Montana Vacation Day 4

Well today was a busy day. We started off early again and headed East towards West Glacier. We went through Columbia Falls and Hungry Horse again. We stopped in Hungry Horse to do a geocache at a large 4 tonne silver ball. The logging crews would place several of these balls, chained together at the top of an area and drag them down the hill with tractors. This would create a handy clear cut area where the crews could move in and pick up the fallen trees. The process was much faster and oddly safer than the usual method of having the crews go in and saw the trees down one at a time. The ball weighs 4.5 tons and measures 8 feet in diameter. It was first used in 1950 and eventually helped clear about 6,207 acres in the reservoir area.

We then proceeded to West Glacier and into Glacier National Park. The entrance fee is $25, which is good for 7 days or you can pay $35 for a yearly pass. We ended up buying the yearly pass because we decided that we would come back this way for our two week vacation in August. The Road to the Sun was only open up to 11 miles on the west end and 16 miles on the east end. The Logan Pass was still snowed in. We did manage to get some great pictures of the rivers and the mountains for this time of year. The rivers were very high because of the run off and were moving very fast. It will be interesting to see what they look like later on in the summer. After we went as far as we could on the west end we drove all the way around to East Glacier and up to St. Mary's and started up the other side. We got up about 16 miles on the east side, saw some great views of St. Mary's lake and some very interesting Red Rock.
Also got some great pictues of the Jackson Glacier.

On the way back to the east enterence we stopped at the world's largest woodspoon store and saw the world's largest purple spoon. Very cool. We made the trek home just before it got too dark to cook Lenny burgers and call it a night.

Montana Vacation Day 3

Well we began Saturday morning by getting up early and heading North to Eureka and then to Rexford for the Amish Auction. Well be got to Rexford only to find a small resort like town with a couple of RV parks and a few summer type houses on the the bank of Lake Koocanusa, but alas no auction. Well we wee short on gas so we headed back to Eureka for gas and some directions. Well we wee told that the auction was in the West Kootenai, not it Rexford. So off we went across the lake on the Koocanusa bridge and over to the West Kootenai.

We finally saw some signs and followed them up through the valleys till we some some farm boys giving directions to park in a big field with a creek running through it.

The place was full of furniture, buildings and crafters. There was a quonset that they held the quilt auction in, they had the quilts on a clothes line and they hung them up to display and once they were bought they wisked them off and pulled the next one up. It was a very neat system.

They were all well done and went for a good price. There were also making ice cream with a combination old fashioned ice cream

maker that was being run by a small engine. All in all it was an interesting experience.

We then headed back towards Eureka, doing a couple of geocaches around the bridge and then another just outside of Eureka, thanks to Bajabetty. Then it was back to the campsite to read a little more, cook some dinner, take the dogs for a walk, watch another movie and then off to bed. It sure is hard work being on vacation .

Montana Vacation Day 2

Friday was a busy day we started out by taking the dogs for a walk around the park in order to let them do their morning business. We then headed North to Columbia Falls and then further to Hungry Horses. We visited the Hungry Horse Dam and found out the area was known because two horses named Tex and Terry wandered away from their camp and were found a month later hungry but still alive,hence the name. After visiting the dam we headed to Lions Lake to do a couple of geocaches. There are a number of small lakes all over this area.

We then started off to do the trip around the lake. We stopped in Creston and purchased a new welcome sign for the house. Should look good in front of the mailbox. Here is a picture of a mountain goat carving.

As we were going around the lake we noticed a large number of cherry orchards, it looked a lot like home. We stopped for lunch in Woods Bay at the Sitting Duck Pub. I had the Duck burger(homemade) and Len had a grilled cheese with ham. They were great and the french fries were awesome. We then proceeded to Polson and then further up the lake. We stopped for a couple of geocaches on the lake.

We then headed back to kalispell where we visited a restaruant supply store and picked up a few items for the motorhome. Then is was back to the campsite for burgers and relaxing by the river. After dinner we watched a movie and then headed for bed.

Montana Vacation Day 1

We arrived in Kalispell on Wednesday night and checked into Spruce Park on the River. It is a Good Sam Park located right on the Flathead River. We got a spot right beside the river with the most amazing view. We got set up. cooked supper and then explored the park. It is an older park, the washrooms need upgrading but everything is very clean and the sites are large and well maintained. The grass is very green because of the rain but has been cut recently. We had our first night sleep in the motorhome and it was most enjoyable. We both slept like a log.

We got up fairly early on Thursday moring and the weather was over cast and rainy. We spent the morning reading and just relaxing. We did make a trip into Walmart to buy some dish detergent and other stuff. When we got back to the motorhome we were able to do the dishes from dinner the night before. We did discover that there was some rust in the hot water tank so we had to run through the water a couple of times. It seems to be fine now but we may have to do it a couple of more times when we get home.

We then decided that is was time for lunch so we had the leftover turkey & gravy from dinner on the leftover potatoes. Then it was time for a nap and more reading of our books.

Then it was time for supper. We had steak and asparagus with shrimp. Who said that you had to rough it while you were camping. After dinner we went for a walk with the dogs. There is a big field at the entrance to the camp. Len stands on one side and I got to the other and we play tag with the dogs, we have them race back and forth between the two of us, it wears them down pretty fast. After the walk we headed back to the motorhome we met some neighbors standing int the middle of the road. There was a couple from Alberta who we discovered were related to a fellow that Len works with at the Brewery and to some people who I know from Kingsgate. The other couple were from California. They let me know about their website http://www.lanesroadhouse.com/ and that gave me the idea to do up this blog with our travels. After visiting with them we made it back inside. Since Len had slept away the afternoon he stayed up to read some more and I headed to bed.