July 31 swinging bridge on our way out of Bull Lake. One month on the road!
In addition to the Cedars being one of the few highlights over this stretch of days, an additional perk was this Swinging Bridge Park outside of Troy, Montana.
Quick back story: Zach’s mom Barb grew up in a small town called Marion, South Dakota, for years and years growing up they returned to Marion for family reunions and more, one of Marion’s feature is this rickety old swinging bridge across the pond. Zach is an expert at this point in swinging bridge antics.
Fortunately for social distancing they were only allowing six people on the bridge at a time so a family of four crossing this much bigger less rickety bridge with said antics was completely acceptable.
While at Lisa’s, we poured over the Atlas and asked for recommendations for which direction to set our sails for the next short stretch of our journey keeping in mind that we want to get to Glacier National Park right around the beginning of August. Since we enjoyed our time in South Eastern Idaho we also thought we should spend a little bit of time in the northern parts as well. We scoped out a few places near Coeur d’Alene but there is very little camping there and far too many tourists. Thus we found a compromise that was still in north western Montana but close enough to the Idaho border for a day trip to the beautiful lakes.
Our first night at the Bad Medicine (hmmm, maybe an omen name) campground was pretty routine but Natalie woke up in the middle of the night with some pain in her tooth. She has had this recurring dental issue that we put off getting resolved because of coronavirus and it wasn’t causing her any problems prior to departure. At our most recent regular dentist visits they advised the same, wait and see. Leave it to travel to stir up some medical drama. We woke up and still set our sights for Coeur d’Alene but added Spokane Washington to the agenda for access to a bigger city and doctor/dental facilities if necessary. We called our Denver dentist and he called in an Rx for Natalie at the closest Kaiser office. So while this day turned out to be a much longer diversion with some unanticipated medical issues we were grateful to have access to what we needed and Natalie has started a course of antibiotics to keep her tooth problem at bay until we return to Denver in September. The drive around Lake Pend Orielle and Coeur d’Alene was really beautiful and I’m actually glad we didn’t stop because Coeur d’Alene in particular was flooded with people, traffic, and congestion that we have been trying hard to pretty much avoid this whole trip. We’re definitely not jumping back into that pace of things, especially in the midst of this pandemic.
Road tripping antics: How many grapes can he fit in at one time?
30 giant cedars
We took a quick hike that was close to camp today through a grove of the oldest growth cedars in the area. Some as old as 500-1000 years! What a magical forest stroll. We gained some local plant knowledge through the placards dotting the trail and also gained a greater appreciation for all that these majestic trees provide. After the hike we took a close mountain drive in hopes of finding water for the paddle board. I’m still broken-brained about the lack of altitude despite being surrounded by mountains. The one we drove today topped out at about 4300’
The turn
We did find a small lake but it was crowded by a dozen or so drinkers and smokers, it really smelt like a bad bar up there. So we returned to camp early while the kids settled for the murky lake closer to our camp. (They got really spoiled having their first experience on Flathead Lake, I keep telling them not all lakes are going to be that crystal clear.)
Tonight my spirits got down about humanity. First it was the gross people at the smaller lake, then our camp neighbors blasting some ultra conservative news podcast (didn’t we all go into nature to escape from the yelling and divisiveness?), throw in an endless pursuit from the unrelenting mosquitos, stifling heat, our camper fridge on the fritz, a cooler filled with spilt coffee and no ice, propane troubles outside and having to cook dinner in the even hotter inside – I was just done with this particular visit. I apologized to my family and excused myself from the rest of the day’s activities. What do you do during times like this? I know a lot of times I sadly go into my phone for a distraction. However, we are lacking in those diversions at the moment. So it boils down to me and what I can do about MY attitude. Instead of staying grumpy all night, I went and sat down alone for awhile, studied my Spanish (that is still an almost daily occurrence and available offline), reset, then went on a sunset walk. I don’t have answers about humanity and fixing humankind, but I can change my attitude and perspective and let the other stuff go. Please let there be less mosquitoes at our next stop 🦟
July 24-27 This was a travel rest over weekend at Zach’s cousin Lisa’s (and spouse Matt’s) sweet home in Missoula, Montana. More city than we had planned, but their home is set back in a more rural area so it was very similar to our farm stay in Paonia. The kids got straight to work playing with their second cousin Quinn. We did lots of hanging out by the Bitterroot river, the kids swam across a pretty wide portion of the river to get to a rope swing on the other side. We also hiked 5 miles in the Bitterroot wilderness, ate lots of good food (including pizza and take out Brazilian – no cleaning up was a real treat!). We spent a day walking around downtown Missoula and learning about the old industries that helped get the city established.
