TWO Fabulous Days!

Have covered a bit of territory since last we wrote. Yesterday in Kalispell and Polson, Montana was a gem of a day. The Toyota's little radio was fixed in about an hour Friday morning and I don't believe it has been on since, but it is nice to see the MPG, temperature outside and some other little goodies on the dash.

Donnie and Em Bogut picked us up at the motel and we drove about an hour south along the west shore of Flathead Lake to Polson at the southern tip. There we all spent the day with Marilyn and Loren Frazier. Marilyn had prepared a wonderful brunch and we ate until we groaned. Before we left around 5:00 we had to have a bit more to eat, so instead of dinner we had dessert. We're sending Marilyn to the Betty Crocker Bake-off for her wonderful peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. But that was just the warm-up. Dessert was a mouth-watering brownie with vanilla ice cream and freshly made to die for chocolate sauce. She even loaded us up with a take out box and we gobbled cookies as we rolled along the prairie today.

Donnie drove north along the east shore of the lake where we saw cherry orchards and truck farms. Stopped at a fruit stand and loaded up on cherries, apples, pears, and peaches. They drove us around Kalispell and we stopped by their home where we had a few little pear tomatoes out of their garden to polish off the day. The produce around here is fabulous!

It was a wonderful day of renewing old acquaintances, sharing family stories, and making new friends. We have been invited back and would love to take them up on their wonderful hospitality. Actually, Donnie and Em will be in Yuma, Arizona in October so we could see them there!!

Had planned to work on the computer last night but a lightning storm came up and knocked out the wireless connection. So much for that plan. But the rain really cleared the air of all the smoke from the forest fires, and when we woke up this morning it was sparkling! We headed east up over the pass to the south of Glacier National Park and encountered some wispy patches of clearing fog. The road was grand and the soaring mountains were some more of that breathtaking stuff! We stopped at a goat lick but didn't see any mountain goats but encountered a very nice young Mennonite couple who were headed to see the big cities of California. He was a train spotter and we encouraged them to visit the train museum in Sacramento. At the top of Marias Pass which was named by the Lewis and Clark expedition we crossed the continental divide. If you are ever passing along that road it is worth a stop. Almost was blown away by the wind, but the geology and the history of this one little spot is amazing.

Not long after we came out of the mountains and then we were in the plains. There wasn't much warning. The two pictures of the road were taken in the same place looking in opposite directions. Wow!

We stopped in Browning at the Museum of the Plains Indian, which is on the Blackfoot Reservation. It was a marvelous exhibit but there is concern that the new Native American Museum in Washington DC will close the museum in Browning and transfer all their beautiful artifacts there. That would be a shame.

Had lunch at a Subway as there was not much to choose from. It is a very depressed area and not much going on there. Breaking that cycle of poverty is a hard one.

Encountered a few little towns along Hwy 2 and lots of grain elevators. Did see a few antelope grazing, scattered horses, a few cows, and more grain elevators. We are here at the Super8 Motel and will be dining in on cheese, crackers, grapes, apples,cookies and brownies. Will get that laundry folded and we are off in the morning to Wolf Point, Montana. Will probably see some more grain elevators!

Love, the Gotta Go Girls.