An Out-of-place Band

On Monday, we got up, finished packing the van, and said goodbye to Scott and Liberty, thanking them for not leaving us to die in the wilderness. We had a few miles to drive to our next destination and wanted to get moving. We set the GPS for Kalispell, MT, and soon found ourselves on I-90 crossing the Cascades. If you’ve never seen a rain shadow produced by a mountain range, I-90 provides an excellent one. On the west side of the mountains everything is extremely green and lush, but once you go over Snoqualmie Pass, the vegetation gets drier and sparser until you descend from the mountains into flat, dry, brown/gold wheat fields that stretch into the horizon. We made quick work of the center and eastern portions of the state: I worked while Faith crunched down the miles. We stopped see some beautiful gardens in Spokane before entering Idaho at Couer d’Alene. We passed through Idaho even more quickly as it’s only a few miles wide in the panhandle. Through the mountains and into Montana we went, passing Flathead Lake and arriving to Mike and Jill’s, Faith’s aunt and uncle, house just south of Kalispell. We stayed up with them and talked about a menagerie of topics, especially traveling and their professions, before calling it a night and going to sleep.

The next morning, we got up and hung out with them for a bit before they left us and headed off to work. We spent the day swimming at a nearby lake and letting the little fry (~1 in. long) nibble on our toes. The feeling is extremely ticklish and likely made others wonder why we were staring at our feet in the water and laughing so hard we could barely stand. We got some ice cream at a local shop and picked up some gifts for family in town before heading back to Mike and Jill’s to get ready for the evening’s event. It was fair week in Kalispell, and we had tickets to see one of the bands playing there: the Beach Boys. Yes, some of the original members are still playing. So, we headed down there, got some fair food, then sat down to watch two 80+ year-old men and some accompanying musicians play their songs that debuted in the 60s. It was a lot of fun, and they performed quite well considering their age. After the concert, thanked Mike and Jill for bringing us and headed back to hang out with them some more before calling it a night and drifting off to sleep once again.

Animals Seen

• Crows
• Prairie grouse
• Coyote

Stats

• ~550 miles of driving
• 1 concert
• 1 funnel cake