Birthdays, Bison, Kalispell, Glacier Part 1

Three birthdays are now behind us.  We celebrated Terry’s last Thursday and took the family to Red Lobster to enjoy Endless Shrimp.  Yummy!  We also were lucky enough to have Jordan as our server.  Thus, she was involved in our birthday festivities even though she had to work.

On Saturday another birthday was celebrated.  This time it was SIL, Robert.  A BBQ was at their house and it was another nummy event with smoked ham and an absolutely delicious potato concoction.  We weren’t through with birthdays yet. Our, DIL, Sabrina, also had a birthday that we celebrated the very next day.  This time we were at Lake Sacajawea in Longview for the event and while there enjoyed the delicious fruit kabobs she furnished.  

Whee …… that’s the end of birthdays for a little while.

Is this an RV?      

It seems that RV shows hop around the country.  We went to one in Tampa and few more in our travels between the Pacific NW and Florida.  Well, it was time for Portland to have one and so we went.  We shouldn’t have gone.  We just shouldn’t have gone!  We especially shouldn’t have gone since we just purchased a little aframe trailer that we've hardly had a chance to use yet.  Besides that, the ink on the title hasn’t even dried.  I’ll just say again, we shouldn’t have gone.  The saga continues.

  What about this one?  Is it an RV?

Then, there was this boat / camper combo ----  

Monday rolled around and it was time to take a mini vacation.  We hadn’t really planned on taking a vacation this late in the year but you know how that goes.   It was a mere 625 miles later that day when we pulled into the Marriott in Kalispell.  We weren’t towing.  We were just driving.  It’s a lot different covering long distances when you don’t have something else resting on your hitch.

This was the group that came to say goodbye…..  

Day one was spent with the Dixons.  Jim and Sandie had been visiting family in the area and they extended their visit.  It was nice seeing them again and we didn’t waste any time picking them up and heading south towards the National Bison Range.  We all had visions of seeing herds and herds of bison.  That didn’t happen.  We did see a few.

We also saw a few antelope and deer.  The views were fantastic but if we had it to do over again we would probably just take the short lower loop because that’s where all the animals were.  The longer loop was narrow, steep and high.  We traveled on a one way road up the side of the hill to about 4700’ and slid down the other side on the 10% grades.  Oh well, we made it and it was a great trip.   Jim and Sandie.

Fall was definitely in the air.  We could see the colors changing on the trees.  One small town was getting ready to celebrate Harvest Days.  Bales of hay were decorated in front of local business for the celebration. 

Many of those bales were decorated to reflect what type of business it was.  Check out the straw characters.

One big treat was visiting with our nephew, Mike.  We had an opportunity to check out his new home.  We love, love, love his place.  He has over an acre of land around it and we’re sure we could figure out a place to hook up an RV next year if we visit.  We had quite a nice chat over dinner and we were also busy making plans for a few more get togethers.   

I had a little house warming gift for him.  Mike is the reason we have a trip planned to Florida in a few weeks.  He’s about to celebrate the most important day of his life and we wouldn’t miss it.    He’s getting married.  

 

We have a few more days left in this area and much more to do.  For one, Mike has booked us on the Red Bus tour in Glacier National Park on Friday.   Since he's Director of Retail at Glacier he has connections.  I'm sure there will be plenty more photos from that tour.  Right now he's also trying to get tickets for the Dixons but that's only possible if there are empty seats left on that tour.  We also have more time with him planned and more time with the Dixons.  For one, we have dinner planned with everyone this evening and from what I've heard, it's a very good barbecue restaurant.

Saturday will be here soon enough.  Then, it’ll be time to head back west again to meet up with the Hintons.

‘Tis life on the road.