Other Adventures #1

I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since I last posted something on the blog.  Too many other activities have prevented much traveling this month.  Thus the title "Other Adventures"!

I had a friend getting married, so attended the bridal shower one week and the wedding the next.  

 

I did spend one day picking huckleberries up Nez Perce Pass.  I cannot put in words how much I enjoy this activity.

This is a view of one of the peaks seen from the pass.  Such a huge area of wilderness and timber.  

A friend from Washington state visited for a couple weeks so she and I made huckleberry jam. 

We also drove up to Lost Horse Observation Point and came across a recently burned area.  Thankfully it had burned only a small area.   

We also shopped around the thrift stores in the Hamilton area and brought home a few treasures.  The kitchen saw a lot of activity with the baking of a huckleberry crisp and a couple apple crisps.  Of course, we had to add a good amount of Cool Whip on top! 

Sharing a garden spot with another friend, I have been able to enjoy fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, corn on the cob, green beans, onions and broccoli.  

I did take a few days to relax in Bigfork, enjoy bison burgers with Barb, Pete and Sue, watch a couple great movies and see Petey the peacock who has recently lost all his tailfeathers.

The turkeys came for a visit while we ate our burgers. The babies were crying for mom while she  enjoyed a little handout from the dinner table.

Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge always has something interesting to see... this trip it was some young ospreys.  

The cherry stands were still open along Flathead Lake, so on my way home I picked up a small amount of Rainier cherries.  I decided to try my hand at more jam-making when I got home but didn’t quite have enough cherries for the recipe so tossed in a few darker cherries and some huckleberries from my freezer.  It came out more like syrup even though I did add pectin, but oh is it tasty!!  

Travel Adventure #12

I headed to Bigfork, MT the following week to visit a good friend.  

The bridge across the Swan River had been replaced since my last trip there so we took a walk downtown, first admiring the upgrades to the old Bigfork Inn where I had worked for this same friend and her husband back in the early 70's.  We stopped at a few gifts shops along Main Street, admired the gorgeous flowers along the way, then headed down to check out the new bridge and take some photos.  

Rumor has it that the company who made the new bridge had sent the wrong one.  They offered a super deal to Bigfork if they would keep this one and Bigfork accepted the offer.  The previous bridge was all silver so many folks in town were very disappointed as this bridge evidently cannot be painted due to a special coating on the steel.

A great steak, corn and potato dish with friends was a special treat and I helped finish up the Flathead Lake puzzle that had been on my friend's dining table for a few months.