Do You Like Airplanes?

It was a lazy morning with Jim sleeping in and when he got up he cooked himself some pumpkin spice pancakes which is what I had for breakfast. I think the smell is what finally convinced him to get out of bed!

We dressed and headed out to find a grocery store and a place to eat lunch. After driving through the small town of Three Forks we found the airport and a grocery store. We decided to go back to the crossroads and eat at Wheat Montana Bakery and Deli http://www.wheatmontana.com/. Anne and I went in Kalispell and I liked it. I again had soup, this time pea soup with ham and it came with a big roll. Jim had a sandwich. You can buy baked goods and this particular Deli was huge compared to the Kalispell shop. All sorts of things to buy and you can grind your flour right there.

When we decided to come to Three Forks it was because the campground we wanted was full. So Jim did some searching and found Camp Three Forks. I've already mentioned how nice it is. But what we didn't know when we checked in was the Air Show this weekend. Under bright, hot sunny skies we wandered around the airfield and saw some neat aircraft.

I don't remember the names of them but Jim took a lot of pictures and I hope you enjoy them.

Jim really liked this one as it had a lot of shiny, chrome like surfaces!

This plane was awesome as far as the paint job. Candy apple red with shadow paintings on the wings, fuselage, wheel covers and tail. Eagles with flags saying never forget. this side of the tail was a tribute to the USS Arizona, the other side was the Flag raising at Iwo Jima. Twin Towers...it was just a super paint job and very patriotic.

one of the wings

We didn't stay for the flour bombing as it was quite hot. Back home Jim crashed and I spent time crocheting and computering (as Ginger would say). Around four we had a brief rain shower, it cleared up, sun came out then went away and more rain.

Dinner was tacos, fish for me, beef for Jim. It has cooled off nicely and there are still clouds blanketing the sky so not much of a sunset.

Frederico is sad

Felicia decided to stay with Anne and the Dynamic Duo have split for awhile.....


Wednesday we had a wonderful dinner at Amy and Dan's. Along with Anne, Scotty, Jim and I there was another couple Linda and Mike. They live across the street and they have two Yorkies! Brandy and Angel. Anne grilled some pork chops (some very thick ones) and Amy fixed baked beets, baked carrots, roasted potatoes, sauteed cabbage and peas. All of the veggies came from the garden on Wednesday morning! It was delicious! We all ate our fill and downed wine and beer. For dessert we had apple dumplings that Amy had made earlier. they were tasty too, some had ice cream with theirs.

Thursday morning we drove Anne and Scotty to the Missoula airport for their flight to Maine for a family get together (and Lobster!). They left their motorcoach and car with Amy and Dan.

On the way home we stopped in a few Missoula stores and enjoyed lunch out. By the time we finished lunch we were pooped! So we headed home and crashed for a couple hours. A few leftovers for dinner and a quiet evening at home rounded out the day.

This morning we packed up and left Hamilton for Three Forks, Montana. The drive was a long one due to twisting, winding mountain roads. But it was beautiful! We drove over Chief Joseph Pass briefly straying into Idaho. Driving through National Forests is a treat and for some reason we didn't have much traffic to deal with. We also ran into road work and at one point we sat for about 20 minutes but the scenery was nice.

The road work was on hwy 43 and we had water most of time on one side of the road or the other. I even saw some White Pelicans.

Soon we were getting hungry and looked for a place to pull over. We found a beautiful spot along this river. The parking lot was big enough for our rig and even had a picnic table for us to sit in the shade. Turns out it's a public boat ramp

Not a bad view for lunch

Not sure what the problem with the trees is. One guy mentioned beetle blight.

Back on the road we finally reached I-90, then I-15 to I-90 again as we passed through Butte.

Over another pass and the mountains changed from tree covered to rocky summits. Just gorgeous!

We pulled into Camp Three Forks http://campthreeforks.com/rates.asp shortly after 1400. It used to be a KOA and the grounds are very nice. Gravel sites with grass between them. It didn't take us long to set up and we were able to get our dish to work even with all the trees this place has.

Dinner was shrimp scampi and we're all settled in for the night. Tomorrow we may head to this:
"Montana Antique Aircraft Association Fly-In ~ Hundreds of unique antique aircraft buzz the skies over Three Forks for this annual 4-day event. Come out to Pogreba Field and walk around and talk with the pilots of these aircraft and see the planes up close."

