 minutes Kim and Uncle Harold had gotten help and got popcorn! Jesse took a look, gave us the good to go approval. Bonnie asked Kim how did they get immediate attention when she was told there was a wait list. Kim said that how things happen for her, she’s a winner again! We drove down Highway 2 passing through Kalispell where the County Courthouse is in the middle of the town, you can’t miss it. They had signs up that stated all prisoners must be handcuffed behind their backs! We were sure not to go over the speed limit in Kalispell! We took Highway 93 that ran along the Flathead Lake. This lake is so large and looks as if it is part of the ocean. Along the way, Uncle Harold stopped for diesel and behind the gas station there was a casino that had a sign stating “win up to $800!” That got a chuckle out of Kim, “only $800??”. We continued on and enjoyed the views as we passed through small towns on the water edge. We went through Rollins, Polson and then we left the lake behind and went on to Ronan. We stopped at Ronan’s Cafe one block off of Hwy 93. Great cafe – food was exceptional and the cafe is very clean! They have bakery items that are made onsite as well as all of the bread items (hamburger buns, sandwich breads, French dip rolls). The bakery smells got our attention as did the wait staff. They were women dressed in long skirts with aprons and their hair was pulled back tight into a small cap. Kim did a Yelp search (website that provides reviews) and found out that this cafe was run by Quakers. In addition to the Quakers, directly seated behind our table was a women in her late 60′s. She wasn’t a Quaker, but we aren’t sure what she was. She had a quiet but very active conversation with her lunch partner. Talking about the time, what has been going on lately, how hungry she was and when the food arrived, asked if her partner would like to try some of her fries.  Nothing out of the ordinary with the exception ….. she was sitting by herself. The conversation was one-sided to our ears, but to her, it was very normal.  Made this stop more interesting.  It could have been even more interesting if Auntie Reva and Bonnie got in trouble for soliciting. Just prior to leaving the cafe it started to rain, and then a downpour! Uncle Harold and Kim went to get the trucks which were parked about 3 blocks away and Auntie Reva and Bonnie went across the street to stand underneath a green awning to stay out of the rain and wait for their rides. They had the “to go” pie slices in hand and were on main street, the only women standing on the corner with pie in hand. Then a local police car pulled into a parking spot just a few yards away as if to keep an eye on the women soliciting with pie!  Anyway, if you are near Ronan, we recommend you stop for breakfast, lunch or dinner and enjoy! We did spoil ourselves by buying “to go” slices of pie, triple berry, lemon cream and a coconut cream to have with our dinners. We stopped at a local grocery store shortly after at St. Ignatius and we saw more Quakers. The children were dressed in suspenders and the women in the long skirt and apron that we had seen at the cafe. After leaving, our drive took us to Highway 135 that went along side the Flathead River. This area had the gorgeous river, green and bright golden brown pastures, rolling foothills sprinkled lightly with dark green Ponderosa Pines that reached up to the rugged and dark mountains. This area is beautiful in its own way. Bonnie rolled down the window to get better shots, then inched slowly out further to get even better shots and then she was hanging out of the window with camera in one hand and the other holding onto the grab handle, clicking away. She managed to take over 30 photos, no worries, she’s fine, a few bugs on her teeth. She was carried away by the scenery, we all were! We had gone from cloudy and a cool 57 to clear blue skies and 76 at our next stop where even more photos were taken along the river. We chatted with a mother and daughter who had stopped on the side of the road to have their lunch. They were from Calgary and were heading back home after a 2 week vacation. They were amazed as we were of the country side.  After a bit more driving, we were tired and some of it was due to yesterday’s early and long day.  We stopped for the night along the highway at the $50,000.00 Silver Dollar Bar. This bar has sliver (and some gold) dollars under plexiglass for all to view. They are at the bar, on the walls and most have a small label under the dollar stating who participated. At this time, they are up to $58,762.00, almost time to change the billboards that announce you are only a mile away!  We have power, but no other hookup facilities, and we’re behind the bar – wait, that doesn’t sound right – we are at the free rv parking area that is located behind the facility – much better description, don’t you think? We will head to Cheney, Washington tomorrow and spend the last two nights there before making the last drive over a pass, down a highway, passing lakes and rivers and enjoying the views. A trip like this is always exciting, from the “maybe we should..” to the first planning session and then the day of going the first mile down the road. All of this and more make trips our cherished memories. Here’s a toast to the last part of this trip and a toast to the  ”maybe we should….” for the next trip!

