Sunday 28 August, Lakeside, MT

Ugg! It is warm and smokey again this morning.  It is really unhealthy to be outside when it is like this.  The other side of the lake is hazy.  Please don't let this be another indoors day.

Well, perhaps, if it is, I'll do laundry and clean the rig.  Maybe it will clear up later and I can go out on the lake.  I sure hope so.
It never did.  It only got worse. 
I did do laundry and cleaned.  As the day wore on, instead of clearing up it just got smokier.  It got to the point where you could not even see the other side of the lake.  I have a sore throat now and I have been inside all day.
I ended up just watching TV and stitching.  I have already finished half of the October, Halloween Kleenex cover.
Wow!  I took Bella out for her "pee before bed"  and the sky is crystal clear with bright stars.  It doesn't even smell like smoke!  There is hope for tomorrow.
I opened some of the windows and went to bed!

Saturday, 27 Aug. Lakeside

It is warm this morning and really smokey.  I believe it is from the fires over in the Spokane.  It is also breezy and there is small ash falling.  It is also somewhat overcast.  I thought it was supposed to be sunny and fairly hot today.  Hmm
I sat outside and enjoyed my coffee, but as the morning went on it got hotter and smokier.  I finally went inside.
I mended the comforter.  For some reason it got two tears in it.  one of them was 2'' long and every time we'd move down would go everywhere.  I gathered it up and stuffed it back in the hole and stitched it up.  Hopefully no more snowing in the bedroom.  I fixed the other tear as well, but the square was empty, all the down had escaped.  
it continued to be hot, smokey and windy.  I had to pull in the awning because it was bouncing around.  I had to live inside with the AC on.  It was terrible.
I goofed around on the computer, working on the blog and playing games until I couldn't stand being cooped up any longer.  So, Bella and I walked across the street to the dock.  We sat outside on the deck so I could see how the wind was affecting the water.  I had a really good Caesar Salad with Shrimp and a glass of wine (actually 2 glasses).  We sat there for a couple hours enjoying the outdoors and the lake (it wasn't very busy).  Finally I decided we better go back.  
It is too hot and smokey to hike or bike or do much of anything outdoors, and it is too windy making the water to rough to paddle.  So, I turned on the TV and pulled out my stitching.  There was nothing on TV so I hooked my computer to it and went to Netflix.  I started watching a horrible movie and turned away from it.  Then I found a good movie, but it was in Spanish with English subtitles.  Not very conducive to stitching when you have to read the subtitles to know what is going on.  When I lost the signal I switched back to regular TV and found a couple movies to watch.  
I remained there for the rest of the eve watching movies and finishing my stitching project.  
The good news is, I finished my stitching.

The bad news is, it was a very yucky day.  Especially since I only have a few more days here to enjoy.  

Bella and I are leaving for LA on Tuesday.  We come back on Friday and we are moving to Helena on Saturday.  So, these days being cooped up inside are very disappointing.  

 

Friday, 26 August, Lakeside, MT

It is a lovely, sunny morning.  Bella made a friend at the doggy park here in the resort.  She got to run and go crazy first thing this morning.
It is a little breezy.  I sat outside enjoying my coffee, working on the blog and trying to decide what to do today.
I could take Bella back to Lone Pine Park and hike, I could take my bike and go ride the trail in Whitefish, or I could go across the street and paddle.  It's a bit too breezy right now for paddling tho, but I would like to get out there and take some pictures of those cool houses on the lake.  That's probably a better afternoon project.  In the mean time I guess I'll enjoy more coffee and check out Facebook
There is a Hootenanny going on in Whitefish today or this eve, and there is a Brew-fest this weekend, but I don't know that I want to do either of those things by myself.  We'll see.
We did get going around noon  I decided we would go up to Lone Pine and hike up there.  That way Bella would get to be free and I would get a good workout.  On the way up we passed that pasture with the goats in it.  
Bella normally sits on a towel on the console in my car.

When she sees something that she is interested in getting a better view of she stands up on her hind legs.  It amazes me how good her balance is, because she does this while we are still driving.  

