End of the Line

Tomorrow is the last day of this great adventure. I started out in Winter Park, Colorado on August 1st and will end up in Billings, Montana tomorrow, August 29th. I've never been on a one month leave before and it has been wonderful, challenging, interesting and lot's of fun. I am grateful to my staff at my shop who are the reason I can do this. I am grateful to my sister who kept watch over my home while I was away. I'm grateful to all of my friends who followed my travels and patiently looked at my facebook photos everyday!

Norm and I have truly had a fabulous time and lot's of adventures. We've been through The Colorado Rockies, Utah, The Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Wyoming, up the Western part of Montana to Glacier National Park and back. This part of the country holds my heart with it's beauty and mountainous terrain. It has a feel that is comfortable and begs me to come back.

We've met all sorts of people, seen bears, buffalo's, deer, elk, antelopes, mountain goats, moose, and even met a few friendly dogs and cats along the way! Norm has driven over 7700 miles and I have taken 4163 photos. Thank goodness for digital cameras, wifi and hard drives.

We've stayed in friends condominiums, tents, cabins, a beautiful lodge on a lake and another friends cottage on Echo Lake. We've been frozen and thawed out again many times on this journey and we've eaten a lot of eggs, turkey and canned beans!

We've been on two rafting trips, to three National Parks, fly fishing, shopping, boating, hiking, on ski lifts up two mountains and numerous other activities.

It has been an experience I would not trade and I am so grateful to have had. Montana is truly big sky country, I can't get enough of it. Love the sky. Love the horses and cows everywhere, the old barns, the valleys, the mountain ranges, the mountain lakes, the cool evenings, the people.

This trip has given me the opportunity to see new visions, think new thoughts, take steps toward overcoming fears. I've had to trust, be patient and figure out how to get things done when it's inconvenient. I've been incredibly happy, incredibly content, tired, sad and sometimes wanted to go home!

I know that these days will bleed over into my everyday life when I get home, creating a newness in me that will help me think better, care more, enjoy more and be grateful for the blessings I have. I'll be without Norm again for a few weeks as he makes his way back home popping in on friends on the way. I'll miss our daily drives, the discovery of new things. I'll even miss setting up and pulling down a tent every day - actually, I won't miss that too much.

I'm glad to be going home, but I'll be back!

Peace and LoVe,

Tammy

Living the good life

6 days since my last post and a lot has changed for Norm and I. Our last camping gig was in Polson at Flathead Lake, which was a lot of fun. On Friday we moved to The Lodge at Whitefish Lake and met up with friends Tony and Sheri. The Lodge surpassed our expectations with excellent service and an exceptional room with a fireplace, small kitchenette, tasteful decor and a large bath. A great choice.

The lodge sits nestled on the Lake surrounded by hills all around. There is a pool for swimming, hot tubs, boats for boating, jet ski's to rent and many places to sit and enjoy the scenery. We managed to have a fabulous time. it was Camping my style.

Monday we then moved to a cabin on Echo Lake. Echo Lake is a small lake very close to Flathead Lake in Big Fork, Montana. The cabin is a "cabin" in name only. It looks like a fine home that you would see in any magazine. Comfortable, cozy, and modern. We have a view of the lake from the deck and the dock and the sunsets are simply magnificent.

So, we are no longer roughing it and we will be here for the remainder of the week. Today we visited Glacier National Park, which has been a highlight of our trip for me.

I have been to the Rocky Mountain National Forest several times and it is one of my favorite places to go and be. Today I get to add Glacier to this list. We walked the trail to Hidden Lake from Logan's pass which was spectacular. The sights in this country are precious resources, beautiful little bits of awe to remind us of how special this life is, how beautiful it can be.

Being in the mountains recharges me. I have become a huge fan of Montana, what a vast and beautiful state.

It's late and this is a catch up blog. Goodnight, time for bed!

Peace and Love from Glacier

Did you know that the official name is the Glacier National Peace Park? How cool is that?