Wednesday, September 14

This was an early morning start. We had reservations for a tour that started from Lake McDonald Lodge. The tour was called the Crown of the Continent and was an 8 hour tour. It departed from Lake McDonald at 9am and we needed to be at the Lodge to check in by 8:30am. We weren’t sure how far away it was or what type of road we’d be traveling, so we allowed for an hour (and a little more) to ensure we didn’t miss our bus.  Up and out of camp by 7:45am. We arrived about 8:30am at the Lodge. The Lodge is on Lake McDonald and the view is expansive. The story is that the builders working on the McDonald Lodge were able to complete construction ahead of schedule because when the lake froze, they transported their lumber over the lake! The Lodge is very rustic and has facilities for all of their staff onsite (dorms for staff). Staff works through the summer and then time to pack up, and prepare the Lodge for winter.  We met our Red Bus Tour guide, Benny, and hoped on board. There are bench seats that go across the length (from side to side) comfortable and seats four. The Red Buses have been providing visitors tours for 75 years. The buses were built by White Motor Company of Cleveland, Ohio and have been kept in immaculate shape over the past 75 years! The drivers of the buses are called “Jammers”. The name is carried over from the early days when the buses had standard transmission and as they drove up and down the rugged mountain highway, the drivers could be heard “jamming” the gears as they drove. We started out on the “Going-to-the-Sun” Road that is currently under construction. This road is considered on the most fantastic drives in the U.S.  The Sun road is on the National Register of Historic Places. Just before we left the Lodge, the roof cover was removed! We were going to be traveling topless!!  We started our tour with a steep ascent up the Continental Divide. The road gained elevation to a steep switchback called The Loop and we continued on a narrow two lane road up to Logan Pass, elevation 6,680 feet.  Going topless has its benefits, you have great observation along the ride, it also has some downfalls, you have great observations along the ride, like huge boulders just over your head peeking in! You have spectacular views of the mountains and can see the variety of colors (red, green, yellow) in the rock. We found out that the Logan Pass had a few snow flurries already and that the road we were touring on would be closed on September 18th to hopefully finish up the construction and beat the first major winter snow storm. When it snows, you can’t tell the mountain sides from the roads! When they try to clear 35 to 40 feet of snow off the roads in the spring, they have to also clear the debris (rocks and trees) that the avalanches bring down.  On a good day, they can clear 1.5 miles of road. The drive up was exciting but cold. We shared a blanket that was provided, and had sweatshirts, but the air was very cold! When the sun would peek out and warm us up, we were pretty happy campers. We had opportunities to stop for pictures and breaks. So many amazing sights of the multiple glaciers, and the rugged mountains, amazing! We would pull over and Benny would let us know when the wheels stopped, we could prairie dog – meaning we could pop up out of our seats and take pictures or stretch. For other vehicles, that itself must have been a great sight! We were taken to what seemed to be the top of the world, almost felt like you could reach out and touch the clouds, that high up! The pictures will show you so much more than we could.  Take time to look and know that these pictures don’t do justice to the majestic mountains, glaciers and how steep and windy the roads were.  We drove down the other side of the pass and went along wonderful rivers and plains. There were Black Angus cattle wandering around without fencing, Benny called them “Angus Bear”. We did look for bear but no luck. We did spot Montana Big Horn Sheep, they tend to find each other around this time of year, safety in numbers. Our spotting of wildlife was sparse, but the viewing of the rugged and awe inspiring surroundings was absolutely wonderful. We had a lunch break and then back in the bus heading back towards Logan Pass to start a descent down to the valley. It was a great ride, wonderful information shared and a fabulous day. Please take time to look at the pictures, words do not do justice.  Tomorrow we head out of Glacier National Park heading towards Cheney Washington.  It’s about a 4-5 hour drive and that’s without stopping along the way…more like 5-6 hours! Will give you an update tomorrow, in the meantime, enjoy the pictures and wish you had been with us!