Half the time I cannot even figure out what she is looking at.  This time, though, I know.  She is looking at the goats.


We went into the Visitor Center.  Remember last time I told you about the Bear and the wolves they had on display?  Last time I didn't get pictures, so I wanted to go back and take them.

 This one reminds me of Geh-Yo's brother Kashiwa

I also wanted to pick up a map of all the trails

I wanted to more or less do the same hike, but in the opposite direction.  As it turned out, we did much more.

We started down at the bottom where it says Visitor Center then started up Lone Pine trail, but we picked up a secondary trial which then came back to Lone Pine, then off onto a secondary trail again, which joined Lone Pine again at the top left of the map.  There was a bench there, so we stopped for a little water, and pictures.

This is the view

From this Bench

We continued along Lone Pine to where it turned toward Valley View Drive and picked up the secondary trail.  From there we pickup up the Cliff Trail until it came to the Valley View Trail (in blue).  We went up Valley View until we came to the bench where again we stopped for pictures and water.

A gal with two dogs came up the trail behind us....

 and Bella wanted a better view of them!

After the bench we picked up Raptor's Rest Trail (orange).  It was a hard core, uphill trail.  Great workout for the butt and calves, but requires a couple pauses to let the muscles stop screaming. Thank goodness there was another bench where we could rest. Phew!

Another nice View!

And Bella!

We came upon the Bearly There Trail and decided to take it.  I think it's called Bearly there because it is mostly just an up hill climb.  When we came upon the secondary trail leading back the Raptor's Rest Trail we took it and completed the Raptor's loop.  There we picked up the remainder of the Cliff Trail and climbed up to the top of the cliff and finally back to the Visitor Center.  

As we were walking toward the Visitor center I noticed there was a railing behind it on the left, but there were people sitting there so I decided to go check it out from the right of the building.  There wasn't really much to see, except this cool Teepee in someone's back yard.  There are a ton of Teepees in people's yards around here.

We got to the car and I went to write our total milage on my map and realized I didn't have it.  Hmmm, where did I drop it?  So I ran back inside the VC and picked up another one.  We did a total of 4.51 miles.  Not a bad hike. Later, I couldn't find one of my water bottles.  In hind site, I think I set them both down to take this picture of the Teepee.
Anyway, I decided to go to Whitefish, but the back way.  First we drove by Foys Lake. It is real pretty and may be an option for paddle boarding some day!

It has several homes on it, but it also has a bunch of jet skis and speed boats, so not a good choice for paddling.  

Still very pretty!

We drove out through the farmland and some really pretty country going to Whitefish. I was really hungry when we got there.  We wandered around a little bit and then went into a restaurant where I had a really good Greek Salad with chicken added to it, and a to-die-for piece of New York Cheesecake with huckleberries, and homemade huckleberry sauce.  I couldn't even eat the whole thing. We wandered some more and went by the Depot park where they were setting up for the Hootenanny that is taking place this eve, but it's $15. for 3 hours and I didn't feel like paying or staying. 

So, we went home.  

We got home at about 6:00.  Just in time for a little news, a little football and then the first two movies of The Hobbit. I worked on my Klenix cover and then went to bed.

