Flathead Lake, Lakeside, Montana

 

Sunday August 1

On most of our days at Lakeside on the west shore of Flathead Lake in Montana, the sky has been smoky giving the days a gloomy overcast and the setting sun an other-worldly orange glow. Fortunately neither of us has respiratory problems, but my eyes have been more irritated than usual.

Monday we tried to take a walk at a local Lavender Farm, but just as we arrived it started to rain and they closed. The rain didn't last long, but we headed back to the Alfa anyway. On Tuesday Craig, with the help of a mobile RV repair guy, successfully installed a new microwave to replace the one that had failed in July. It weighed 75 pounds and we felt it was best to get another man in to help.

Wednesday the smoke cleared for the day and we decided to take the evening Far West Boat Cruise.

The dock was just across the street from our RV park.  Taking boat trips like this is one of the things we enjoy doing. 

We do not pull a boat of our own and do not fish, so this is one way to see the larger waters we visit.

The Northwest shore of Flathead lake is very built up with huge  homes built quite close together.

Each of these has a multi-million dollar price tag.

No two are alike, and our cruise announcer dropped numerous famous names. 

This one was built by one of the original owners of Starbucks. While most of the homes are built as close to the water as possible, this one is high up, and there is a clog lift down to their dock. A good view and a four minute ride up or down.

 

 

I can only think "Location!" when I look at this one.

We cruised south for about an hour and then turned around to go back to Lakeside.

 As the sun slid towards the mountain ridges, we could see there were promising elements of a beautiful sunset. A scattering of clouds and a reflective lake only required us to sit back and be patient.

 

This reminded us of the Arizona flag.

 

It just kept getting better

until it was gone. 

Thursday we decided to drive around the lake. We headed around the top of the lake and down the east side.

But we were stopped by a road closure due to a wildfire.

We turned around, went back to Lakeside and headed south on the west side of the lake. 

As expected, we were turned back again, just past Polson. But all in all it was a nice drive.

If you're interested in old machinery and oddities, visit the Miracle of America Museum in Polson. We did not go in, but these were a couple of the unusual items along their driveway:

 

 

I love stuff like this! 

It makes me smile, and there is nothing better than that.

Another Week gone, Mackinac Island

If blogging were my job, I would probably be fired! Good thing this blog is only a personal record of our RV travels. I am committed to keeping it up, but I can do it at my own pace.

On August 23rd we drove all of 40 miles from Cedarville to St. Ignace, which is the small community on the north side of the Mackinac Straits. We could see Lake Huron from our front window.

St. Ignace sunrise from the Alfa door

I am sometimes awake at sunrise, but I rarely actually get up until later. On this morning, I woke to a room that seemed to glow with golden light. I peeked between the blinds and saw a glorious sunrise. Needless to say, I got up and went out to get some pictures. I confess, I did go back to bed for a while when I came in.

On our second day there, we took the 9:30 Shepler's Ferry over to Mackinac Island. It was very convenient because they sent a shuttle to our RV park to pick us up, and we didn't have to fuss with parking. Also that particular run goes out under the Mackinac Bridge before going to the island. It was a gloriously clear and sunny day.

No cars are allowed on the Island so we decided to purchase the Ferry and Carriage Tour package. We boarded our carriage a short distance from the Ferry dock and we off for a tour of the island.

We drove up several streets with historic homes and buildings. No one actually "lives" in this part of town, since they are all either businesses, Hotels, or B&Bs. This little building is the Post Office, but there has never been a letter delivered on the island. If you get mail, you have to pick it up. With no cars, people either walk, bicycle, or take horse-drawn taxies and carriages. You can also rent a horse and buggy, or just a riding horse.

After traveling through town, our tour went past the Grand Hotel, through some state forest and dropped us off at Surrey Hill, where there was a gift shope, a blacksmith demonstration, a Butterfly House,

and the Grand Hotel barn which houses the Surrey Hills Carriage Museum. 

