Had a wander around Whitefish this morning, what an adorable town! Love the river running through it, and the houses that remind me of Spokane. GREAT coffee here – especially like Montana Coffee Traders -had a delicious Mexican mocha. We tried to get a permit to drive in the Going to the Sun road tomorrow but they were all sold out, will try earlier tomorrow.
We went for a 2 hour horseback ride this afternoon. It’s probably been more than 30 years since I’ve been on a horse, but the company really did a great job getting us ready for the ride (and I was definitely the oldest there-most of the other riders were my kids ages). I rode Astro, who we joked was actually a stoner horse as he had long blond hair in his eyes and kept stopping during the ride to eat! Christina rode on Bacon, a very appropriately named horse for her. We traveled through the Flathead National Forest, learning about the flora and fauna from our guide, Ethan. We sampled tree moss (pretty dry but apparently has lots of nutrients) and thimbleberries which were deep red and delicious. We couldn’t take photos during the ride as we had to lead our horses, which gave us the opportunity to soak up the beautiful surroundings and enjoy the quiet. It didn’t take too long to adjust being in the saddle and what a cool way to learn more about Montana.
We did some grocery shooting on the way back- they have a freezer section devoted to cool whip! Also definitely different items than we have in the Bay Area.
We decided to stay in tonight and since the other lodge guests had all gone out to dinner we had the place to ourselves. Spent the evening playing a couple of intense games of War (yours truly won both times) and FaceTimed with our Mom. Mom went to a fundraiser last night and didn’t check her phone because she was too busy having fun. She missed the texts and calls from her worried daughters who thought something had happened to her when it appeared she wasn’t at home watching Jeopardy. We should have known she was out partying-that was her MO before she settled down, got married and had kids. 🤣 Seriously though, we were all glad she was fine and the fuss was for nothing (we may have asked the firefighters next door to check on her…)
Ended the night with a snack of pan fried Honey Nut Cheerios (just cook them in butter till they are golden brown-heaven!) Tomorrow will be a dog friendly hike and other adventures.
