ROAD TRIP

Sunday morning we sat on our deck reading the newspaper and enjoying a cup of coffee. We decided we didn't want to sit around home all day so talked about what we wanted to do. Ken suggested we take the kids to Riverside Park to feed the ducks and geese. That was okay with me but it would only take about an hour of the day to do that so I suggested we pack a picnic and drive to Chief Plenty Coup Park. Colette squashed those plans when she told us the kids were scheduled to see their dad that afternoon. Ken then suggested that he and I drive to Lewis and Clark Caverns, something we have been wanting to do for a long time. Since we were getting a late start we decided to take an overnight bag and spend the night somewhere. The cave is located about 19 miles south of Three Forks and is the largest limestone cave in the

the Northwest. It wasn't founded by Lewis and Clark, but is located just above the Jefferson River which was part of their route. We have passed by the sign to the caverns many times over the years and have talked about visiting it every time. I am so glad we finally made it because I don't think I could make the hike to the entrance for too many more years. It is only about a mile long but all uphill. My camera doesn't take very good pictures in dim lighting (like in a cave) so the pictures arent' the best. It was very impressive and I am so glad we made the trip.

After we finished the cave tour we headed north and ended up in Helena. We decided since we had come this far we may as well drive up to Whitefish and see Ken's brother who has lived in the valley for four years and whom we hadn't seen for about that long.

After a disappointing dinner at Macaroni Grill (they are not all created equal) we checked into our hotel where Ken was dismayed to learn that the TV did not carry Fox News so he setteled for Horton Hears a Who. (it's a good thing he doesn't read my blog...he probably wouldn't appreciate this picture.)

This mother deer with her twins was the only wildlife we saw on our trip. We are used to seeing deer all the time in Colstrip, but didn't expect to see any in front of our hotel in downtown Helena.

Monday morning we left Helena and headed up the east coast of Flathead Lake. We passed many smaller lakes and a lot of small towns we had never heard of before. The scenery was gorgeous the entire trip to Whitefish.

We made a quick stop in the small town of Seeley Lake and enjoyed a huckleberry smoothie. Huckleberries grow in abundance in this area, but they are quite expensive because it is hard to get to them before the bears eat them all.

We arrived in Whitefish about 2:00 in the afternoon and visited with Jim and his family until 5 pm then hit the road again. We drove over 530 miles for a three hour visit? I would have liked to have spent the night in the Flathead and headed home Tuesday morning. There is a winery and a mission that I wanted to see, but Ken thought we should get a head start on the trip home so we drove down the west side of the lake and spent the night in Missoula. Tuesday morning we woke up to pouring rain and arrived home in the afternoon. We drove over 1,050 miles on this spur of the moment trip! It was fun though and nice to take a break.