Here is a video of the road up (and from) the fishing hole.  Read the post below first then click on the link labelled, “rough.road” in this post to view the video. You will need to click it TWICE!

rough.road

Tuesday, September 13

Today is dedicated to fishing! Auntie Reva would be at camp today relaxing and doing chores while Uncle Harold, Bonnie and Kim loaded up the truck for a day of fishing on the rivers. We started out around 10:30am and stopped to fuel up, the gas station had an interesting set of diesel pumps (see picture). Once fueled we headed towards the North Fork of Flathead River. The fly fishing experts at Lakestream Outffitters in Whitefish Montana, shared with Kim and Uncle Harold wisdom on where to find the fish. We drove down some flat and wide gravel roads, leaving civilization behind. Our first stop was at a US Forest Campground that was very primitive and out in the open. The river was wide, fast and shallow. We casted for about 45min with no action and packed up. We kept heading away from any signs of civilization and felt we were the only ones on the road, which we were. We followed along the river. We would head uphill and look down into canyons where the river wandered from side to side, outlined by the early fall colors of the Aspen trees. This area had experienced a large fire and left many Lodge Pole Pines standing straight up in the air, but almost ash gray in color. The temperature must had gotten very hot (around 400 degrees), because the pine cones released seeds at this high of a temperature. The seeds had taken root and small (around 2 to 4 feet tall), pine trees populated the entire area, so close together (about 4 to 8 inches apart), that you thought there was green grass growing underneath the burnt trees. The roads proved to be less traveled as the condition went from a gravel road to a washboard dirt road. There were Lodge Pole Pine trees that had been cut and used as fencing, they were all about the same size and looked to be one continuous tree! We passed by a few cabins and took a right at a Y in the road and behold….a bakery!!!  In the middle of nowhere, the Polebridge Mercantile with a bright red paint job and the name of the establishment in large white letters greeted us with the smells of a bakery. This mercantile is an historic site that is nestled about 40 miles from the nearest town between the Livingston Range that marks the Continental Divide to the east and the Whitefish Range to the west. It was built in 1914 and is about two miles from the park entrance to Glacier National Park, it’s open all year round! They do get a lot of snow, if you plan on a visit in the winter, bring your snowshoes!!  We were glad we made a stop, cinnamon rolls, bear claws and a few cookies to name a few, and the people there were very interesting. The guests sitting inside and on the porch all looked like 60′s hippies and there were a few Daniel Boones too! A short drive past the Mercantile, we found a US Forest Cabin that you can rent. It was about 40 feet from the river. Small cabin with two bedrooms, family room with woodstove and a kitchen, but you would take a short walk outside if nature called! The water was hand pumped and tasted great!  The cabin was previously owned by Ben Rover — the humor over the name gave us an appetite for lunch, so we took our lunches to the campfire ring and enjoyed the sounds of the river, the smells of fall starting and the great weather! After lunch, a short walk to the river and we spent a couple of hours casting. There were a few bites, but nothing was caught. Kim said to mention there is a great book written by Henry Winkler (aka Fonzie from Happy Days) on fly fishing.  It is called, “I’ve Never Met an Idiot on the River”.  Very inspirational and explains why people are so passionate about fly fishing.  We needed to head back to camp and decided not to go back the way we came. We entered Glacier National Park and had about 30 miles to go to camp.  Those 30 miles were an adventure! The dirt road turned into a one lane, windy, up and down, limited visibility, washboard road! This bumpy road shook us so much that at times the truck bounced from one side of the narrow road to the other! We would be up high looking down into a canyon (no guardrails) and then dive down to the bottom, cross a narrow bridge over a river or creek, and then climb again! Kim would shift into 4 wheel just to make it to the top of the steep climb. There was so much bouncing that the pop fizzed up as if you had shook the heck out of it! Thinking this would be better than any ride at the fair, hold on….imagine coming up a steep hill with limited visibility and hear Uncle Harold shout out “dust”! Immediately the windshield is filled with a Jeep who is doing about 7mph – did we mention that Kim was our driver AND, she doesn’t drive less than 15-25 on this type of road. The amount of dust kicked up by the Jeep made it look like it was foggy outside, that much dirt was on the windshield. At the widest spot on the road, about 9 feet wide, Kim passed the Jeep, Uncle Harold watched the passenger side to ensure that there was still road under the wheels of the truck and Bonnie’s eyes were closed. An hour after we started on the trip that was 30 miles long, we reached a paved road at the West Entrance to the Park. We exited the park (parts of our bodies were numb and some parts sore from the bouncing on the road). We were only 10 minutes away from camp, arrived safely with stories to share with Auntie Reva. Today was filled with fun, laughter, casting and lots of dust and bouncing! More to come tomorrow. We head to Lake McDonald where we will meet the Red Bus Tour for a guided tour in Glacier National Park. We will leave our campground around 7:45am to be at our appointed pick up spot for a day of sightseeing for all of us, leaving the driving to someone else!