Thursday, 25 Aug, Lakeside, MT

That bloody alarm went off at 3:45.  I laid there for a bit while Rob got ready then rolled myself and Bella out of bed. It's very dark at 4:00 in the morning.  I was somewhat lost as we drove to the airport.  I was really nervous the whole time watching for deer as well.  The speed limit here is 70 mph until you get into town.  A deer popping out when you're going that speed can do some pretty serious damage, if it doesn't kill you that is.
I figured it all out as I drove back home.  It's about a 30 min drive, at least at that time of day.  I am leaving on the 30th to join Rob in LA so it is good to know.
I came back home and looked at Facebook for a few minutes before curling up on the couch and going back to sleep.
The rest of the morning was a bit of a waste,  I just wasted time on the computer.
Finally about 1:30 I decided to go to Kalispell.  There were two reasons for the trip which actually turned into three.  First, I decided it was probably time to make a new kleenex tissue box cover.  The one I have on is from St Patrick's day.  I never finished the one for Easter, and never did the patriotic 4th of July one, so figured I better do one for September, for the fall.  I didn't have two of the colors I needed so I figured I would go into Kalispell and go to Michaels. 
2nd, I needed to go to the Toyota dealer to get my air filter changed.  A notice pops up when I start my car.  There is no Lexus dealer in the area so Toyota will have to do.  
When I got there he asked if it was the engine air filter.  I asked if I had more than one and he said I also have a cabin filter.  Hmmmm.  I said I don't know.  So I turned the car back on but it didn't say which.  So, we started with the Engine filter, but he said it looks brand new.  There is nothing wrong with it and it doesn't need to be changed.  Inside and through to the back of the glove compartment is another air filter which is for the cabin.  Interesting.  It is a charcoal filter and it also looked real good.  He tapped it on the ground and a bunch of ash, big chunks in fact, fell out.  He said you've driven through a fire.  Hmmmm! It was from our Lakeside fire.  The ash was falling on us during the first night and early the next morning from the fire.  Anyway, he tapped it out and put it back in as it didn't need to be replaced either. So, I went on my way.  The warning is still coming on, so I guess I'll have to wait until I find a Lexus dealership to deal with it.  The closest one to here is back in Spokane.  Been there and done that one!  (That's where I had my tires replaced)
From there I talked myself into finding the Bar-B-Q place that Rob, Jen and I went to last Thursday night.  I remember their ribs and brisket that R & J had being super good and I was suddenly craving them.  I figured what the heck, I'll go there, have a late lunch/early dinner and then go to the Thursday night Music in the park.
I was actually a little disappointed.  I think maybe when you are doing ribs it is better to have them at night when they have been cooking all day rather than earlier in the day.  It seemed like they had just put the sauce on rather than it cooking in it.  Anyway, I had a couple of them and then packed the rest of them up to take with me.  Now I have enough leftover ribs to last a week.  I still have ribs from Tamarack.  We (Bella and I) took our time at the restaurant.  We were sitting outside and it was very pleasant.  Plus, I was killing time for the Concert in the Park which doesn't start until 5. That was the 3rd reason for going into Kalispell.
We finished, packed it all up and then went to where I thought the event was going to take place.  It was a nice park, but the wrong one.  Bella got to run around for a few minutes, while I looked up on my phone where the event was really happening.  We drove over to the correct park and sure enough, they were setting up.  There were very few people there yet so I planted us at a table closest to the stage.  I waited patiently for the booze ticket table to open and then purchased my ticket for two glasses of wine.  Since it a large picnic table various people came and joined me.  First 3 nice ladies who liked Bella, but they weren't really in to the music so they didn't stay long, and then three other ladies, a husband, another man and then another couple who were friends with them.  
This is the last night for the summer series.  But, they have some other music stuff going over the next weekends as well.
Anyway, the music was ok at first, but different artists were coming and going and if wasn't so great.  There were a lot of people there tho. Bella and I finally decided we were done.  It was probably only about 6:30.  So we came home.
I turned on the TV and started working on my September Kleenex box cover.  It is going to be ducks swimming in a pond with Pussy-willows.  There are a lot of them around here.  
I worked on it until midnight before my eyes began crossing.  I took Bella out for a pee and we went to bed.

Wednesday, 24 Aug. Lakeside, MT

It is overcast and quite chilly this morning.  We sat outside, but Rob was wrapped in a blanket, Bella had a sweater on, I had a sweatshirt on and we had the fire pit going.  Burr!

I worked on catching up the blog.

Our fire is still smoldering.  We can still see the smoke in the trees, but it seems to no longer be a threat.  Hopefully nothing causes it to flair.  

