Mariahs River Float and Fort Benton

We took our new pontoons down to the Mariahs River just south of Shelby.  The put in is on the golf course with about a 12 foot drop.  I went down first and Jay followed.  Mind you I have only rowed once before in my life, so when I hit the current, I was spinning and laughing.  The float took a couple of hours.  It was really nice, slow and shallow.  When we went under the interstate bridge, Jay was trying to take pictures of the swallows and their nest.  They gave him a calling card and fortunately he had his hat on!

A 12 ft. or so drop to the water.

Where's my corona?

Now I am rowing for the second time in my life.

This is where the swallows left their calling cards on Jay's head.

Done for the day.

The view from the takeout point.

Yesterday we went to Fort Benton.  Dad thought I had been there before, but I surely don't remember.  We took the shortcut on a bunch of gravel roads.  It sure is a good thing they have finally put road signs out there and Dad has a good map, or else we would have been lost for sure.

There were herds of Antelope all over the place.  We had to be very observant or else we would have had a new hood ornament.

This is a field of canola.  Miles and miles of beautiful bright yellow.

This is the country school out east of Brady, grades 1-8.

This sign is  posted at a main gravel intersection.  It lets you know how far and what direction the nearby farms and towns are from there.

Another view of Knees School with their slide, teeter-totter and merry-go-round.  There is nothing around but farmland and prairie.

Oh so easy to get lost out here!

Someone must have bought this old barn and are in the process of moving it.  Notice the new tin roof.

When we got to Fort Benton, we went to the interpretive center.  They have 5 museums in the town, a really nice path that you can walk along the Missouri River with historical markers along the way (my kids will appreciate that) and beautiful statues that commemorate people of significance.

Loved the set-up in the back of this truck!

T

Glacier Park Hike

There is a group of ladies that go hiking every Tues. here in Brady.  I've been trying to go with them for the last three years, but something has  always come up.  I got to go this year!  We drove out to Glacier Park, about 1 1/2 hours from here.  These ladies are serious hikers.  The first thing that falls out of the trunk was a handgun.  I quietly asked if it was okay to have one.  Yep, you can have one.  They had bear spray and everything you could possibly think of.  I had my camelpack, airhorn, bugspray, flashlight and lunch.  I felt pretty comfortable with them and I was silently figuring out which one I am going to hide behind should we come across a grizzly, because there was bear scat all over the place.  We hiked toward Siyeh Pass.  About two hours in, we stopped in a really pretty alpine meadow and lake and sat down for lunch.  They were discussing whether to turn back or go on to see the pass.  Alice is definitely the most adventurous one of the group.  She was all for it and onward we went.  We came upon the sign that told us how far we had to go if we went on to Going to the Sun road.  7 some odd miles.



We thought we would just go a little farther and check it out.  That type of conversation went on until we ended up going over 10 miles up and over the pass.  We hiked 4000 ft. up and down in elevation which took us about 8 hours.  We almost stopped and went back several times, but we didn't.  I'm so glad we kept on going because the other side was even prettier.  I've been to Glacier many times, but this is only the 2nd time I have stopped and hiked.  It was great!

I wanted to sing, "The hills are alive with the sound of music." 

This is the view almost at the pass.  Look, we are almost eye level with the peak across the valley.

The trail was a bit steep and shaley at times.

Poor Becky fell just before we came to this ice field, so she was a little cautious.

This is the pass at 8,200 ft.

On the other side there were tons of waterfalls and lots of beargrass (the big fluffy flowers).

This is the last waterfall at the end of the hike by the Going to the Sun Road.

 



Fishing

We went out to Bynum Reservoir to go fishing.  We've been here before and it's always a crapshoot as to whether or not we get on the water much less catch a fish.  It ended up being a beautiful, big sky day.  If I had a ski boat, I would have yelled, "Hit it!".  We caught 3 small perch and Dad caught a beautiful trout.  Not bad for an 87 year old.  Showed us up.  ;)



Dad and his catch.

Not a bad view for the day, Rocky Mountain Range.

Roaming all over Montana

When we left Spokane, we stayed the night at my brother's in Kalispell.  Then we went on to Brady to Dad's.  He had a doctor's appt. in Kalispell, so off  we went back over the mountains to the west.  Dad is doing well.  We took my brother's patio boat out on Flathead lake for a spin and took out our new pontoon rafts.  I have never oared anything before in my life and went in circles.  Think I have one arm stronger than the other.  Tuesday we went east back over the mountains with the pontoon boats in tow only to find out that the river is too low to float.  Saturday is Brady Biker Days and an auction of an old museum/treasure chest of goodies, so it should be fun.  Jay helped put a new door on the church.  He should be in good graces for a little while.

Boardwalk at Fort Bragg, CA campground

Glass Beach in Fort Bragg

The drive thru tree in Legget, CA.  We followed this cool car in.  Our truck and camper were a bit too big.

Starfish at low tide in Oregon.

This is the trail to the beach at Katy and Steve's beach house.  Whenever anyone finds a float on the beach, they hang it here.

Jay on our new pontoon.

Relaxing on Mike's patio boat.

Portland, OR and Spokane, WA

After we  left Neskowin, (where I know want to purchase a vaca home) we went to Katy and Steve's home in Portland.  What a beautiful place all nestled in trees.  Another one of our classmates from Humboldt was in town for a wedding and the three of us met up at Katy's and caught up on life.  You know you have good friends when you haven't seen each other for 35 years and still can sit down and talk for hours.  Nancy retired from the Marines and lives near San Diego, so hopefully we will be able to see each other before another 35 years goes by.

After we left Portland, we went to Spokane and saw Don Kahl and his wife Patty.  What they did to their backyard is amazing.  It is a huge pond with a waterfall, tons of flowers and a wonderful garden.  Patty gave us a cabbage that is the size of a basketball!

The next day we went to my brother's in Kalispell, spent the night and now we are in beautiful downtown Brady.

I had to delete my app and reinstall it, so I am going to download what pictures I have in case I have troubles with it again.  Thanks Pam Martin for reminding me how to delete stuff of my ipad.

These are at Katy's beach house.

These are of Katy's Portland home.

Donny Kahl's garden in Spokane

The pond that takes up their entire backyard.  It was a koi pond, but they redid it for a wading  pool.

Donny and Jay BBQing and lying to each other.

Watching the sparrows and hummingbirds at my brother's house.

Okay I'm going to post this, hopefully I will be able to post pictures easily next time.