THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4--Exploring Flathead Lake

I learned six things today:

1. I need to take two dollars to the shower instead of just one. Three minutes is not nearly enough time to get done when I have to wash my hair. I had just managed to get the soap out of my hair when the shower went off abruptly. I might have uttered a bad word just then. Herb said he timed his shower with his watch and it was only two minutes and about forty seconds. Rip off.

2. My hair is a tangle of knots when I don’t use conditioner in it. (See item #1)

3. When you click on a picture in the blog, it enlarges to a full screen.

4. Flathead Lake is huge! After the showers didn’t go well, Herb decided that we should have breakfast out. We planned to drive around the lake today anyway, so we left the campground and turned right, which had us heading south on the East side of the lake. We found a nice place in Woods Bay. It was called Mountain Lodge. It was a hotel with a couple of restaurants, and we got a seat by the window overlooking the lake. There wasn’t much else in Woods Bay, so we were pleasantly surprised to find such a nice place with a good breakfast.

After breakfast, we continued our drive around the lake. We checked out campgrounds to see if any of them were better than the one we were still in. I have to say the answer is no. We lucked out on this one. We went into the library in Polson, which is on the southern tip of the lake, and did some more work. Not as much as yesterday, though. Then we headed North on the West side of the lake, found a nice picnic area right on the water and ate our lunch. We continued north, stopping occasionally to take pictures and got back to Bigfork in the late afternoon. Bought ice, called Candace while we had phone service (she’s got another good job interview on Tuesday, which we’re all praying about!), explored Bigfork, which is a cool little town; then we headed home.

Our assessment of the lake? It’s beautiful! But it’s a little too resortish for our taste. Gobs of big fancy homes all around it, with a lot of them for sale. It was good for sightseeing, but we’re ready to leave and begin a new adventure tomorrow.

5. Jack and Della died along Highway 93 and so did Dave and Lisa. I meant to write about this a couple of blogs ago. As soon as we hit Montana, I started noticing these little white crosses mounted on red poles along the highway. It seems the state likes to remind us of accidents that involve fatalities. Sometimes you’ll see one cross and sometimes there will be two. Right before we got to our campground on Tuesday, we passed one with a collage of 17! Some of the crosses have wreaths or flowers attached. It’s been pretty disconcerting, which I suppose is the whole point. Today I saw two sets of two crosses with names printed on them. It was sad. But here’s the strange thing. We are seeing these on the scenic routes we’re taking, which are usually narrow, winding roads. The speed limit on these roads is 70 miles per hour during the day and 65 at night! I get irritated with Oregon’s slow speed limit, but maybe I should have a little more appreciation for it now.

We weren’t hungry at dinner time and the sun was getting ready to set, so we poured ourselves a bowl of cereal and walked to the lake to watch the sun go down. What bliss! There’s nothing like sitting on a perch while watching a beautiful sunset.

After that, we went back to our spot for a campfire and cheese and crackers.

6. A day with a rocky beginning can still end nicely…..