Weather and Jello......

You'll remember that picture at the end of yesterday's entry showing the threatening sky, right?  Well, this is what we woke up to Monday morning.  Based on the 10 day weather guessers forecast we had expected rain Monday, or Tuesday, and for a change they were spot on.  The great thing about living on the road is weather doesn't really interfere with many plans, especially when they are written in Jello.  When bad weather happens we just take a day off.  We are under no pressure to "go, go, go" because we have a deadline to be somewhere, and can't afford to take a day off, or we'll spoil the "vacation".  There is always tomorrow, or in this case, Tuesday.

We knew the rain would lift eventually so we decided to drive into Browning to do some shopping......there area two smalls stores in town which carry the basics, but at very high prices.  There are no liquor stores in East Glacier as this is the Blackfeet Nation Reservation, and they have the exclusive on hard liquor sales.....seems kind of ironic, doesn't it?  Local restaurants and stores can only sell beer and wine.   In Browning there are two large grocery stores with decent prices, and ONE liquor store called ICK'S, and it is kind of "icky"......... so around 11 am we drove back to Browning.  I've been out of Scotch since we crossed the border back into the USA.  

This is the first liquor store we have come across....of course we haven't traveled that far since we left Cardston.....so we made that our first stop.  It is not a formal liquor where you go in and choose what you want, take it to the cashier and pay for it....you enter a little scuzzy room, knock on a sliding glass window for service, and an older woman comes to ask what you want......I ask her what her Scotch selection is like, and she replies....."well, as you can imagine, there aren't a lot of Scotch drinkers in this neighborhood" as she points to the 3 options available.....I chose Johnny Walker Red Label, as that was the only brand I recognize, and fork over $32 for a small bottle......in cash.....no credit cards taken there....and I'm not sure I would have wanted to hand my card over.  Of course, when ever someone enters the front of the liquor store the local natives, looking for a handout, swarm to the entrance waiting for your exit to ask you for any change you may have had from the transaction......they are a motley crew.  Every time we have bought something in Browning we get panhandled after we pay.  This is not the case in East Glacier.

From there we drove over to the supermarket to pick up some fresh items....broccoli, mushrooms, etc.  Once again, as I was putting the shopping cart in the cart return area after unloading I was panhandled again.  Just so I'm clear here.....I don't hand over any change, or folding money as they will head for the liquor store immediately.  I don't want to give the impression that all members of the Blackfeet Nation are like this.....we see them working in all the local businesses, so many live responsible lives.....there are just so many who apparently don't.....it's a little disheartening.

We had thought about visiting the Plains Indian Museum in Browning after shopping, but as is often the case with Museums, they are closed on Sundays and Mondays, so we headed back to East Glacier.

Around 4 we decided to walk over to the Glacier Park Lodge which was built back around 1912 I think.  It is one of those classic National Park Lodges, and it was doing a land office business....the place was packed.

Tried to take this interior shot, but the light from the skylights made it difficult to get a good shot, nevertheless, I think this one gives you an idea of the interior grandeur.

 The view from the back deck looking toward the park

Directly across the street from the Lodge is the AMTRAK station where passengers disembark twice daily to visit Glacier National Park.  This station is as old as the Lodge, and is in remarkable condition.

While we were inside the Lodge it began to rain again, but thankfully the hard rain was short lived, however, it continued to sprinkle as we walked back toward town, so we deviated from our path to the train station to seek momentary shelter from the intermittent rain.  Eventually even the sprinkling abated and we continued our walk back into town stopping first at the trading post, which we discovered had a very nice selection of wine and beer, as well as the basics I alluded to previously.  

As we exited the trading post TLE suggested we head for Serrano's Mexican Restaurant to make it in time for the first seating at 5 pm, so we scooted right around the corner arriving just 2 minutes before they opened and got a table.  The food was actually some of the best Mexican food we have had in months, and we can now see why this placed is packed until closing every night they are open.

I had the 3 Chile Relleno plate with black beans and rice, chased with a 22 oz Rogue Brewery Nut Brown Ale....these are some of the best Chile Relleno's I have every had.  TLE had a Cadillac Margarita and an a la carte burrito, which she loved.


This photo of Serrano's Mexican Restaurant is courtesy of TripAdvisor

We had a lovely meal and then continued our walk "home" stuffed to the gills, with big smiles on our faces.  I think we'll have to return there at least one more time before we leave.

TLE read while I watched a couple of American Pickers episodes, and then Longmire.  We were in bed by 11.

Thanks for stopping by!