The sun finally started peeking through at about 11:00, but there are still high clouds.
We are in no big hurry to go anywhere today.  We especially don't want to drive.
We went across the street to The Dock to have lunch.  It was a terrible experience.  We sat right away, but then it was about 15 min  before anyone brought us water or menus.
Then it was forever before anyone came and took our order.  Once our order was taken it was about 30 min before we got our food, a cheeseburger and Tacos.
The gal did explain to us that the cook they were using, left and took everything with him, all the food, utensils, everything.  How bizarre is that?  Apparently it happened over the weekend and so they were closed Monday and Tuesday.  The waitress was not one I had seen before, so maybe he took some staff with him.
The food was ok, but not as good as it had been.  
After lunch we took Bella out for a little walk.  She had gone to the Restaurant with us, but had to sit and be good, so her reward was a walk.
After our walk we grabbed our paddle boards and walked across the street and launched them in Flathead Lake.
We paddled along the shore to the left.  When we went out in the pontoon with Lawrence we went to the right, so we wanted to see what was the other way.  I didn't have my phone with me because it was charging, so I didn't take any pictures.  There are some really neat houses, so I am going to have to go out again and take pictures.
It isn't as smooth in this lake because there are so many jet skis and power boats and of course they have to go 90 miles and hour and make big wakes.  I biffed once, some how got back on my heels again and couldn't recover so in I went.  I had a leash on this time so my board didn't get very far away.  Also, the water wasn't as cold thank goodness.  Rob was trying out some new technique of turning from the back of the board so he biffed a couple times as well.  It was pretty funny.  
We paddled for a couple hours.  It was fun.  Until I was getting ready to land and then I fell off again.  Oh well.  
We got the boards back to the rig and sat in the sun for a little while. We changed clothes and then the three of us walked down to Tamarack which is a brewery/restaurant here in Lake side.  They have a really nice outdoor seating area along side a creek.  It was very pleasant and the service was real good.  Unfortunately the food was not great.
We walked back home (about 25 min) and Rob pretty much went right to bed.  We have to get up and leave at 4:00 tomorrow morning to take hime to the airport.  I stayed up a bit longer and then went to bed myself.   

Tuesday, 23 August. Lakeside and Whitefish, MT

When we got up this morning our fire was very minimal.  I was hoping it was completely out, but it wasn't.  I figured they had it contained and were letting it burn itself out, but unfortunately it flared up again. Pretty soon they had two helicopters on it dumping water again.  It was not looking good for awhile.
We went for a walk to get Bella some exercise.  We walked up about a mile toward the fire and didn't encounter it, so it is farther than it looks.  That's good.
We came back and loaded the bikes up in the truck and all the associated gear.  I gave Bella a bunch of treats and told her she would be so much happier staying home today and that we would definitely be coming back and not to worry.  Also, that the helicopters that keep flying over and rattling the RV are a good thing and she need not be afraid.  Then we left
We stopped in at the office on our way out and let them know we were going Mountain Biking in Whitefish, that our dog was in the rig, and would they please call us if anything was happening in regard to the fire.  She said absolutely, so I gave her both our phone numbers, grabbed a couple chocolate chip cookies (she makes them fresh) and left.
We stopped in at Kalispell at Discount Tires.  When Rob had the truck serviced they pointed out that our right rear tire was weathered.  The sidewall was all cracked.  The tread was still good on all the tires, but the cracks were dangerous and could cause a blowout.  We've already had a blowout on that truck and it was not pretty.
So we needed to replace that tire.  I asked if it was smart to replace just one tire and they said not really.  That we could take the best tire off front and put it on right rear, then two new ones on front.  As it turned out, we got six new tires.  Rather be safe than sorry.  The good thing was we got some credit for the fact we still had good tread on the 5 we took off and there is no sales tax in Montana so we saved some money there.  I always feel much safer when we have new tires.  Now we have new tires on both vehicles.  
So, we finally went on to Whitefish.  
We drove to the Beaver Lake Trailhead, where we have been before.  