Tammy

Flats and Flathead Lake

This morning we woke to clear skies and sunshine, packed up camp and said goodbye to Deer Lodge. Our original plan was to go to Missoula and stay for a day. I have two conference calls on Thursday and I need to have good phone coverage. The coverage in Deer Lodge was iffy and I lost my connection on a call, so I wanted to be sure. Missoula is a larger town, and we thought that it would be safe there.

But, somewhere in a conversation we changed our minds and decided to drive up to Flathead Lake, so Norm could fish a bit while I worked. As it turns out, I'm glad we did.

On the way, we passed a lady on the interstate who had a flat. Norm stopped to help her. She was having a difficulty getting the lug nuts off. Her name was Michelle and she was grateful for the help. I am glad I have the type of husband that will stop and help people who need it. Hundreds of motorists had passed her by. Turns out she liked to fly fish, so Norm was rewarded with some "fishing talk" for his efforts.

The drive to Flathead lake was, as all of our travels have been, stunning. We drove back into the Rocky Mountain range and when we arrived at St. Ignatius we pulled over to see the view, which took our breath away. The Rocky Mountains are so majestic. We plan to drive around the town of St. Ignatius tomorrow, it looks to be a possibility for summer relocation some day.

Tonight we are at a KOA in Flathead Lake with probably the best view we've had at a KOA campground. It is up on a hill overlooking the lake and the mountains. Spectacular. The facility is super nice, for a campground it would be a Ritz - Carlton.

Oh yes, tomorrow is a very special day. It is my great friend, Kathy Love's birthday. If not for Kathy Love I may not even have been afforded the opportunity to be in this inspiring place. Happy Birthday and thank you Kathy. I love you.

We are here for two nights, then we will pack up our tent for good and move to Whitefish to the Whitefish Lodge where I will sleep in a real bed!

Peace and LoVe,

Tammy

Excitement in Deer Lodge

Deer Lodge is a quiet little town, mainstream America. Not much goes on around here. However, it used to be an exciting place to be. Deer Lodge was right in the middle of the Gold Rush and characters of all kinds lived here.

The Montana State Prison was built here because of some of the more unruly characters that would end up in town because of the Gold Rush.

These days Deer Lodge hosts campers and fishermen who come to the Clark Fork river for fishing and enjoying the surrounding mountains. But today there was some excitement in the town, in fact in the very KOA where Norm and I are camping.

The water main broke. The plumbers arrived on the scene this morning as I sat on the front porch of Cass' (the owner of the campground) Barn Appetite, where she cooks up food for campers on Sunday and Friday night. They went to work on the plumbing problem, I went to work on some things I needed to do. It was a productive morning... for me at least.

In the afternoon, Norm and I took a ride into town. Town is about 3 blocks long and 2 blocks over from the KOA, so it didn't take long to get to our destination - the Old Montana State Prison. We toured the facility and thought about what it be like to be in a prison. Not a pleasant thought. The stone wall around the facility is impressive, we took it all in and in silence left, sorrowful for choices that people make and suddenly find their lives in sadness, their freedom gone.

A $9.00 ticket to the Prison also gets you in to the Historical Car Museum which houses over 150 antique cars. We oohed and Aahed and took pictures and came back to the KOA for dinner and a nap for Norm.

The plumbers had a backhoe at the facility by that time, still no water to the RV section of the park. Norm and I putzed around and he's gone off for a few hours. I came back to my spot at the front porch to have two of Cass's wonderful cookies ( oh yeah, I was bad!) and play around on the computer.

The plumbers are still at it. They are standing around discussing the situation, trying to figure it out. Some are going home now at almost 8:30 in the evening. Many of the folks in the campground are standing around watching the backhoe and the workers. The men want to know what's going on, you can tell. I'm sitting on my porch seat, enjoying the show, Ahhhh excitement!

Peace and LoVe,

Tammy

Unexpected surprises

In front of me in Deer Lodge, MT is an elderly couple. They arrived at the KOA on a Honda Goldwing, sat up their tiny tent and now they sit side by side eating ice cream at the picnic table, instead of across from each other. You can tell they enjoy each others' company. A nice surprise.

