Kalispell con't 2

6/14

Another beautiful day with high temps in the 70’s. We accomplished a few chores and then kept an appointment with the urologist for Gary. The Doc discovered that the test he requested done at the hospital had not been done. (They had incorrectly done a regular x-ray, he had ordered a die-injected x-ray) He was not pleased. Another appointment for the correct x-ray tomorrow. We then drove around to check out the various fishing access points in the area. Last year, while checking out one of these spots, we saw 2 women horseback riding. They were letting their horses get a drink while standing on the dirt launch area. The horses, the beautiful trees & the river made a beautiful scene. The picture was on last year’s travelogue. Today while checking out this same spot, we spotted a young teenager with her dog, frolicking in the water at the boat launch. She & her mom each had a leashed dog & were cooling off by wading in the river. So we will put this women/animal picture on this site as we start a tradition, I guess. We returned to the campground & noticed momma Robin was quite busy feeding her brood. Back & forth she went, bringing food to her babies. We took our walk & had a nice chat with Gordon & Janet, from near-Calgary, Alberta. Each night we’ve shared some conversation with them. They have traveled extensively in the southwest, as I mentioned before. They were sharing with us that it was 42* for a high at home. They are extending their stay, hoping it will warm up a bit before they hit the road.


	Cooling off on a fine, summer day. The 2nd dog is very small & standing behind the dog you see.


	Do you think we ever will? First able to vote in 1964, I’ve watched a lot of stupid.


	Aaah, poor momma with her three screaming babes. We think there is another one in there, but cannot be sure. We also think the poppa is helping. Not familiar with Robin habits, we’re not sure. But, we did see two robins change places as the one ran out of food & the other flew in & began feeding these hungry little ones.


	As the day draws to a close, the river is rising & the clouds are moving in. Nice view from inside the coach.

6/15

The day starts out nice & sunny. Midday Gary went to the hospital for his proper x-ray, so we couldn’t resist a side trip to the ER to see if our Fallbrook-to-Kalispell friend, Peggy, was working. We snapped a picture of her, in spite of it being a ‘bad hair’ day for her. With her winning smile, I don’t think anyone pays any attention to her pretty hair. It was another boring afternoon of chores & grocery shopping. While working around the coach, I noticed some birds I had tried to get a picture of. There were several of them running around on the ground & pounding their beaks into the ground or at the base of tree trunks, much like a woodpecker pounds his beak into a tree trunk. These guys are about 12” long, and move quickly. They often fly at our eye-level, but quickly gain altitude to roost in the very tall trees in the campground. I finally got a picture or two of them. I took more, but these quick-movers caused most of my photos to be blurred. Lots of ‘Delete Picture’ button being pushed on the camera. At last, I know I have encountered the Northern Flicker. Fairly common birds, but the first time I’ve seen one other than in flight. They are classified with woodpeckers in the bird books. We started noticing that it was getting colder & clouds were moving in. We went to bed & both were wakened at different times during the night to the pitter-patter of the rain on the roof.


	Kalispell got the prize when Registered Nurse Peggy & her husband decided to settle here. For a very long time Peggy was a fixture at Fallbrook Hospital’s ER. In our few trips to the Fallbrook ER with kid’s injuries, etc., I could always count on Peggy to explain what I didn’t understand and just knowing she was there would calm any nerves I might have.


	Lady Northern Flicker on the left. Gent Northern Flicker on the right. You should see them pounding their beaks on the ground in search of food. Rat-a-tat-tat over & over again. Do they get headaches?


	Here come the clouds again. A little different than we’ve seen before. This time there is a trailing line of clouds in front of the mountains as well as all the stuff higher up.


	The momma robin is out hunting for those hungry little ones. It is also getting very cold, so she has to hurry to feed them & then cover them so they don’t freeze.

6/16

Rain is tapping away on our roof as we awaken. It is raining as Gary sees the Doctor for a final visit. The Doc feels that Gary can continue to vacation & see his urologist when we return home. He has arranged for all paper records & a disk of Gary’s x-ray tests of this issue to be packaged up & Gary will pick them up in a few days. So everything the Doctor did & the hospital did will be in a time-line order for Gary’s Doc when we return home. The rain continues. And it virtually doesn’t stop all day. Had a few minutes once, but the rain came back. According to weather reports, this may continue tomorrow. Had dinner to the tune of pitter-patter rain on the roof. Went to sleep to it. Woke up during the night to it.


