Cross Country 2025

 Wednesday, July 30 Dave and I attempted to go to Apgar Village in Glacier today but it was so busy that we could not even get a parking space. So plan B was to take a ride to the remote area to the North Fork in northwestern Glacier called Polebridge. We drove on dusty dirt roads through the forest and made it to the tiny town of Polebridge where there is the Northern Lights saloon and mercantile and that is about it! It was a lot of fun. We had lunch there off the grid as they called it and bought some tasty home baked goods from the mercantile. They even host concerts every so often at the saloon.  Ollie the dog made his rounds for some good eats! We continued to take the back roads to Bowman Lake with a stunning view. We drove 6 miles off the main dirt road to Bowman Lake and it took us 20 minutes to get there, pulling off the side of the road to allow 2 way traffic. Good thing Sarah’s trusty car made it there and back for us. Thanks for the wheels Sarah! We also took a sh...

Tuesday, July 29, 2025  Hey friends and family, Well, our tour guide, Julie McCoy (aka Sarah Jones) is off duty and is no longer working! She went back to her day job and is probably making more money and getting less harassment from the troops. She did a great job organizing and touring the gang around. We all highly suggest you book Julie to plan your vacation! She even chauffeured us around and lent us her car when we needed it. What a committed soul to the good of all! Just in case you don't know who Julie McCoy is - see below from the 1970s TV show! You should see if you can find an episode of the iconic blast from the past show. You old timers - do you remember this show? The group is dwindling down - Pat and Andrea left this morning bright and early. So just Dave and I left at Sarah and Tim's house. For the first morning in a while, we had a leisurely morning. We got up late and then walked around town and had a nice snack at Amazing Crepes - the Monte Cristo, a crepe fi...

The challenge was on - guys against the gals in a fly fishing competition! Dave and Pat against Carol and Andrea. The Hermans went on their way south to tour for 9 more days with Alithea so they missed it all. We had 2 boats and 2 guides, even the guides fit into each boat. The guys guide was Carl and the gals guide was Alyssa. Each boat got the rules and some lessons on terminology and how to have an organized cast and bend the line to prevent it from floating in front of the fly. We practiced casting and went on our 4 hour tour. The gals started off with a few good hits but couldn’t land a fish. Everybody had a hit according to the guides, but we couldn’t always tell if a fish was nibbling. We had a few tangles and resets and some tricky fast moving waters to contend with. The guys ended up landing 1 cutthroat trout, caught by Dave, about 10 inches! They were proud to defeat the gals. We’ll be up for another challenge in the future. We can now say we knocked Montana fly fishing off t...

Sunday, July 27, 2025 - Today’s adventure was floating down the Flathead River. The hardest part was procuring enough watercraft from Sarah’s friends. And she did that thanks to her friends!! We trekked to the riverbank and then had to blow up 9 watercraft - good thing Sarah invested in a battery powered pump. We still had to use hand pumps and everyone was ready for the refreshing float once we got started. Only a few tricky spots on the river but one place dumped 2 people, Sarah our tour guide and Pat, the elder of the group. They had a refreshing dip and recovered well. The youngest, Alithea came out dry. The float was relaxing and we stopped along the riverbank for a snack of cheese, crackers, ham and reindeer sausage, which Tim brought back from Norway. It was delicious. We also had some sweet treats as well. This trip was one of the top highlights of the vacation.  After the float, some went to get the vehicles while the rest of us hung back to deflate the boats. Sarah took c...

Well another day in the park with spectacular views again. We hiked St. Mary Virginia Falls to see some waterfalls. It was all worth the hike. The waterfalls were refreshing after we hiked through an area that had been through a forest fire. We also saw some crazy young cliff and bridge jumpers enjoying a refreshing dip. We all clapped and gave them 10/10 for their flips. None of us dared to do the jumping.  We rode back through the Road-to-the-Sun to again stare at the amazing landscape. Then we had pizza and played corn hole at Sarah and Tim’s. After 2 years sitting in the Joneses garage, Ashley hauled the corn hole boards to her house in Michigan and then the Herman’s were kind enough to pack the corn hole boards in the RV to haul them the rest of the way to Montana for them. Sarah and Tim played the inaugural game on the boards that were a wedding present and they won, just barely. Not sure if Dave and Pat gave them the game, but the owners of the new boards were proud! A great...