Drummond, Garrison, or Deer Lodge?

8:00 am - Saturday - July 26th - Deer Lodge, MT - 45° F, 71% humidity, wind - CALM.....crystal, clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 82° F.... the view this morning......

I was up by 6:30 am Saturday morning in anticipation of our departure from Kalispell.  TLE, on the other hand, arose around 7:30 am.  Nevertheless, we were rolling our wheels out of the Elks Lodge a little after 8 am on our way across the street to the Exxon station to utilize their free dump station to do just that.  Within 30 minutes the deed was done, and we were heading southbound on US-93  toward I-90.....

Just coming into Polson, MT at the southern end of Flathead Lake

.....the drive to I-90 is just over 100 miles passing through milles of beautiful  farmland.  Our Jello plan was to drive as far south on I-90 (I-90 is an east/west Interstate, however, this section goes north to south for quite a few miles) to Drummond, MT to park the Newell at a city park I found in the Days End directory (Escapees) providing water/electricity for $15/night.  I  did neglect, however to check to be sure the park was open, which TLE did do while we were underway only to find out that the park had been closed in late March due to the pandemnic, and was still closed......doh!

We pulled off US-93 just before the I-90 to work on plan 'B', and we both thought we had found a small RV park just south of Drummond in a small town called Garrison.  I called the park to be sure they had a space, and got their voice mail, so I left a message, and we continued our journey, this time on I-90.  About 10 miles out of Garrison I received a return call from the park advising they had 'no room at at the inn', so now we begin working on plan 'C' by pulling off the Interstate at the next Rest Area.  We finally find a park in Deer Lodge (Indian Creek RV Campground) which has one pull through space left fitting our 62' length.  I gave Kelsey my name, and we were back on I-90 within minutes.  She advised she might be at lunch when we arrived, and if so, we were to pull into site #67, and come in to pay at 2 pm.  We arrive at exit 184 (Deer Lodge) around 1:10 pm, and find, as expected, Kelsey at lunch until 2 pm, so we proceed to park in site #67 as instructed, and begin to set up.  

Our reason for coming to Deer Lodge was to visist my sister, Hilary, my brother-in-law, Bob, and girls Stephanie and Caroline at their second home located about 10 miles from paved roads on the Rock Creek Cattle Company property.  This is a beautiful, very upscale, destination vacation developement with an 18 hole golf course, a large restaurant, small country store, offroad driving, a large club complex with pool, jacuzzi, poolside restaurant, etc.  

By the time we had packed our overnight bags, and finished deploying the window awnings, and locked up the Newell it was 2 pm, and we were on our way for a two day vacation from her (after stopping in at the RV park office to pay for our stay, of course).  This is the first time since Christmas that we have not slept in the Newell.  It's about a 30 minute drive from the RV park to Rock Creek, and we arrived just before 2 pm to find Bob and Hilary having lunch at the poolside restaurant, so we joined them for some street tacos, and some brews.  By time we finished it was going on 4 pm, so we followed Bob and Hilary in their golf cart to their home (part of a duplex) where we deposited our belongings in the unit next to theirs.....

.......after depositing our belonging at our home for two days I left TLE with Hilary whilst Bob and I joined Caroline, her fiance (Jake), and their two cousins (Julian and Kiki) who were at the driving range.  Bob and I did not play golf with them, but just went along for the ride.....

 Kiki hitting an iron shot

 Julian hitting a fairway wood

......the kids only played 3 holes before it was time to head back home for pre-dinner cocktails, and then dinner at 7:30 pm at the Cattlemen's Club.......

 Stephanie and Kiki by the firepit prior to dinner

.....we headed over to the restaurant at 7:30, and were quickly seated at our alfresco table on the banks of Rock Creek....

 ......we sat talking, laughing, and consuming wonderful food and wine until almost 9:30 pm........

The aforementioned Rock Creek

.....after dinner we all convened at the outdoor fire pit for after dinner beverages, and more laughter (a lot of laughter) before calling it a day around 10:30 pm.......we haven't seen Bob and Hil since they visited us in Maine two summers ago.....way too long.....life is good!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

The third in five days......

6:46 am - Saturday - July 25th - Kalispell, MT - 40° F, 89% humidity, wind - CALM....crystal, clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 79° F......love Montana!  We roll our wheels in less than 2 hours.