	Marketing is everything. Sounds good to have Organic Air. Uh, just what the heck is ‘Organic Air’ anyway? (This is a shop that specializes in supplies for hydroponics gardening.)


	Gotta keep the babies warm. Momma robin picked a great place for the nest. There is a roof over her head. There is no wind with this storm, so the nest is staying dry. And with momma playing the part of the ‘lid’ on this pot, the babes are nice & warm. And mom’s protected, too.


	Our new camping buddies, Gordon & Janet, walked over to say good-bye. Some issues with their trailer are taking them home a bit sooner than expected. They live near Calgary, Alberta. We will miss our evening chats with them.

6/17

The rain continues unabated. It’s not cloudbursts, its not some now & again. It is gentle & constant. If all this rain fell at home, we’d be in a flood. The land here handles it all pretty well. The river is up, but by no means ready to jump its boundaries. Hope it stays that way! It is cold. Woke up to 43* outside. We decided to go to lunch & take a drive. Several days ago we had asked a waitress at Applebee’s to recommend a local-owned lunch place. She suggested Louie’s. She steered us right. Lunch was superb! If you are ever in Kalispell with a hankering for a Philly cheesesteak sandwich, this is the place. Owned by two brothers, the small restaurant offers take-out or dine-in. Gary said it was the first place he’s ever had a Philly that he would come back again for another. Of course, I stayed with my favorite, BLT, and it was great also. Everything very fresh & the bread? Well, it’s brought in from Philadelphia, where else? They have a good variety of offerings on their menu & we’ll return to check out some of them. We then drove to Libby, 88 miles away. The town has about 3,000 full-time residents. Lumbering, mining & tourism are the principal employers. Kayakers/rafters love the whitewater opportunities here. Libby is well-known to fishing folks for the Kootenai River running through it. A must-see is the Libby Dam. Monana’s longest & highest bridge is at the dam, as well. The Yaak Falls are supposed to be very pretty. We did not see any of these things as this drive was spontaneous & it’s getting too late for us to drive further. Driving in this terrain late in the day is an invitation for your bumper to meet large 4-legged creatures, especially with the rain obscuring your view of the road & what’s alongside it. The rain never lets up. The drive is primarily through the mountains with lakes, large meadows & lots of trees. On the way back, about 30 miles east of Libby, we rounded a corner & there stood 3 elk on the highway. They quickly bolted into the brush on the side of the road. The day remained cold. Never got above 50* today. It is now 9:30 & it’s 44* outside. Thank goodness for heaters!




		This be THE place. llll Hwy 2 West, Kalispell. Yummy food! Gary relished his Philly cheesesteak sandwich. He downed this sandwich all by himself, but did share his fries. See story above for details on this very special deli.


	On the way to Libby, MT. Lovely drive, but the rain put a damper on the photo-taking. We did see some cattle on our ride there. Lots of lakes, forests & ranching were visible from Hwy 2.


	Don’t have a clue why this car’s front end is sticking out of the school. I just took the pictures.


	Libby’s new parts are along Hwy. 2. The older town intersects with the highway. As we turned onto the ‘main street’ we saw the banner for ‘Incredible Bull Riding Blowout’ already held on July 12. The tall mountains, somewhat obscured by clouds, hover over the town.


	Still on Amtrak’s route, the vintage train station is ready to greet passengers or shelter them until the train takes off. Note puddles this side of the tracks.


	Off the ‘main street’ stands the Hotel Libby. It is a grand size that must have hosted many a traveler. Could not determine what it is used for now. Along the side, note the 2nd floor neatly boarded up windows. And the center window, roof level, appears to have no window pane. Must have been a great place in times past.




		Our wildlife of the day: these 3 elk, which seem to be a mom & her last year’s children (don’t know much of anything about elk) were crossing the highway where the valley is very narrow. Upon seeing us, they turned around to run back across the road. Very healthy looking animals. If their coloring seems a bit dark, remember it’s raining & they are soaking wet. This was shot with telephoto lens. We’re not nearly as close as it would appear.


Libby is referred to as ‘The City of Eagles’ in the brochure we had about the town. Unfortunately, the brochure did not say why. One can only assume there were, or are, a lot of eagles here. This large rendering of an eagle sits above the traffic going by on Hwy. 2.


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