Flathead Lake

Today we toured majestic Flathead Lake, stopped by Big Ern's house to grab a couple things from our trailer, shopped a couple of antique shops near Hungry Horse, MT and then worked our way to the house by 4:00PM to prep for dinner with Ernie and Liisa tonite in Bigfork.

Our weather was delightful today, 37 and sunny this morning with clouds and localized rain developing throughout the day. The group assembled into the F150 by mid morning and we headed south into Whitefish, through Kalispell along Hwy 93.  In no time we were skirting long the western edge of Flathead Lake and we were awed by the beauty of the lake.  Devoid of any boat traffic, the lake looked choppy, cold and deep.

In Polson we stopped in an A&W stand and shared some of KC's Cheese Curds and mini pigs in a blanket.  They were...uh...warm.  Karen and Sherry refused to eat and I mostly did too, holding out for a better offer.

Unfortunately, I made the wrong bet and ended up settling for a gas station ham and cheese croissant and a bag of chips.  Ate half and pitched the rest.

We cruised up the eastern shore of the lake, past endless cherry and apple orchards and the occasional vineyard.  Beautiful summer homes and small farms...just a wonderful spot, about four months out of the year.

We finished up the lake tour and headed for Big Ern's place where we were greeted by Reese (his dog), then Ernie himself.  The girls traded gardening stories and tips, KC and I got a few things out of the trailer and we were on our way...headed to Hungry Horse, MT and a couple of antique/junk shops we'd passed yesterday.

The first shop we pulled into was the store that KC and Kerri stopped in years ago to buy a wolf pelt.  The store was stacked with animal skins of all kinds including a mountain lion ($3400) and a full mounted Bighorn Sheep ($2200).  The second shop  turned out to be mostly a junk shop and I milled around trying to find something to pretend I was interested in, but failed miserably.  The most interesting thing I saw was the owner and his buddies who were all seated near the entrance, pounding down beers and hootin' and hollarin'.  When the owner approached us to see if we were total suckers his breath was toxic.

The owner's wife pulled up in a mini van while we were there and a dachshund popped out wearing a lamp shade collar.  One the merry pranksters holding a can of Budweiser yelled, "That's to keep him from lickin' his balls".  Loud, hacking laughter ensued.  Oh, I wanna party with you guys.

Mercifully KC convinced them that we needed to head for the house to beautify for our dinner tonite...an easy sell.

9:15PM:  We just got back to Echtra from dinner with our friends Ernie and Liisa in Bigfork.  We dined at The Flathead Lake Brewing Co and had a great time catching up with Ernie and Lisa. 

How about this one...Karen and Liisa discovered that they attended the same elementary school in Avondale Elementary.  Karen refuses to disclose who went there first and I have no means of squeezing the truth out of her.  Suggestions are welcome.

On the way to Bigfork the skies, which had been brooding all day began growing darker and more ominous.  The shadows and light created a show and the contrast between the sun lit wheat stubble and the dark mountains in the background was beautiful.

Friday morning update:  This morning Big Ern sent KC and email tanking him for the great time last night and said that Liisa had been apprehensive about what kind of people we were, especially Lucy and Ethel.  In her words she was afraid that the girls would be "bitch-asauruses" like others she's met before...but they put her at ease with their funny banter and easy going personalities.

Good job girls.