On this day in 2013 we were hiking the High Line Trail in Glacier National Park......↴

Friday was to be our last full day in Kalispell, so after TLE had completed another wash/dry cycle in the splendid Splendide we headed out around 12:30 pm first to the local COSTCO to retrieve a prescription for moi, then to the local Cabela's where TLE bought some new flip flops, and a new blouse.  Next up was another round of 'junking'  at Flathead Industries, and then a large, local antique mall in old town Kalispell.  Neither of us found anything without which we could not live, so around 1 pm we headed a couple of blocks further south on US-93 to Kalispell Brewing Company.....when we drove by this establishment the other day we noticed they had an upstairs outdoor dinning area, so we had to check it out.......

....we quickly ordered 2 pints of their seasonal stout, then ordered some flatbread sandwiches from the food truck in their parking lot (KBC does not serve food)......

  

......TLE ordered their Huck Chut (turkey,spinach, red onion and huckleberry chutney), and I  their Italian Pesto, as well as a basket of beer battered french fries, which we split.....

.....both sandwiches were perfect compliments to the brews we chose.  We sat talking about our time in Kalispell, and the near future plans to head south toward Deer Lodge on Saturday to meetup with my sister and her husband who own a second home there, which we have never seen.  All too soon it was time to pay our beer tab and head for home......

.....so that's 3 breweries in 5 days, and not a bad one in the bunch.....Yelp gives KBC 4 solid stars on 64 reviews, but we would be closer to 4.5 stars.  

We spent the rest of the day reading outside, and enjoying the balmy breezes until after 6 pm.  We were still full from our late lunch, so there was no dinner, but there was an unexpected, beautiful sunset.....

.....thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

Good intentions.....

8:00 am - Friday - July 24th - Kalispell, MT - 47° F, 90% humidity, wind - CALM....WOW, 4 days in a row!  We have partly cloudy skies today with a deliciously nice forecast high of 79° F.....love Montana summers!  On this day in 2012 we were near Coupeville, WA (on Whidbey Island) visiting friends Bob and Karen Fenstermacher......↴

Thursday started with good intentions on our part....we intended to stay home and take care of a few projects, but then someone suggested I cook bacon outdoors for breakfast on our Coleman single burner to test out the new splatter screen we had purchased sometime back.  The last time I cooked bacon on the burner we didn't have the splatter screen, and bacon grease was everywhere......

.....this time, with the aid of the splatter screen there was little or no bacon grease to wipe away.  TLE added scrambled eggs and toast to the bacon for a wonderful breakfast.

After such an auspicious beginning the day deteriorated into a lot of relaxing, napping, and reading on the 'lido deck' in the anti gravity chairs with very little in the way of projects being worked upon.  To my credit I did rouse myself around 3 pm to undertake one project I knew I could complete in pretty short order.....remove, and replace the right rear mudflap which had a large tear in it.  I have been carrying around mud flap stock for 8.5 years for just such an occasion, and finally used some of it Thursday.....

 The old, torn mud flap

.....there are just three bolts which affix the mud flap to the frame of the Newell, so it was quite easy to remove the damaged one.  I used the old mudflap a a template to mark, and cut out the new mudflap.  I drilled three new holes in the new mudflap, and reattached it in short order.....

.....in all it took me under 30 minutes to cross this project off my 'to do' list, and then it was back to the anti gravity chair for the balance of the afternoon.

Around 6 pm I roused myself once again to turn  on the Sea-B-Que in preparation for a wonderful filet mignon TLE had just purchased on Rosauer's Supermaret Wednesday.  Using TLE's meat thermometer I got it to a medium rare 130° F before pronouncing it fit for human consumption.  To this TLE added asparagus, and re-crisped steak fries left over from our Wednesday lunch at Tamarack Brewing.....what a great dinner!

After dinner TLE roused herself from her recliner to do a load of wash in our NEW splendid Splendide 2100XC.  So, not as many projects as we had envisioned at the beginning of the day, but enough accomplished for us to retain some of our self respect.....lol.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

The Holy Grail.....

7:18 am - Thursday - July 23rd - Kalispell, MT - 56° F, 90% humidity, wind - CALM.....three days in a row without morning wind!  Heavily cloudy today with a forecast high of 83° F.  On day in 2014 we were in Lake Tahoe for the summer.......↴

View of Lake Tahoe from the Flume Trail

Tuesday night TLE suggested I get out our Holy Stone drone and take some pictures of our current location, so first thing Wednesday morning while there was no wind I did just that......

....I even shot a longer video with much slower rotation (I'm getting better at controlling the rotation) so you can see clearly what a cool area we are in right now.

The weather guessers proclaimed that Wednesday would be a hot one....upwards of 96° F, so we decided to circumnavigate the shores of Flathead Lake, which is about 50 miles long.  We have driven the highway from Kalispell down to Polson in the Newell back in 2013, but had never driven down the east side of the lake, so that is where we headed in the Beetle around 10 am.  About half way to the southern end of the lake we found a nice turnout with a dock so we could walk out over the lake and get some good pictures......