We miss Anne and Scotty but we'll see them soon! And Frederico and Felicia will be together again.....

"If I had to sum up Friendship in one word, it would be Comfort. ~Terri Guillemets"

Gloomy Start

Yesterday started out cloudy and damp. We even had some drizzle during the morning. It was a good day to stay inside and get some chores done. I stripped the bed and got the sheets washed, dried and remade the bed.

I gave Boo a much needed bath when the day started to warm up. We made plans with Anne to have dinner at a local Chinese Restaurant in Hamilton.

During the early afternoon Jim and I walked around the Angler's Roost campground. There is a level down on the Bitteroot River, lovely! But no sewer hookups. But it has nice access to the river and we saw a few guys fly fishing. Apparently it isn't too deep because one guy was waist deep in the middle of it.

I found some trees that have been carved with a chain saw and according to one plaque a lady did it.

Owl on left, Eagle on right

Fly fisherman

this is a beautiful fish, the wood is dyed but because of the shade and gloomy day you can't see the colors.

There were a couple more downed logs that had fish carved into them. This campground is for sale and from the looks of things they're letting it go. Grass needs cutting and it generally needs some sprucing up.

Amy, Dan, Anne and Scotty came by around 1700. Dan wanted to get a look at our new trike rack because they now have two trikes to tote around. Anne brought her carpet cleaner so we could clean the carpet one more time. Just before six we headed out to Cheng Family Restaurant for a very nice dinner.

After dinner the four of them headed north for their homes and we headed south for our home. I showered when we returned home and got into my pj's...I know we watched TV, one of Jim's shows and just before eight I started hearing thunder. I checked the weather and saw a storm coming. At eight pm, just as another of Jim's shows started we lost the TV signal so he turned off the TV and we started re-arranging the furniture so he could clean the carpet.

The thunderstorm was fun to watch! It came up from the south and you could see the edge of the storm all grey and flat. I didn't really see any lightening but we heard some rumbles. It passed quickly and the mountains were bathed in golden sunshine to end the day. Perfect!

Because we slept with the AC running the carpet was dry when I got up this morning.

Beautiful clear skies but we may have more rain this afternoon.

Hamilton, Montana

Why Hamilton? Well Dan and Amy live in Stevensville about 20 miles north of Angler's Roost campground. Anne and Scotty are staying there and leaving their rig while they fly to Maine for a family get together.

Our drive yesterday took us south on hwy 93 on the west side of Flathead Lake. That sure is a big lake and the whole area is beautiful. One state park is an island accessible by boat.

We stopped on the side of the road for lunch nothing special about the gravel parking lot. It looked like a DOT area.

When we arrived at Angler's Roost they wanted to put us in a small site so we switched to a pull through. We're closer to the road but we don't mind. We had to travel a couple miles on a section of Hwy 93 that they're repairing. That wasn't fun!

After setting up we relaxed for a bit, got caught up on the computer, then showered for dinner at Amy and Dan's. The ladies decided on spaghetti with meat sauce, a salad and garlic bread. They even got ice cream and sorbet for dessert. All I had to do was show up!

We asked and Amy said we could have mail delivered there and it showed up yesterday. So it was a double treat for me, mail and dinner! It was good to see Amy and Dan, we met them in Bentsen Palms. Amy rode a lot with us as she has a trike and after they left the valley they bought another trike so Dan will be riding with us too! Pretty soon we'll have a regular club of recumbent trikes in the resort.

We didn't stay to long after dinner and headed home in some light rain. It sure made the mountains look pretty.

For those who might be interested I've included our future stops:

Bozeman, MT

Cody, WY.

Casper, WY

Cheyenne WY

Colorado Springs

Of course this could change tomorrow! But we're heading south to arrive in Mission, Texas by the 1st of October.

Not much to write about

The past two days have gone quickly and I can't really remember what we've done!

Jim took the truck into Whitefish to have the oil changed on Saturday morning.

Also on Saturday Anne and I went to Downtown Kalispell to check out the Farmer's Market. Boy was there a lot to do! Arts and Crafts in the park but we declined because you had to pay to get in. There was also a rod and motorcycle show (which the guys attended later) and the Farmers Market. Mostly it was crafts for sale but we did get some veggies and I got a couple herb plants.