We enjoyed looking at all the beautifully restored carriages and reading about the famous families that had owned them for use on the island. Many very rich people had, and still have, summer homes here.

The next leg of our tour was in a carriage pulled by a team of three large horses. Our driver said we could pet them if we wanted to. I think this one looks like he enjoyed the attention.

I have to post this, our mandatory picture of Arch Rock. It was one of the stops.              

The color of the Lake Huron water was dramatic. Almost turquoise in the shallows and a deep royal blue in the distance.











The tour also stops at the fort overlooking the village and harbor.

If you want to go into the fort, which we did, there is an extra small fee. I had packed a small picnic lunch and we enjoyed the above view while we ate lunch on a veranda. There is also a restaurant.

I loved these buckets so perfectly lined up outside one of the guardhouses. When the fort was active, these were kept full of water to fight fires. I doubt they were  all as new and shiny then.

After our History lesson, we boarded another carriage and were let off a few blocks away from the Grand Hotel.

This picture was taken from our inbound Ferry. The Grand Hotel is so big it is hard to get it in one image from land!

By the time we had walked there from where the Carriage Tour had let us off, we were ready for an Ice Cream break. We had been told that everything was quite expensive on the island, but we found the ice cream about the same as in any tourist town.

The Hotel on the other hand was no Motel Six. A room can cost as much as $1000 per night for a single, or as little as $400 per person for double occupancy in a shared room.  

There is a $10 per person charge to just walk around the Lobby, porch and gardens if you do not hae a room.

The drinks we had up in the 5th-floor Cupola Bar were pricey at $32 for one glass of Chardonnay and one Irish Coffee. But then, no tipping is allowed at the hotel. 

We walked through the Hotel Gardens and back to town past many other beautifully maintained Victorian homes. We spotted a number of huge mansions overlooking the water from our outbound ferry. There is a separate little village, which we did not see, away from the tourist town area, where a few hundred people live year round, but most only stay in the summer months and the island pretty much shuts down for the winter.

The next day we took the Jeep over the bridge to Mackinaw City. The bridge reminded us of the Golden Gate in San Francisco. We have been there before, so did not go to Ft. Michilimacinac.

Instead we went on a Fudge Sampling walk.

There were about eight fudge shops on a three block strip, and they each gave samples. It was hard, but we did choose just one and bought several flavors.

For us, sometimes it is all about the food! We like to try local specialities if we can. 

We had some delicious smoked whitefish, beef pasties, and in keeping with what is trending now, tried the Impossible Wopper at Burger King.

Earlier on this part of our travels I had changed some of our plans, which is why we ended up returning to Sault Ste. Marie for a few days. Being Labor Day weekend, I could not easily find a different reservation, or change our reservation without penalty. 

So, we had a couple more days of relaxing and watching the big lake ships glide by in Sault Ste. Marie.  Life is so hard!

Saturday evening there was a really nice sunset.

Campers gather at the river's edge and either stand or lounge in their lawn chairs, waiting for the ships to go by. 

These two look as if they were going to crash into each other as they moved in opposite directions.

But of course that was just an illusion, and they each went their own way.

I am writing this on Sunday. We might find something to do tomorrow, or we might just hang out at home in the Alfa, at the Aune Osborn Campground, on the St. Marys river in Sault Ste. Marie Michigan.


Full Time RV Life is good!

#7 Bagan

The next morning, we packed up once again and headed north on Highway 1. After some miles, we left the toll road and took a smaller road to Bagan.

Along these rural roads it was not uncommon to see cattle on the shoulders. Some were being moved from place to place, some were tethered to graze on roadside plants, and some were pulling carts.

Bagan is an ancient city known for the Protected Archaeological Area where there are thousands of Buddhists temples, pagodas and shrines scattered over a remarkable area.

I refer to them as "monuments" or "structures" because it is not clear to me exactly what is a pagoda, a bell, a stupa, a shrine, or a temple.

I do know none of them are grave markers or mausoleums containing earthly remains. The big Pagodas are said to contain some "holy relics" of the Buddhas. (There were several.)

