Posts from the ‘Montana’ category

Saturday scenery

On the way to town…the usual Saturday morning run for supplies…except that I had dithered about going at all. It was cold and cloudy and I didn’t need much… BUT, I had not been off the property in days. Finally, I decided to just go – just to get out and to give Bear a run in the Jeep which he loves!

The skies were spectacular. Overcast, but here and there were squalls. Snow. Rain. And some pockets of blue sky. I wanted to capture all of it but there were bits of each here and there and all around.

I took a detour north of Hwy82 on Farm Rd. to try to get the squall that was over Jewell Basin. No good spot. I turned around.

A barn. The mountains. Some weather. A bit of Flathead lake.

Farm Rd. south with a slice of Flathead Lake.

Saturday scenery.

Bear at Echo Lake

I took Bear to Echo Lake last Fall, but he was new at the off leash thing so he was leashed and did not get to explore like he would if he was untethered. Late yesterday afternoon, I was ready for a break and after a day of off and on rain, the sun had come out AND the temperature had warmed above 50F. I decided to see if both the road and the fishing access I like was accessible – it was! There were trucks and empty boat trailers … people on the lake fishing somewhere, but no one was around so I “loosed the hound” :) !!

Bear did VERY well. This is only the third time we’ve done off leash walking away from the property and our normal loop walk. He had a grand time exploring new territory and followed any direction I gave happily.

We walked around the inlet and out on to the peninsula. It appeared that they had done some major cleanup of the shoreline weeds. I don’t know where all the big downfall came from….was the water high and it floated in ??? – a mystery. But fun to climb over and smell if you are an exploring kind of dog.

A beautiful afternoon. Around the inlet, protected from the breeze, it was quiet and warm in the sun.

Fortunately, a lot of good mountain lake water was available for a refreshing drink after all that exploring.

We meandered, made a few Canada geese swim to the other side of the inlet, sniffed and looked and had a wonderful walk on a gorgeous afternoon.

Splat

First bug splat of 2012!!!

A lousy photo…taken with my phone, but the reason it is exceptionally bad is because I focused on the bug splat.

Years ago, early Fall 2005 shortly after acquiring my motorhome, I took a 10 day shakedown trip in Montana. I spent 4 days in Missoula, a whole 120 miles from home! I ventured on to a couple of rural RV “parks” and then to Helena before returning home.

I had a WONDERFUL time and fell head over heels in love with RVing. One memorable moment was a conversation with a couple parked next to me in Missoula. They arrived shortly after I had. Their motorhome was larger – a gorgeous diesel pusher and instead of towing a car, they had a motorcycle on a nifty rear bumper lift. The Mr. headed out shortly after “docking” and returned with grocery kind of items. Day 2, I met both Mr. & Mrs. as we were all outside. They were on a quick “getaway” trip from California. As we talked, they related that they started “camping” in tents…with their 2 boys who were now in college. The current rig was part of a progression of ever more comfortable ways to “camp”. We laughed and then both they and I started debugging our respective windshields – a task all motorhome folks have in common during summer travel. As we were working, they related a story of one of their first trips to Montana. Their boys, in the vicinity of 10 years of age, dubbed Montana, the “Big Fly State”…a play on Montana being known as the Big Sky State – and a result of them being given the chore of cleaning the windshields of the various vehicles the family travelled in.

Yep, MT is the Big Fly State! And today, the first Big Fly of the year hit the windshield of the Jeep: SPLAT!

Sunshine on a Tuesday

Tuesday lived up to both the forecast and its sunny beginnings.

I took Bear to Wayfarer’s and we walked the trail that leads to the highest lookout in the park.

Peek a boo views through the trees kept us company on the climb.

The view from the top!

At home, the sun warmed the woods and made it hard to stay inside working.

Bob spent a good part of the day outside but ultimately found his sunny spot inside…in the sunroom.