We had lunch at a nice bakery/deli, soup for both of us. Then we went to a yarn store, Camas Creek Yarn (www.camascreekyarn.com). It's been a long time since I've been in one and wow was I surprised at the selection and prices. For me it was like being in a candy store.

Before heading home we stopped at the grocery store. While there we got a call saying the guys were at the rod and motorcycle show. We left the store and when we pulled onto our street I saw our truck ahead of us, so we all arrived home at the same time.

We had dinner together Saturday grilling veggies and steak. Also a garden salad and a bottle of wine.

Let's see, Sunday I did some laundry, Jim aired up the truck tires. We fueled up at $2.77 a gallon for diesel. For lunch we had BLT's. While cooking the bacon outside on the grill I potted up my new herbs and read a couple magazines.

After dinner Anne and Scotty came over, this will be our last time alone, together. We're heading to Amy and Dans for the next four nights and Anne and Scotty will be flying to Maine to visit with family while we continue on our southern trek.

Well after nine o'clock the sun rose and Jim got a couple of beautiful pictures. The sun had already sunk in the west but there was still enough light to make the moonrise pretty.

Thus ends our stay in Kalispell, Montana!

It Just Keeps Getting Better

Jim's turn to blog; so here goes.

Thursday was an interesting and semi-exciting day.

Linda and Anne went to get their hair done and their new do's sure made them cute. Of course, they were cute before they had their hair done, but now they are cuter. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I was beholden some mighty fine beauty. Okay, enough of that.

I awaited the Progressive Insurance adjuster with some trepidation as I had heard some horror stories about their claim process. Well, the adjuster arrived, did his adjusting, and handed me a check. Whew, that was easy. We will be able to completely replace the 15 foot electric awning over the main part of the rig and the 12 foot manual awning on the living/dining slideout, including all the hardware. We will also replace the slide topper vinyl (the hardware for it wasn't damaged).

Late that evening a severe wind and rain storm came up without any warning. The wind blew in micro-bursts of about 40 mph and the rain came down in torrents. It didn't last long (thank goodness) and we had no damage or leaks from it. Unfortunately, the Scott's awning ripped as they were putting it up. Not sure how severe the tear is, but I see an insurance adjuster in their future. I didn't see any damage to the park, and only noticed fairly minor damage to a couple of rigs. Sure glad we dodged the proverbial bullet.

We went to Glacier NP today, despite the clouds and cool weather. We went in the West Gate and drove the "going to the sun road" over Logan's Pass, exiting the park at the East Gate. Instead of turning around and doing the road in the opposite direction we decided to take the roads that skirt the southern boundary of the park. All in all a gorgeous day.

Lots of pics follow, so be prepared:





this is one of many small waterfalls we saw:
A view of one of the many valleys with the cloud covering most of the peaks:

A very lovely flower. I have no idea what it is, but I sure do like it:

One of the many rivers that run through it:

Yes, that is one very long waterfall:

The peaks peeking through the clouds:

More river, valley and clouds:

And even more:

Clouds, waterfall and snow!:

I really like this stair step waterfall:

The clouds would completely obscure everything, then a small break. This happened time and time again. I never got tired of it.

The Weeping Wall. The road can't be seen in this photo, but the water lands directly on it. Wouldn't want to be in a convertible.

There's the road:

Another pretty little waterfall:

We loved the contrast between the green of the grasses and the snow:

It's finally starting to clear:

Jackson Glacier. This is the first time I have seen a true glacier:

As we were traveling all I could think to say was "Thank you, Lord"

Just a series of rapids:

My honey and Boo. Oops, forgot to crop out Scotty's elbow:

A small island in St. Mary's Lake:

Okay, I've officially run out of adjectives to describe the views:

After all the grandeur, I found this small field of wild flowers that has it's own flavor of beauty:

And that brings to a close our day in Glacier National Park. I had a terrible time picking out which of the 187 pictures I took to publish, and I hope you enjoyed the few here.

Oh, about the title to this blog: I often wonder how (and why) my life just keeps improving. And while I don't have a definitive answer, I believe it has something to do with the fact that I am able to spend every day with the woman I love. I go to sleep thinking that there is no way life can get any better but, sure enough, every day it just keeps getting better.

Peace, love and harmony, my friends, and may all your dreams come true.