Grant-Kohrs Ranch

We had an outing to Deer Lodge, Montana where we visited the Grant-Kohrs Ranch, a National Historic Site. Here is our granddaughter standing by a tipi on the property.

From the website, "The Grant, Kohrs, Bielenberg, and Warren families tell the story of Western ranching, from the herds trailed into the valley in th 1850s, to the last cattle sold in 1988. They represent the cattle industry from its inception through modern times."

"Wide open spaces, the hard-working cowboy, his spirited cow pony, and vast herds of cattle are among the strongest symbols of the American West. Once the headquarters of a 10 million acre cattle empire, Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site is a working cattle ranch that preserves these symbols and commemorates the role of cattlemen in American history."

Here at this chuckwagon we had a cup of "cowboy coffee", made in a big pot over the campfire. Delicious! We discovered this chuckwagon reproduction was built in East Wenatchee WA and transported to Deer Lodge.

A flower among flowers! This garden was next to the very large original ranch house, built 150 years ago.

A few fun things

We are having a wonderful time with our 11 year old granddaughter as she stays with us for a couple of weeks. What fun! Missoula has what they call "A Carousel for Missoula". It's a beautiful merry-go-round, the dream of one man, put together by many who shared the dream. We rode it several times.

We have new kitties! Here is Montana, a rambunctious 10 week old kitten. He is great fun.

And Mia, a 1 year old torti. It's funny the positions a cat can get into. We love them both and have enjoyed watching them settle into their new home, and get used to each other and us.

Garnet Ghost Town

Our trip to Garnet, northeast of Missoula, is one I'd been looking forward to for awhile. Garnet was established in 1895 after gold was discovered in the area. It's up in the hills at the end of curvy, bumpy, dirt roads. The side hills are strewn with all kinds of wildflowers at this time of year. This first building was a saloon, always a prominent feature of the old mining towns.

Here we have a miner's cabin, put together quickly as the miners had more important things to do than fix up their homes. They must have been short guys! Actually, I think this cabin and others like it are rotting into the ground. Most of the ghost town is maintained just enough to keep it fairly intact, a process called "arrested decay".

We found this bird's nest on one of the cabins.

Here is a 'photo op', wildflowers against the wall of an old building. Notice the low window. Apparently the miners slept on the floor and they could more easily look out this low window.

I had never seen so much beargrass as I did on this drive. It was almost as prolific as the pine trees.

Last, but not least, we found this "porta-potty outside the ruins of a cabin. It must have been a summer potty, as they didn't bother to put up walls around it.

Trip to Glacier National Park

Flathead Lake, below Kalispell, is the largest natural body of fresh water west of the Mississippi. It is truly beautiful with clear, cold waters. We dipped our toes into the lake to say we had done it!

In 1854, St. Ignatius Mission, located between Missoula and Polson, was founded to serve the religious and educational needs of the Salish and Kootenai people. Father Hoecken and his Jesuit helpers built the original log cabin with still stands on the north side of this church. Within 35 years the mission included a large school, a sawmill, printing press, flour mill, hospital, farm, and the present church.

The renowned murals in this church were painted by Br. Joseph Carignano, S.J., the mission cook. In 1973, this mission was declared a national historic site.

The 'Going-to-the-Sun Road' follows along a nearly vertical cliff in some places. I can't imagine the tremendous, back-breaking job the very early road builders must have had! Now there is construction all along the way with modern machines, much easier.

This is Reynolds Mountain, right behind the visitor center at Logan Pass. Myriads of wildflowers were in bloom, scattered over the whole area. Gorgeous! The most prominent, the yellow ones, are glacier lilies.

The views are so awesome, we felt we'd died and gone to heaven! This is Heaven's Peak.

Here we are, stopped for construction, looking down on the road we'd just ascended. Wow!

Keith has a contest going with our daughter—who can find the biggest doodoo. Here he is hollering into a tunnel. "Doodoodoodoo". A family joke!

Poquita

Our faithful RV kitty, Poquita, went to cat heaven the other day. We miss her—waiting at the door at the sound of our footsteps, looking at us for a helping of chow, always wanting to jump up on Keith's warm lap sometimes even before he settled into his chair. She preferred a black and white quilt for snuggling, somehow seeming to know she matched it.

Poquita led a good life in a regular stick house till we set out on our RVing adventures. She turned into a good RV kitty, not trying to dash out the door, always staying nearby when she could go outside. She loved cheese Pringles, a treat my daughter got her used to when she was a tiny kitten, rescued from abandonment. There is a big hole left by the presence of a loved cat, a feeling of absence on the bed at night when we were used to her sleeping next to us, an ache to think of her sitting on the table watching us eat. There is no longer a furry friend we can reach out to pet. Thanks, Poquita, for your years of friendship—thanks for traveling nearly 9000 miles back and forth across the country with us!

An Unbelievable Cottonwood!

Montana landscapes are amazing. I can fully understand the phrase "big sky country". This photo is near Hamilton, about 50 miles south of Missoula.

We visited the Daly Mansion, built in 1910. This was the summer home of the widow of Marcus Daly, copper magnate. It's right outside of Hamilton, a lovely town of about 4100 people.

This is what the widow saw from the back porch of her mansion. There is a vast lawn with a view of Hamilton in the distance, framed by the Bitterroot Mountain range.

Even more than the beautiful home, we were amazed by the biggest cottonwood tree we'd ever seen, and we've seen plenty of huge ones, especially in Rapid City and in Missoula. This one is colossal, probably there hundreds of years before the mansion was built and when the Nez Perce Indians roamed the Bitterroot valley.

A further view of the giant tree with the mansion in the background.

And another, with Keith standing in its shadow. We enjoy seeing and exploring the towns, buildings, etc. of man, but God's creations are much more wondrous to behold!

Heartwarming!

Every once in a while something happens that warms the heart and even brings tears of joy! This happened to my husband the other day. He'd been talking with 2 young girls who were camping at the KOA, ages 12 and 9, and plying them with kindness and KOA mints. They kept returning often to the store just to see him and talk with him. They made us miss our own granddaughters, close in age to these girls.

At one point he saw them sitting on a bench with pencil and paper and the next thing he knew they had given him these notes with hand-made envelopes.

This note is from the younger of the two girls, a praise for Keith and a praise for KOA!
(click to enlarge)

And the note from the 12 year old! How neat is that! He did truly have tears, and he has showed the notes to several people, who have been equally blessed.