GA Gypsies – Fulltiming

Went to Polson for the afternoon, then rode to The National Bison Range in Moiese. It was a 2 hour drive on a dirt/gravel road on hills & mountains. It is supposed to be full of wildlife – bison, elk, deer,  pronghorn, bears, coyotes, bighorn sheep, mountain lions. We got there just before 5:00 PM and it was still pretty hot – in the 80’s. On the first part of the drive we only saw a couple of lone buffalo, but as it cooled off, we started seeing more buffalo and pronghorns. We watched a large herd cross the road in front of us going to a watering hole. These buffalo didn’t really seem to be in rut as much as the ones in Yellowstone are now – it has either come and gone or not come yet. I spotted movement on a hillside and with the binoculars, we saw either 2 huge mule deer or 2 elk – we could never decide which it was. It was an interesting ride.

Coming home, it was getting dark. Beautiful sunset over the lake and we were dodging deer everywhere. God was busy with His paintings last night.

One huge white tail buck with a big rack, still in velvet crossed the road in front of us and then turned around and just stared us down. Made it home with no crashes. It is not a good idea to drive Montana roads in the late evening. We saw at least 20 deer on the side of roads and mostly in people’s front yards or pastures, where the grass or hay has been watered and is green. They are not very skiddish. The ones here where we are camping have been coming out more and much closer to the camper – there is a big buck that walks around in the back of our camper and a doe and baby that come right up to the back door. We are planning our route home. Will be leaving here on Wednesday after Labor Day and we are planning to stop a few days at Moab, Utah, then a few days at Ouray, Colorado (where True Grit was filmed) – I want to see that valley where John Wayne had the shootout and I’ve always wanted to see it in the fall when the aspens are yellow like it was in the movie. Then we are headed back to Arkansas for two things. I want to pay my respects to Glen Campbell – he is now buried in the family cemetery we visited on the way out and I want to find a huge diamond at the Crater of Diamonds State Park – it should be cooler and I’ll be prepared this time so I can just plop down in the dirt and dig. From there, it’s head “home” – Bulloch County. We have a place to park and I can’t wait to get my fur babies. Then I am going to get my knees fixed, so when we head out in the spring I can actually do some walking.

Just a few random pictures we’ve taken. Now I understand the saying, “Make hay while the sun is shining.” Ranchers are busy getting in their second cutting of hay and wheat. Tractors and combines everywhere. The days are quickly getting shorter – sun coming up later and setting around 8:30 instead of 10:00 PM in just 6 weeks. Nights are cooler, but the days are still in the 80’s. I might have to go to Alaska next summer, or Canada.

A sound this morning I haven’t heard in a long time – RAIN. Thank you Lord. I hope it helps with the fire situation. Tony went to the church to help Dan work on their sound system. We’ve had a lazy afternoon. The rain stopped around lunch and the sun has come out and it is again smoky. We are meeting Dan & Sheila at the Tamarack for supper. We made plans for our anniversary, which is next week. Excited – going somewhere we’ve never been. Will keep you in suspense for a few days. Megan, don’t you tell.

Oh, so smoky today – we could not see any trace of mountains anywhere and it was hard to see the outline of the barn across the pasture. As soon as Tony opened the door, the smell of smoke permeated the camper. Went to Kalispell for shiatsu – I think it is really helping me physically – not so tired and my muscles don’t ache so much. Thought about riding into the park since we were only about 30 minutes away, but decided to come on home. You know, we are both old folks!

Happy Birthday, Thomas Puckett. 27 years old. Wish you were here with us physically, I know you’re here with us spiritually. Had brunch in Bigfork at Pocketstone Cafe. Tony’s dirty clothes have piled way up, so he took all of his to the laundromat in Bigfork, even though we now have a washer/dryer. It just takes a long time to wash and dry them. When he got back, he put a shelf in the bathroom closet and a shelf in the laundry closet. Making it more like home.

Went to Kali for errands. Seems like you always need to go to Walmart for something, Picked up my sewing machine that was being cleaned (from where we bought it 4 years ago). Had lunch at the Montana Club.

Went to Lakeside Baptist Church – love going there. Took a nap when we got home, then our “hosts” where we are camping had their 40th anniversary party given by their children. It was very nice.

Gosh – I didn’t realize I hadn’t posted in almost a week. Tony put my sewing table together today, took all day.

Went to Seeley Lake – 76 miles south of us – where some major fires are burning. In one of the pictures, the big, white cumulus “cloud” is a plume of smoke from a new fire that had started that morning. You don’t realize the power of wildfires until you are actually there, close enough to hear the crackling. There was a whole camp set up outside of town, tents and campers, for the firefighters.

We are hearing lots of helicopters and airplanes flying over this morning. It appears there just aren’t enough of either to cover all the fires going on around us. It is cloudy and overcast this morning, but windy – which is really bad – it just spreads the fire. We explored National Forest and State Forest campgrounds along the way and we went down one road that said Wildlife Viewing – we went and went and went until it looked like we were headed for a river below the Swan Mountain Range and then it started up again – like 30 minutes and it was getting dark – we decided it was time to turn around, but sometimes it takes awhile to find a place to turn around on those roads. Didn’t have the National Forest maps with us, but they will be put in the truck today for next time. We always have to go down unexplored roads to see what is there.

The last pictures are from a week or so ago when we went to the Hutterite General Store in St. Ignatius.

And I promise, I do have more than two shirts and one pair of shorts with me – they are always my “go to” clothes when we go exploring and they are washed!

 

Tony had breakfast with the preacher. He is buying a rental house and wanted Tony to take a look at the work he needs to do. Then Tony headed back to Kalispell for more project materials. I spent the morning in quiet, with the Lord and the beautiful view He has provided just for me. Some thoughts and devotions to share on FB.

Just another day in paradise (thanks Don). Didn’t have much to do. Ran some errands in Kalispell again.