I added in a photo of Auntie Reva in Whitefish with a moose sculpture from yesterday.  It was on a different camera. 

Monday, September 12

After yesterday’s drive, we slept in a wee bit. While finishing up breakfast and getting ready to leave camp today, we were witnesses to a camp host driving a golf cart and stopping at each site to pick up garbage! Can you believe it, we have garbage service! We were out of camp by 10:30am and headed out to Whitefish. On the way, we saw a silver T@B (the small teardrop model of a trailer), and also saw a doe and her spotted baby. Then we arrived in to Whitefish. The summer time in Whitefish means concerts, art and farmer markets. This town has about 7,500 people and it is at the base of Big Mountain. This late in the summer most of the tourist activities are done and put away till next year. We took a stroll down the main section of town that resembled an old western town but instead of a smithy and a general store, there are lots of boutique shops and small specialized restaurants. We came across the Bulldog Bar.  The bar waitress invited us to come on in and take a tour,  and “be sure you tour the bathrooms”. The unique decor put smiles on our faces and then the tour to the Ladies & Gents facilities put bigger smiles on our faces complete with a few chuckles! You’ll have to take a look at the pictures.  We took time strolling down the street and meeting some unique individuals (saleswoman wearing a boutique belt that still had the tag on it, a bit uppity type folks who couldn’t live without a $160 t-shirt and so on). The town clock announced it was 1:00 with a Westminster chime and just around the corner we spotted the Buffalo Cafe. We stopped in for lunch and had a great waitress (she wore toe sandals) who agreed with Uncle Harold that the name of  the cafe should be Bison Cafe, to be politically correct. Kim partook of a local beverage, a beer called Moose Drool, a very dark beer. Everyone had a taste and thought it was pretty good, in spite of the name. After lunching, wandered around town a bit more and ended up at fly fishing shop for fishing licenses. A chat with the salesmen about the lanyards that Kim and Bonnie make resulted in interest and enthusiasm by two guides/salesmen who just live to fly fish! They tried to talk Kim into selling them her personal lanyard, but we promised a package would be sent their way when we returned home, and who knows, maybe some of our lanyards will be sold from Whitefish Montana! We started back to camp, and finally found our way out of Whitefish (there was major road construction). We took a detour to Hungry Horse Dam where we enjoyed the Dam view and took a few Dam photos (couldn’t help that…). On the way down from the Dam, we stopped at the North Lion Lake where some of us casted a few times into the water, we call this warming up for the main event which will happen on Tuesday. No bites, but lots of casting. Some of the rest of us enjoyed sitting by the lake (great picture of that one). One more stop prior to camp was at another tourist shopping opportunity the Rawhide Tradepost where the t-shirts, hats and rocks were for sale (swear every tourist shop has rocks for sale….save your rocks…open a store!). There were opportunities for great photos that included bison and hats!  Just couldn’t resist!  Finally, made our way back to camp. Auntie Reva and Kim put together a great bbq chicken dinner! We finished the day by sitting around the campfire and listening as the winds picked up. We looked into the sky and saw the stars among the tips of the ponderosa pines dancing in the wind. The weather today was warm and comfortable and around the campfire tonight, no sweatshirts needed. Campfire songs were song and camping games played. A great day spent in Whitefish, with one minor disappointment. Remember yesterday’s comment about the winter Olympics? This was related to an activity that we were going to do today, but found out it was not open. We were excited about the Big Mountain express lift that would take us up on Chair 1 to the top of Big Mountain, 6,817 feet, where we could catch a ride on the alpine slide. The slide is a serpentine U-shaped track that we would have ridden a wheeled sled down that is similar to a luge. Speed is controlled with a hand brake, and the track has high walls on fast corners that let the slides take advantage of the physics involved in high-speed, gravity-fed downhill rolling. Unfortunately, they are now only open on the weekends.  This is still on our bucket list, so maybe, for sure…..NEXT YEAR!!

