Stop!! Jammer Time!

There is about 30 vintage red convertible buses-- called Jammers-- that drive around Glacier Park showing the visitors the amazing sites. I get so excited when I see one of these guys. In 1999 they stopped transporting tourists because of the wear and tear they had endured over the past 60 years and was not sure if they would ever be able to use them again...so instead they hauled everyone in BORING white vans...wahhh wahhhh..I'm glad I was not around or I would be so angry!

Then many years later Ford was able to restore the buses and they now bee bop around Glacier Park bright and shiny just like they did in the 1930s. I hope to take a ride in a Jammer before the end of my trip.

Peanut Butter and Jammer!

Heritage

My Gramma is 85 this year and I just found a photo of her Great-Grandparents and their children in 1897 on ancestry.com. I do not know if my Gramma has seen these pictures so I will print them out and send them her way.

Here is a picture of her grandparent's farm-Charles Gustav Schmalz- in Minnesota.

Picture of her great grandparents Herman and Elvira Moenke on their wedding day!

One More Thing

Yesterday I forgot to post a video I took of Farmer herding one of the mountain goats along with a panoramic view of our hike down to Hidden Lake.

I should of focused more on the goat because that was pretty funny! He would not get out of way and kept walking in front of us for a good part of our hike.

Enjoy the weekend! I am in Portland, Oregon right now visiting Danielle!

Ohhh Last Sunday!

Last Sunday was quite the trip! We first decided to trek over to East Glacier which is probably around a 2.5 hour drive from Kalispell. Woo weee. We got out and stretched our legs and walked around another beautiful historic lodge built in 1913 for the droves of tourist for Glacier Park. What a beauty and the grounds were amazing.

After our visit with East Glacier we ventured up towards Many Glaciers which was another hour or so. Another historic lodge--Many Glaciers Lodge--sat on the edge of Swiftcurrent Lake, surrounded by snow-tipped mountains. Everybody was outside relaxing in the old patio chairs reading their latest novel or chit chatting with their loved ones. Many Glaciers was definitely the most remote..and surrounded by so many different hiking trails. I can see how someone may want to stay a week there!

Swiftcurrent Lake

Many Glaciers Lodge

Josephine Lake

Later on in the day we made it towards Logan's Pass and started hiking up the trail to Hidden Lake. Logan's Pass is about 6,000 ft above sea level and right there on the continental divide. There is still snow at this point so Farmer and I were slipping and sliding our way to find this hidden lake amongst the peaks and valleys. We hiked a mile and a half to the look out point for hidden lake. Tucked in the high valley of the mountains and covered with snow/ice for about 8 months out of the year..I can see how it got its name.

While taking pictures.. Farmer was trying to figure out the timer for the camera I quietly shouted..Very slowly! Sit up and look behind you!!...

A mama mountain goat and her little one was right behind him staring and sniffing at him. It was a hoot! I was so excited to finally see one of these creatures!

After taking a bajillion pictures of them we decided to hike DOWN to the lake...another mile and a half but this was DOWN a mountain. Not so bad going down..but coming up is what separates the men from the boys..or as Farmer says..the Kitties from the Cats.

We did it! And took some great pictures along the way. After it was all said and done..we hiked about 8 miles that day and boy was I TIRED!!

Hidden Lake

Hidden Lake below us

Nosey Goat

Whistle Pig?

Made it to Hidden Lake

Road Block!

Last Saturday

First thing on Saturday was the Farmer's Market in Kalispell. We purchased some lettuce/local cherries *yummm* and milk.

We then proceeded to Rebecca Farm to watch the Event.

This event was held in Kalispell.. one of two cities in the USA that held trials for the Equestrian World Cup. The 10 other cities will be in Europe..These horses were flown in from the east coast..only the best!

We saw all sorts of action.. a rider fell off the horse and the horse went crazy and was running full speed through the fields heading to the barn..people had to run/dive out of the way.

Then another rider fell off and they had to call in the ambulance..kind of scary but they said she only suffered some bruised ribs.

And then of course the jumping!!

It was so exciting to see.. I have never been to an event and also the jumps were so creative...horses had to jump over over-sized carrots/fish/dinosaurs/etc. Loved it!

Video of one of the contestants hurdling their way through Jurassic Park!

After watching the event...we headed towards downtown and looked at the vintage cars and hot rods show. We had a nice time looking at old motorcycles to model A's. I enjoyed the model A's and the trucks. Makes me want to buy an "A" and also fix up the 20 vintage trucks Farmer has back home.

Later on in the evening Farmer took me out to a nice restaurant in Whitefish---Tupelo's. Then guess where we ended up next...The Great Northern Bar to watch... The Cold Hard Cash Show..again! We didn't stay as long and we didn't really need to sit up close and personal this time but still it was great entertainment. Farmer spotted the old head football coach of the NY Giants there...oooh "celebrity" sighting!!

Last Friday...

Hello...

we are...

Last Friday afternoon when Farmer came home from work we decided to grab some dinner and then go see The Cold Hard Cash Band at the Great Northern Bar in Whitefish. They are a Johnny Cash Tribute band and drove up from Missoula. They even played on David Letterman a couple of years ago.

We grabbed a snack and a drink at the bulldog saloon before heading over to the Great Northern. We were lucky enough to find some good seats right by the band so we could people watch and also see the players. They sounded a lot like Johnny Cash. I was excited because I thought this would be a good band to dance to.. well I guess Montanans do not two step..more like mosh pit-flail arms and such. It was really fun to watch at least. We had a great time. Even met some "local celebrities" which means restaurant and art studio owners.

Thrift Store Finds

Well we had quite the adventurous weekend!!! I love the weekends here because there is always something to do! While I gather my thoughts and reflections over how to put our experience into words and sort through the photos I am going to talk about my thrift store perusing.

I enjoy going to these stores...one of the only things I do not like is they seem to seperate the antiques or vintage stuff from the junk and rack up the price...ahhh that's the fun part is finding the good stuff amongst the junk. I was at a "thrift store" in Whitefish and it was ALLL antiques and the prices were ridiculous!! They have another store in Kalispell and I think they seperate the good from the bad and haul all the good stuff up to Whitefish where all the tourists are and display their goods...while Kalispell has junk. While in the Whitefish "thrift store" I found TWO vintage Texas Tech Pendleton blankets! I was sooo excited..then I saw the price tag. One was for$150.00 and the other $160.00...at a thrift store. I was so angry! In Whitefish, MT..who else will want to buy a Texas Tech blanket except for me??

But anyways, I did find this cute color pencil of a black poodle at the Salvation Army..It's just darling. I don't even like poodles but this is just so funny. He kind of reminds me of a dog we used to have...Pepper..but she was more grungy than this little guy. I have him by my computer so I can look at him whenever I like.