 Looking north.....

 .....northwest....

 .....west......

 ....and south....

 ....the clarity of the water reminds us of Lake Tahoe....

.....by 11:15 we had reached Polson, which is located at the very southern end of Flathead Lake.  We spent about 5 days in Polson back in 2013, and loved the town.  We drove through the 'old town' area to see how things were doing, and business seems to be good.  It was far too early to stop for lunch so we continued our circumnavigation of Flathead Lake by heading north out of Polson on US-93.  We hoped to find, along the way, a good micro brewery at which to have lunch.  Whilst I drove TLE researched places on her iPhone and found a cool, funky place called Tamarack Brewing in a small town called Lakeside.....about half way back to Kalispell.....Yelp gives them 4.5 stars on a whopping 219 reviews, so now we have no choice whatsoever but to stop there for lunch.  We arrived there right at Noon, and were quickly seated outdoors on their very large deck which sits right next to Stoner Creek.....perfect....just perfect........

.....TLE chose their Sip 'N Go Naked (Apricot Wheat Ale), and I their Switchback Stout (Oatmeal Stout)....frankly I could have died and gone to heaven with either beer choice they were that good.......

 You bet we are happy!  Great find TLE!

....for our entrées I ordered their Bleu and Brie Burger (bleu cheese, brie cheese, bacon) with fries.......

.....and TLE their Wild Caught Grilled Salmon sandwich with a side salad......

.....once again I could have died and gone to heaven eating either entrée......forget 4.5 stars....forget about it.....we would be right at 5 stars......yup, the Holy Grail........that is a rarity for us.  The setting, ambiance, service, brews and food were all exceptional.  This brewery is a wonderful local treasure, and we would definitely visit them again.......a great place to while away an afternoon.

We were home by 2 pm at which time we turned on the rear A/C as it was fast approaching the forecast high for the day of 96° F.  While we would have preferred to sit outside reading, it was just too hot, however, by 6 pm it had cooled sufficiently that I went outside to read until after 9 pm.  We were still full from lunch, so there was no dinner, but TLE had purchased some wonderful Wilcoxson's Huckleberry ice cream while watching TV.....what a great way to end our even greater day!

My best effort at capturing the crescent moon on my phone camera

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

What we do well......

7:15 am - Wednesday - July 22nd - Kalispell, MT - 50° F, 96% humidity, wind - CALM......crystal, clear, blue skies again today with a forecast high of 92° F...the view this morning.......↴

Tuesday was our first full day in Kalispell so we did what we do so well.....junking.  About 1.5 blocks away is one of the largest Salvation Army Thrift Stores we have visited, and it, in fact, is called the "Mega Store"........

.....TLE found a pair of shorts without which she felt she could not live....you can never have too many shorts, flip flops, or t-shirts, right?  I, on the other hand, left empty handed.  As we walked back home we decided to drop off TLE's new treasure, and drive the VW across town to Lowe's so I could buy a new 4' fluorescent light fixture for the trailer.  It turned out the existing one into which I put the two new 4' tubes had bigger issues, plus the lens was cracked so time for a new one.  Additionally, I wanted to replace the traditional fluorescent tubes with the new, much more expensive tubes, which should tolerate the continual moving down the road than the traditional fluorescent type.  With the help of Ted, a Lowe's associate, I found exactly what I needed for about $46, and we were on our way to our next stop......the local Goodwill......

The new fixture replete with LED tubes

......we both found something to lug home from Goodwill....TLE some more shorts/yoga pants, and I a pair of very funky Martini glasses.....

The 'funk' is back....50¢ each.....killer deal!

....after a quick stop at the local Montana State liquor store we were home relaxing outdoors in our anti gravity chairs.  The forecast high for Tuesday was supposed to get to 86° F, which would mean we would probably need to run the A/C if we were inside, but we are tired of living in air conditioned interiors, so we sat outside all day reading, and listening to music until almost 8:30 pm....we even ate outside.  Outside, on the lido deck, it was nothing but cool breezes all day.  I finished another Elmer Kelton Western about the Texas Rangers, of which I have read 6 so far, and began the 7th in the series.....I would classify this series as definitely of the Western genre, as well as good historical fiction.

We had another subtle sunset, and I was even able to catch a private plane coming in for a landing.....

.....and thus ends another day in the life of the full time Whatsnewell vagabonders.....it takes a while to settle into this lifestyle, but have figured out what makes us happy, what works for us, and I think we do it quite well.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!