We arrived in early afternoon and got settled into our rooms before going out exploring again.

The grounds of our hotel in Bagan were very pleasant with the rooms all opening onto courtyards. The restaurant where we had breakfast was also outdoors.

All of the other hotels we stayed at were quite "European" with regular queen beds. Our beds in the Bagan hotel were very comfortable in spite of being Asian-style, on the floor. 

We went off to see a few more pagodas in the late afternoon.

I wanted to be respectful of the Buddhist traditions, so I bought a Longyi from one of the vendors. 

You can also rent them for a very small donation at the door if you are not dressed appropriately. (Shorts or tank tops are frowned upon.) I would have been OK with my long pants, but I liked the elephant pattern on this longyi.

Maybe I can use it as a swim suit cover up.








 


Not all of the temples are being restored or maintained. We visited this large one in late afternoon as the sun was setting.

I have lost track of the names or how old these places are. 

This Buddha statue was inside. The building may be crumbling, but he seemed to have a fresh coat of paint. 

Craig noticed this man standing on a wall that went around the main structure. We wondered why he was there, and what could he see that we could not.

He was waiting for the sunset.

It was a good one!

That evening Craig and I retired early. We wanted to be able to get up before dawn to be picked up to go to the launch field for our Sunrise Hot Air Balloon ride.

Next #8 Hot Air Balloon ride over Bagan.

Meeting New Friends on the Road

As we were getting settled at Wayside Campground outside of Halifax on Friday, we noticed the coach next to us had a US sticker map that was more full than ours, and also had South Dakota license plates.  Aha!  They must be full-timers.

On Saturday we watched, and when they got back from their day's adventure, I went out to say "hi" while the husband, Jim, was setting up their grill. 

Jan and Jim

A conversation quickly took hold, and soon Craig was out and Jim's wife, Jan, joined in.

Realizing they still had not cooked their dinner, I asked if they would like to join us for a campfire later. 

Although we don't have campfires very often, the evening was quite nice and company is always good.

They have been on the road just a little longer than we have and enjoy the life much the same. We shared stories and things we have learned along the way. They went to Alaska last year, and since that is on our wish list, their experiences were very interesting to us. 

Darkness settled over us, and as the last log was added to the fire I was startled to see a very large meteor flash across the sky. The evening ended with smiles and "see you tomorrows." We each had our own plans for the day.

The next day, Jan brought over one of their contact cards and told me there was a free outdoor Cèilidh, a musical gathering, that evening in a nearby town that they were going to. 

Yes! Sounded like fun, so we decided to follow them there so we could all sit together. We had tried to attend a one a week before, but it was an indoor event and was sold out.

Apparently, a Cèilidh can be many things. Traditionally they are held in a church or town hall and include folk music and story telling. In modern times they have also come to include an event like we went to. It was an annual, local celebration of "Natal Day", Halifax's birthday! It involved several bands playing a variety of popular music, plus fireworks and a fund raising BBQ.

Quite a crowd gathered on a hillside overlooking a cove and marina. Jim and Jan said that the flyer they saw had suggested bringing lawn chairs, so we did.

The bands started playing around six in the evening. The air was warm, the scene was beautiful. As more and more boats came in the sky began to color.














All sunsets are beautiful.

As time passed, the colors became more and more intense. The vibrance of the image above has not been adjusted!

What a fantastic setting! 

You may notice the keyboard player is glowing red. He was in the direct line of a red stage light, and indeed appeared that color!




Once darkness descended, the music ended and there was a nice fireworks display. The entire evening was one of those little treasures we have been lucky enough to come across. 

I am writing this on Monday afternoon. Our new friends have left, and the spot next to us is empty. They are heading up to Baddock where we were last week. Tomorrow we will be going to Lunenburg, where they had just been. 

We will keep in touch on Facebook.  I love modern technology! Who knows if or when we will cross paths again, but it is really nice to meet new friends, and know they are out on the road as well.

Happy Trails Jan and Jim!