Flathead Lake, MT

Now I am at Flathead Lake in Montana. It is quite beautiful here - and HOT! I thought it would be nice and cool this far north - no way. It's still in the 90's and humid. Another suprise. This is the life though - I'm sitting here in my camp chair with my feet up, blogging, relaxing and enjoying a nice breeze.

So I rolled into the area yeasterday and went up to Kalispell to get an oil change (must keep the Subbie happy!), and to check out the town. It was a hoppin place. I don't know if it's like this all the time or because it's full on tourist season and very close to Glacier, but it was busy busy busy. I was glad to get back down to the lake to relax a bit.

The lake was so blue when I first saw it. It reminded me of Lake Tahoe. Very clear, very blue and BIG. I was shocked when I came over the hill and saw it for the first time. It was completely different today with the cloud cover. Very steely and dark.

When I woke up this am is was cool and cloudy and I was relieved and so was my left arm. It's been getting the blunt of the sun with all the afternon driving I've been doing. I hopped on Eddie the bird killer and went to Finely Point on the south end of the lake. It was a scarey experience. I am glad to me alive. Apparently scenic Highway 35 is a logging route...and loggers don't have brakes and can't turn??? or so it seemed as they buzzed past me at top speed w/o moving so much as an inch. I would get a mirror and motor if I lived here. After the first 5 miles of the 60 mile ride I was looking behind me like a stalked animal and racing for driveway cuts to dive into when I saw one of those trucks coming. Not sure why I didn't just turn right back around and finish my coffee...the things I do so I can eat excessive numbers of cookies. Anyway, there are a lot of cherry orchards along the east side of the lake. It got me thinking about cherries so I had to go get some after my ride. I also saw these little blue flowers in several of the wetland areas. Very dainty little things - I wish I knew what they were. I must say, the ride smelled wonderful. There were all these shrubs with big white flowers. I think they were dogwood but I'm not positive. It was a treat to have such a pleasantly fragrant ride.

I had planned to swim this afternoon but since it was too chilly I decided to make myself a good dinner. I am now suffering from a severe food coma. I had steak, grilled corn on the cob, and grilled mushrooms and red pepper and a salad. Then I went and took a shower because I thought it smelled pretty good while I was cooking it and decided that I probably smelled a lot like it. Hector can only do so much.