OK, this being retired on the road is hard work. It has been a whirlwind last week here in Montana. We got to Glacier and got settled in our campsite, Peg and Bill arrived and we were stuck on go. I fell asleep every night BEFORE my head hit the pillow. So much fun and so many adventures to share. For now, just a few things to share.
We drove along Flathead Lake to get to Glacier and it was stunningly beautiful. The lake is surrounded by the cabins of full and part-time residents along with many orchards. After passing far too many signs advertising fresh cherries, I finally pulled over and bought 2 lbs of cherries for $4. This post and picture is for my friend, Renee! They were soooooooooooo good. Unlike Renee, I shared and didn’t try to eat them all myself.

We neared Glacier National Park and decided since it was so hot, we should stay at a campground with electricity for a few days. As many of you know, we are totally “whores for the juice,” and if possible, we are getting worse rather than better. Perhaps an intervention is in order but until then, three cheers for connectivity and hot water for showers. We made reservations at the Glacier Campground outside the park not quite knowing what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised to see our site:

After we spent about 20 minutes getting Big Lil backed into the exceptionally tight spot, Kim and I were patting ourselves on the back when we turned to survey the lovely view from our campsite:

Yes, it was Nancy, Kim and the Clampetts! While my first impulse was to pack up and find another RV park before the strains of the theme from Deliverance could be heard at sundown, but we ended up staying 5 days and having a huge time. Once again, never judge a book….
Stay tuned for stories and pictures from Glacier National Park!

Greetings from Rapid City, South Dakota.   Home to the Dahl Arts Center, Music on the Square and the Mannhalter Clan.   We got to spend Friday through Sunday morning with these crazies and I needed two days to recover.   We had a great time.   We ate at 8:00 on Friday night and the young guys at the bar had the timerity to semi-ignore Tracy and Kim.  You might think Kim would have been who they should have feared most but you would be totally wrong.  Tracy was all over them for shabby service and then all over us for buying dinner.  She even gave Kim the mom snap, right in the face to express her displeasure. Saturday involved a walk, a trip to Hill City and then a cook-out with Bert, Rachel, Little Michael and Michael’s sister.  What fun!  Hill City was fun and we stopped at the Winery that Claudia and Kellye visited.

What great friends!  We so enjoyed their company and their hospitality.   We are so very lucky to have so many wonderful people in our lives.  

The shops in Hill City were cute.  Thought these were both appropriate: 

Tracy and Michael spoiled us big time.  We washed clothes and dishes, slept in a fabulously comfy bed and ate fresh food from their garden.   They sent us off with smiles and hugs and a large jar of homemade peach jam!  Now we just have to figure out how to toast bread in the camper! 

On to Montana and Glacier National Park feeling rested and truly blessed.

On Day 3 (August 23, 2013), we decided to park the trailer for the day and head to Mt. Rushmore. Neither of us really wanted to go as our Boulder sensibilities were a bit offended by anyone blowing apart the side of a perfectly, sculpted mountain for any reason. But many people told us it was an amazing site and one worth seeing, so we took a beautiful drive up HWY 16 (through one lane tunnels and pig tail roads) to get to Mt. Rushmore. We paid $11 to park and walked out of the parking structure to a sea of humanity. As Kim has to taken to saying, “Oh the Humanity.” The granite pillars and welcome promenade were very Disney-esk and kind of a turn off. Michael Manhalter said he liked it much better when it was a wooden area with a vintage kind of feel to it. I will say it was cool to look up and see the images in the stone.
We enjoyed the movie and museum that explained the intricacies of the how the monument was created. Truly amazing! I got a few pictures of Kim but had to beg her to at least pretend she was enjoying herself. I believe all the people, the sterile sort of environment and the tourist feel were a bit of turn off. Since we needed a bit of exercise, we decided to walk the President’s Trail which got you closer to the monument up 200 plus steps which mirrored the 700 plus taken by the monument workers every day just to get to work. And then, it happened. A bit of magic amongst the commercialism. Kim saw a mountain goat up ahead on the trail. I pish poshed it and told her it was a statue of a mountain goat for the tourists but I couldn’t have been more wrong! A mountain goat not 20 feet away with her baby!!! We got some pictures and tried to move on quietly. What a score! The highlight of the trip to Mt. Rushmore for us both. A good reminder to do things and go places you might not normally want to do/go. Hurray for the wildlife sighting!!