We rode our bikes up the dirt road to Murray Lake (middle left edge on map) because it is supposed to be a really nice lake for SUP as it has lots of beaches were we can pull up onto and have a picnic. 
We were hoping to pick up that green dotted line which is a future trail over to Rainbow lake, but it is still to be in the future and wasn't there yet.  Murray Lake does look like a nice lake for boarding and we can drive to it so that will be good.  
Since the trail wasn't there we had to ride back to the dirt road that lead over to Rainbow Lake where we picked up the green trail and went up to Woods Lake. Rainbow lake was cute with a bunch of Lili Pads all through it.  Didn't look like there was anyplace to land tho.
The trail is so awesome to ride.  It is really smooth with ups and downs and twists and turns.  So much fun.  
We got to Woods Lake and it was pretty.

I don't think it would be such a good place to paddle though.  It also didn't seem to have any beaches.
At the top right of Woods Lake we caught the look to the right which took us to the Whitefish Lake overlook.  It was nice, but not a great view of the lake.  

We rode down to dollar lake and as we were coming down we could see the lake and couple of the trails.

We rode the trail back up to the Woods Lake Trailhead and then bake to Rainbow Lake and back down to Beaver Lakes Trailhead.  

It was a blast.  Big smiles on both our faces when we got back to the truck.

We loaded everything back into the truck and locked the bikes in. We then drove into Whitefish for the Tuesday evening Farmer's market.

We bought more delicious tomatoes, a couple more melons and a small bag of white cheese and caramel corn mixed together.  We ate the entire bag there and on the way home.

While at the Farmer's Market we came across this young gentle giant.  He was there last week as well.

 

We drove back to the Rig.  The fire was still smoldering, but looked much better.  We sat and read for a bit and then when the sun went down we all went to bed.


 

Monday, 22 August, Hiking to Hidden Lake in Glacier National Park

OMG is it ever smoky and ugly this morning.  I got up early and couldn't see any sky, just smoke.
We had to leave at 8 am because we had to drop the truck off in Kalispell to have the engine oil and transmission oil changed.  Then we drove on up to Glacier National Park.  As we got closer to the park the air was getting clearer and clearer as far as the smoke was concerned.  Unfortunately as we got higher and higher the temperature was getting colder and colder.  We continued on up to the Logan Pass Visitor Center.   It was 55 degrees when we got there.  We decided we were going to do the Hidden Lake Trail. 

It is 1.5 miles to the Hidden Lake Overlook, and 3 miles to the lake itself. The trail was wooden planks forming a walkway and steps in the beginning, but eventually it turned into just a regular trail.

We had grabbed lightweight wind breakers when we left, but it was way to cold for that.  Rob ended up grabbing two wind breakers and 

I was lucky enough to have a down jacket in my trunk.  I wore it the entire time, only pushing the sleeves up for a little while in the lower area after hiking for a little ways.

There were amazing wild flowers which seemed odd for this time of year, after all, it is almost fall.

We saw a different colored chipmunk than what we are used to.

And, we were lucky enough to encounter Mountain Goats.

We reached the Hidden Lake overlook and it was pretty.

  It was really pretty a little beyond..

But it was really, really cold so we decided to turn around and head back. Along the way back a mountain goat ran up to us and then right by us.

That was pretty cool

It was just as beautiful going back.

Now you can see the plank walkways and that is the visitor center off in the distance in the middle of the picture.

This is 

So we left the park and headed home.  The truck was finished so we went by and picked it up.

I got back to the RV Park first.  As I was getting closer I noticed more smoke, only it was coming from a different place.  As I pulled into the park I noticed a lot of people standing around.  As I got further into the park I saw they were all looking behind the park at a fire.  I stopped and asked a man if it was a new fire and he said yes, It had just started about 45 min. ago.  It was behind us, about a mile or two away.  Great!

This is from our rig, you can see my plumeria in the foreground.

This is from across the street at the lake.

They have three helicopters with water buckets, Several fire trucks went by on their way to the fire, and as time went on we say air tankers drop four loads of retardant on it.  

It would seem as though they would have it out, and then all of a sudden it would flare up all big again.  Then it seemed ok, and then it moved to the left.

As the sun was setting they were continuing to work on it.

You can see the helicopter on the left.

When it got dark the fire was not out, but the helicopters couldn't see any more.  

We went to bed praying for the safety of the firefighters, that they will be able to put the fire out and that it will not come our way and cause us to have to evacuate.