more from Montana

Another week in Montana has come and gone – we’ve sure been relishing the time we’ve had to explore all the beauty here! In addition to checking out the cute towns of Kalispell, Whitefish and Bigfork, we spent another day in Glacier National Park, which did indeed look significantly different under clear, smoke-free skies. We had one cold, rainy day which brought some snow up in the higher elevations, so Deron wants to hit the Park one more time before we leave on Thursday, to get some pics of the snow-capped mountains.

Whitefish

In Whitefish, we checked out the residential/ski lodge area at the bottom of the ski runs, hiked Holbrook trail above Whitefish Lake, and drove along the lakeshore.

Kalispell

We took a nice stroll through Kalispell’s unique historic downtown area.

Bigfork

Bigfork is a quaint little town on Woods Bay, off of Flathead Lake, about half an hour away, so we took a little road trip.

Glacier National Park, revisited

It was so worth it to see this beauty in a different light! We took the long way back this time, instead of going back through the park, and the scenery there was gorgeous too.

No bears were spotted this week, but as you can see, we did see plenty of deer, and lots of turkeys! One other critter has been hanging around – the western conifer seed bug. We’ve discovered that this portion of Montana is infested with them. They are very strange and annoying! They are beetle-like, and pretty substantial in size and weight, but fly quietly as if they’re super lightweight. So you’ll think a mosquito flew by, until you feel a thump on your arm – and there’s a seed bug sitting on you. Bleh!

Every afternoon the seed bugs congregate on the sunny sides of the coach – dozens of them! Apparently this time of year they’re starting to look for a place to burrow in and hang out until after winter – so when the sun starts going down they’re happy to crawl into all the crevices of our coach. Every day we’ll find a few just standing around on the floor or wall, or hanging out on the ceiling fan screens. Thankfully, they are very slow moving when they’re not flying, and don’t react much to our presence, so they’re easy to catch. And since their primary food source is pine tree seeds, not feces or rotten food, it’s not nearly as gross as finding roaches in the house. But still!!

The other insect that we’ve had trouble with is meat bees. If we want to go to lunch while we have the dogs with us (or if we just want to enjoy the day), we eat outdoors. But dang, within ten minutes there will be a meat bee scout, and if he likes what he sees, he’ll soon bring friends. Trying to eat and swat those things away is no bueno!!

In technical news, we got the results of the lab test they did on our oil after our recent oil change – and all is well! Hurrah! Also, to be safe, we got two new front tires put on the RV, since we’ve been driving a lot more than the previous owner. So we should really be all set for the time being.

for the foodies…

homecooked goodness

We cooked a lot this week – especially with the crock pot! If there’s a particular recipe you’d like, message me here, or contact me via text or email and I’ll send it to you!

last but not least, some random facts & observations

• Interesting factoid – apparently the sky in northern Idaho and western Montana is often smoky because their many bowl-shaped valleys trap smoke from as far away as California.
• One night recently, I randomly woke up at 4am to the smell of cookies baking. Who bakes cookies at 4am? I guess our neighbors have truly adapted to retired life and don’t care what time it is!
• Happily, my taste for cilantro has returned! So you’ll see a lot more of it in the foodie section.