Sunday, September 11

Two things first.
-To comment on the blog, just click on the link that says, “No Comments”, “1 Comment” or  ”2 Comments” below the posting you want to comment on and you can do a reply to the posting.  Be sure you click on submit.

Secondly, while I (Kim) would love to take credit for the marvelous posts on the blog, Bonnie is the one actually writing it up.  All kudos should be (and are) directed to her.

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We left Newport, WA this morning around 9:15am and our next stop was West Glacier, Montana. Today was another warm sunny day. Our drive took us through more gorgeous high mountain dessert areas that had ponderosa pine trees and meadows. We drove through Bonners Ferry, Idaho and yelled a big hello out to our friend Joyce’s pioneer family who had chosen that area to homestead in. Cute town with a great river running through it. We were on Highway 2 and entered Montana and instantly were an hour ahead of ourselves! Once in Montana, there was a posting that stated fatalities on the roadways were noted with small white crosses. These could be seen from the road, sometimes more than one cross at a specific location. Hope the crosses remind people to drive safe, especially for others. We went through a small town called Elmira. Kim and Bonnie used the CB radio as a karaoke microphone and sang “Elvira, Elvira, my hearts on fire, for Elvira!” AND, Auntie Reva was singing at the other end! Reminders of the days of gleaning! We passed many ranches along the drive, most have the large archways at the entrance, complete with their names etched into the horizontal crossing – i.e. R&R Ranch. One of them had two sides of beef hanging from the side posts, of course not real, but they look so darn real! We crossed a couple of large rivers one that must have been about a quarter mile wide and beautiful. Lots of kayakers and river rafters out for a Sunday drive. Outside of Libby, we saw our first giant bronze statue of a fishing pole, must have been 12 feet tall complete with line! Then another made its appearance, this one had a “fish on”!  To complete the giant theme, the next was a 12 feet long fly – the kind you tie to a line if fly-fishing (not the insect…). Imagine the catch you’d make with that baby! We stopped for lunch along a lake and got our second wind, ready to hit the road for the last miles to West Glacier. As we came out of the mountain areas, the road emptied us onto a large valley area and hovering over the valley was a grey haze, we believe it’s the remnants of a wildfire that was south of Kalispell. The grey skies took over the usual blue skies of Montana. Going through Kalispell we saw huge bronze sculptures of eagles that looked to be soaring over the streets, multiple eagles were seen as you drove through the city.  Around 4:30 (Montana time), we found our campground – Glacier RV Park. This campground is huge — and most sites are private with lots of trees surrounding the sites, and we selected sites that included power and water. The check in process was fun. The older women running the front desk were focused on customer service and they provided us with lots of information and helped us make reservations for the Red Bus Guided Tour that will take us in and around Glacier National Park. This tour was filled until Wednesday, we grabbed four seats to ensure we have the opportunity for all in our party to sight see and not have to drive. We settled into our sites, side by side and opted for dinner out. We had heard about Glacier Grill Pizza, so headed there. If you like great pizza, give them a call and see if they will deliver, it was great!  We came back to camp, have checked in with family and are finishing the blog, then it’s time for some deserved sleep. Have to be ready for tomorrow! What happens tomorrow? Tune in, because there’s an opportunity to see how some of us would have done in the Winter Olympics, curious? …..come back tomorrow!

Here is the photo of the Millers we caught on the fly strip!