Norm and I have had a few surprises in the last few days. Saturday we rolled into Ennis, fly fisherman heaven I'm told. The town is really sweet, small, catering mostly to summer residents and fishermen. We were surprised to find a peaceful pretty campsite beside the river that Norm was dying to fish. Norm met a fellow fisherman and off they went. I sat around and read and watched bunnies and talked to the fishermen walking by every so often. It was splendid.

Then the sun went down. Whoa, wicked cold. But we were prepared for it and we climbed into our little tent cuddled up in fleece and sleeping bags and slept peacefully through the night. Then the sun came up and it was still wicked cold and... wet. Breaking camp was a little yukky, Ok, I was miserable. Cold feet and hands. I just wanted it to be over. All the beautiful, peaceful thoughts I had about our little campsite were gone and I was tired of being cold, wet, tired, miserable and unshowered. But, all things pass and as we left Ennis for a camping site on a lovely lake I was feeling much better.

On the way we came to a town called Twin Bridges. As we drove up to the town, a policeman stopped us and informed us we couldn't drive through because of the Madison Valley County parade. He showed us how to detour town to be on our way. Norm and I decided to stop and watch the parade. Unexpected surprise. It was fun and then we were on our way once again.

On the way to the Lake we got a little lost. Norm had gotten directions from the website, but they left out a few small details. But, we finally found the right dirt road to go down. Then we traveled 6 miles into thick, lonely woods and finally came upon the campground. The empty campground. There were no other campers there. Seems we had the place to ourselves. The first surprise was that the lake really wasn't a good fishing lake. Norm said he didn't think it had any fish in it at all. Perhaps the reason for all the vacancies. We had expected to pass some sort of store on the way to the campsite, but we never did, so we were not afforded the opportunity to buy firewood. Norm was not worried though - I mean, we were after all in a forest.

Seems there is very little wood in this particular forest. It was "picked clean". So we had to do quite a bit of walking and driving and knock down a couple of dead trees to get some firewood. The 1.5 hours of sunlight the forest floor got daily was almost gone. And you know, it was getting cold again. We managed to start a fire and cook some food and stay thawed out. We sat around the fire until just about dark. We laughed and joked about being pioneer people and we discussed what we would do if faced with a bear attack. I asked Norm if he locked the car before we went to bed and he looked around the empty forest and laughed a bit, but he humored me anyway. Good thing, I dreamt of bands of robbers and who knows if it was a dream or not?

I slept in 2 long sleeve shirts and a fleece jacket. A pair of polar socks and fleece socks on top, fleece pants. I had a fleece sleeping bag inside of my regular sleeping bag. Norm had similiar attire. I was warm in my bed and I actually slept well despite hearing spooky forest noises and dreaming of robber bands and bears. In the morning it was cold, so cold that our stuff was frozen. We started a fire thawed out, packed up and left. No breakfast ... we'll eat on the run!

Tonight I sit in a cozy little campground with other people doing their thing, the sun going down while I sit comfortable in just a swearshirt, mountain views and the couple I talked about before just walked up hand in hand. Norm has been fishing in the Clarks Fork River and is just returning. He kisses me on the head and informs me I left the propane burner on. Just like at home. Sometimes we rub each other wrong, but all in all we get along great. No surprise there.

Life is good. Montana is beautiful. I miss my cat, my friends and my sister, 2 weeks to go. Can't wait for the next surprise!

Peace and LoVe,

Yellowstone, Day Two

Today is our last day at Yellowstone. We started our day fairly early. The night was cold, brrr chill. So it was nice to warm my feet and hands in the Toyota. We entered the park around 9:30 after running some errands and the sun had started to warm things up a bit.

Shortly after we entered the park we encountered a traffic back up. A line really, slow. So we spent the time talking and speculating about what it was that would cause such a delay. We concluded it was probably road construction in the park as we had encountered this before. You expect these things when you come to a place like Yellowstone.

