Polson

With four extra days added to our stay in Polson, we decided to just kick back and relax for a few here. With mountain views, a neighboring golf course and horse pasture, and a stunning lake nearby, this is a perfect place to do just that. It's been a pretty mellow week.

Sunday, we had an al fresco lunch with Rick and Cindy at the grill in the golf course clubhouse. We sadly saw these two friends off on their return to the Bay Area. We look forward to keeping in touch with them and seeing them on the road somewhere in the future.

Monday we took a stroll down Memory Lane to pick up our first Montana geocache. It was located just out of town on - you guessed it - Memory Lane. Doesn’t Rocky look at home in Montana? We attempted to find another well hidden cache in the local cemetery, but ground zero was being watered. So, that really limited our search.

Tuesday we finally got the bikes off the rack and checked out a nice trail that runs parallel to highway 93 into town. It was great to get some exercise and enjoy the panoramic views of the lake and mountains. We took a side trip to the cemetery to look for the unfound cache. Sure enough, the sprinklers were running again. That elusive cache is in one well-watered spot!

Tuesday evening the park held an Aloha spirit fish fry pot luck. We donned the closest thing we have to Hawaiian attire and toted our first effort at the corn salad that was the talk of Friday night. (Many thanks to Cindy for sending us the recipe!) The weather was perfect for enjoying fine Alaskan halibut and many tasty sides along with fun conversation with several park guests. With about 60 sites, this park is small enough for everyone to get to know each other. There’s a nice sense of community here, and on evenings like this, it definitely shows.

Steady rains came during the night Tuesday and are expected to last through today. We’ve postponed our day trips to Glacier National Park, Kalispell and Missoula for sometime in the next week, opting to stay close to home. We’ve napped, read, watched TV, baked chocolate chip cookies, sorted through photos (Here’s an interesting pic of our girl kitty!) and played online on those rare occasions that we’ve been able to connect. Our only complaint about this wonderful park is the extremely tempermental wifi.

Late yesterday afternoon we had a brief break in the weather, so we wandered into town to visit the Post Office and find the quilt fabrics of Montana. All in Stitches is a friendly shop on Main Street where Paul sat and caught up on the latest police report in the hometown paper while I found four fat quarters that will remind us of our time in this wonderful area.

After picking up fat quarters in four states and one province, I’m creating a growing stash of quilt fabrics. I was curious to see how this random collection looks together. Well, these are the fabrics of the Pacific Northwest. What do you think?

Shortly after we got up this morning the rain began again. And, there’s no sign of it letting up anytime soon. Looks like today we’ll be another day of relaxation. And, that suits us just fine, thanks!