We also spent a good deal of time here resting and doing absolutely nothing in the inviting backyard while the kids took their runs down the homemade slip n slide, listened to neighborhood horses neighing and the next door ducks quacking up a storm. Each night a teenaged male buck visited the backyard, we saw baby deer one morning, and there was no shortage of birds singing and hummingbirds drinking. We loved Missoula and it’s kind people and laid back vibe. It was especially nice to spend extended time with family that we only get to see every few years.
We arrived at our next reserved spot, an r.v. park on Flathead Lake just 3 miles south of the cute town of Big Fork. We’ve decided that if we are going to be traveling to some of the busier places like this, a reservation is key to avoid the same thing that happened at Yellowstone. We got set up then set out to see Big Fork, a charming downtown with all of the expected touristy shops but with a bent on art galleries. We walked over to the Swan River area too that feeds into Flathead Lake. My favorite part of this day was being mistaken for a local when we were getting supplies at the regular store when a lady approached me in the parking lot asked if I knew how to get downtown for the aforementioned shops.
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We spent the whole day at one spot on Flathead Lake. We arrived at the beach area early, were the only ones there save for a local passing through on his morning workout. Always ask the locals what their favorite things to do are, they’ll most certainly indulge you with great tips. Montana folk are particularly friendly and conversational. The kids got out on the paddle board early and we all rotated turns several times. The water was chilly and crystal clear. The beach slowly started filling with other patrons but we were all able to stay socially distant. Boats would buzz by, sending out their fun wakes, and we enjoyed a beachside picnic lunch.
23 Have you ever heard of Flathead cherries? They are the most prominent fruit in this region with orchards all around the south and west sides of the lake. They are highly sought after and we were lucky to be there at peak season to go to a u-pick farm. And you’d be hard pressed to beat the price of $1/lb
These cherries have sustained our fruit fix for a solid week!, nobody is tired of them, and we’ll be sad when they’re gone. (After: In fact, they are done and we are sad). After picking 8+lbs of cherries we drove the long way home around the whole lake. We are loving the sights of small rural towns, farms and rolling hills. Taking in all the greenery and blue water is restoring to the city-dweller’s soul.
We drove through the northwestern edge of Yellowstone and up through Bozeman for more groceries and the kid’s paddleboard. Natalie did her due research and found one online at a Play it Again Sports, called them to place a hold. They used their own money to make the purchase and were eager to get to our next water camping spot.
Have paddleboard. Will travel.
We secured a two night reservation at the State Park in Three Forks where it was hot and full of mosquitoes. The only reprieve was on the water so on Monday each parent took a kid for a 1.5 hour float. Three Forks is named such because it is the confluence where the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallitin Rivers converge to form the Missouri River. Very fun to navigate on a paddle board with lots of options and endlessly serene views. Best of all, no other people. While rafting in Idaho that was our biggest complaint- the river was full of other floaters and there was rarely a moment of solitude. Our float ended and we traded places with Zach and Camden.
While we waited for the boys, Natalie and I went to the Montana Wheat Baking Company and procured some fresh bread and treats. I had planned on baking some on this trip since we are typically weekly sourdough connoisseurs but heat and oven constrictions have prevented me from the DIY route. It was fun to visit the bakery and to support local. Something we’ve been mindful of and striving for this whole trip.
Each night here we’d take a sunset walk, one at the Madison river, and another at a small overlook. The views are ever changing, always mountainous, and completely mesmerizing. We still can’t believe we get to do life like this for this long a time.