After an hour of stop and go traffic we were able to see far enough ahead to spot the problem. Not construction, not a traffic accident, not an avalanche. A Buffalo. Walking down the middle of the road. Taking his time, evidently headed home. These are the moments we laugh about and cherish for a lifetime! It seems that in Yellowstone, the only traffic problems are the Buffalo, not humans. Each time we were slowed ( except for once that was construction) it was a Buffalo issue.

Today we drove the entire outer perimeter of the park, so we actually covered some area we had before but much we had not. First stop was Old Faithful. How can any decent American go to Yellowstone and not see Old Faithful? Seems Old Faithful just blew right before we pulled in so we got to hang out and wait for a little over an hour. Piece of Cake. True to the Park Rangers' prediction Old Faithful erupted at 12:12. We took lots of pictures and there was cheering from the crowd.

The rest of the day was spent driving, stopping, getting out of the car and snapping pictures. 270 in all just today! We saw more wildlife, LeHardy's Rapids, the mud volcano, Hayden Valley and another buffalo, Yellowstone lake and river, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Lots of waterfalls, Calcite Springs, Mammoth Hot Springs, Roaring Mountain and much more.

We are meeting lots of people. Today we met Nick, who is from London. He's touring our country on his motorbike then off to Argentina. How cool is that?

Whew... I'm tired.

Back at the KOA we had decided to let the KOA people do the cooking and had Sundown supper here. A little posting, emailing and blogging and it's time for bed!

Tomorrow,,, no plan yet.

Till then,

Peace and LoVe,

Yellowstone and the day's happenings

Two lessons learned today.

1. Pay attention to the map

2. Never leave the tent without your camera

Lesson one was learned early in the day as we left Cody. We missed the road sign, missed the turn, missed that we passed through the wrong town, finally figured out we were going the wrong way. So it took us one hour to go 15 miles in the right direction. You gotta laugh about these things... but our error took us on a hwy we would not have taken which proved to be very scenic and we were rewarded with a view that ranks very high in our best views list. So, take that as a life lesson. Sometimes a path different than your original one will yield you a better result or experience. Make plans, but let life happen.

So , we did finally make it to Yellowstone. We entered on the North East entrance and drove the bottom half of the upper circle. The views are undescribable, at least by me. The park is simply tremendous. We saw Buffalo, a black bear, a grizzly bear, moose, Elk, a fox and a pine squirrel. The buffalo are everywhere and often walk in the road. We came upon one walking down the road that had surprised a lady who had just gotten out of her car to take pictures of the herd. She didn't know what to do when she saw the buffalo coming at her,but he just walked on by.

The grizzly bear drew a lot of attention as well. He was about 1/4 mile away from our car but some people decide to walk up the hill to get pictures closer. Hello... it's a grizzly bear...

I stayed in the car and was happy to film from afar. Hopefully that's the closest grizzly bear encounter we have.

The funniest thing was at the General Store at Tower Falls. There was a spider in the eaves of the building. It wasn't a particularly large spider by SC standards, but people were exclaming of it's size. One lady was afraid to walk by it! HA. I had to laugh. We don't have bears in SC, but we have some wicked big ugly nasty bugs.

We finished up the day at Yellowstone and pitched our tent in our new KOA home for the next two days. The campground here is nice with internet access, clean bathrooms, hot showers and other amenities. Norm and I did some stuff, had dinner and were about to retire for the evening. Norm kept hearing a voice over the hill like an announcer and he kept saying something's going on over there, some kind of event.

We decided to check it out. Would you believe that right over the hill from the KOA in West Yellowstone is a rodeo every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. We pulled in, bought a ticket and had a rowdy good time watching barrel racers, bull riders and other fun rodeo stuff! We laughed and sang and cheered on the rodeo contestants. Knee slappin' fun.

Which brings me to lesson number 2. Sorry Sis, no rodeo pictures! But I had fun! Ride 'em Cowboy.

LoVe and Peace,

Tammy and Norm