Idaho And Montana July 26 - Aug 4, 2020

Sunday: This year our trip was going to be a little bit different, James wasn't with us. :( We were going to fly to San Francisco and drive along the coast to Portland but because of Covid we changed our plans. California was pretty much shut down so we decided to go to Idaho and Montana. We flew out of O'Hare into Spokane Washington. Once here the 90 -100 degree temperatures awaited us. We drove to Coeur d'Alene Idaho which is in the panhandle. We rented a condo above a bunch of cute shops. Greta shared a room with mom and dad however had a pull out of her own, and Noelle had the back room but unfortunately without a door. I right away fell in love with the teal couch and the cute artwork on the walls. Our first night we decided to have Mexican in the Plaza below us. We were all so starving most of us liked our meals with exception of Matt. He didn't care for his fish tacos. Afterwards we went to the grocery store to stock up for the week. That is when we met Ned. Ned was 20 something, nearby shopper in Winco foods caring a longboard. He mentioned he hasn't been under 100 pounds since high school. He mentioned he is almost as addicted to long boarding as he to salad. He started with small talk with Matt which quickly became very personal. That is from Ned. Matt of course did not share any personal details. In a matter of five minutes we learned all about Ned's fiancé and how he may not be able to have children because his girlfriend has turner syndrome. But they are going to keep trying. Thankfully Ned never saw the laughing going on behind our masks. After checking out and Matt going crazy by the $375 grocery bill we hopped in our car and got the tired sillies. We were trying to explain to Greta what turners syndrome is. Whatever we tried to explain she would translate back something completely opposite. We were all so tired and giggly we were practically crying.

Monday:

This morning I attempted a morning run but had too much pain in my knee. Two weeks ago I tweaked it at Olympia national Park. I went back to the house to have my smoothie and then went back out with Matt when he ran and I decided to walk instead. We parallelled the river on a paved path. Today we decided to hop in the car and drive to Schweitzer Mountain / Ski Resort. We decided to scope out where Matt and Noelle planned to mountain bike the next day. We took the ski lift up to see the amazing views vista views. Matt and Noelle plotted out their plan to bike the following day. Greta and I planned to zip line, climb the rock wall and jump on the trampoline. Afterwards we made our way to Sandpoint, Idaho, a cute riverside town where we got ice cream. I had the most amazing espresso ice cream in a waffle. Since I wasn't able to run this morning I researched and found a bike shop downtown that would rent me out a road bike for a reduced rate for several days. Matt and I drove down and picked it up and I wrote it back. This was going to be fun! This evening we got dressed up and headed downtown Coeur d'Alene. We ate at a cute restaurant that had bicycles all over it. They were even stools that had pedals. Afterwards we headed to the marina and walked out on the pier. We just missed the sunset but still had amazing views. I noticed something really funny… wolf statues were on the end of every pier… I guess they were scaring away the birds? Once back to our hotel we all crashed.

Tuesday:

Matt found me an amazing bike route. I parallelled the Fernan Lake. As hard as it was to bike instead of run, it was the best thing for my knee. The route curved around the lake with beautiful deciduous trees covering the hills surrounding me. As soon as I put 80's music in my air pods the goose bumps came out...now that is a good DOPA producing workout. Once back to the condo we packed up and headed again to Schweitzer Mountain / Ski Resort. Noelle and Matt rented mountain bikes and took off up the mountain. Fuzzy and purchased arm bands to enjoy the multitude of activities (zip line, prospecting, horse petting, rock wall climbing, and trampoline. We could have also gone huckleberry hunting...but Greta wasn't too excited for that. Poor Noelle took a digger. She was pretty shook up. I washed up her blood and dirt covered shins. She decided to chill in the car while Matt did a final run. I made the mistake of jumping on the trampoline...aggrevated my knee...but hey I did show off my front and back tucks. After our sandwiches suiting in the trunk of our white Ford Edge...we headed home with one memorable stop...the car dealer to look at Jeeps. We almost walked away with a Gray Sahara Jeep. We thought why not make this trip memorable...skip the flight home and instead jeep it home. I'm not sure it if was the 100 degree heat, Matt's fast driving through the twisty mountain turns or his embarrassing rrequest of the car dealer that pushed me away from the rather impromptu buy. Boy do I wish James could have heard what Matt said to the "John Candy" look alike salesman. First I have to explain Matt...he says what he thinks...this time he took it too far. We took the Sahara for a test run....I started...I didn't think to check the gas tank. Matt wanted to test it out too. When he hoped in the car he say the gas tank empty and said to our salesman sitting in the back seat..."if you guys want to do good business why don't you fill your tanks and not let them get down to fumes? It isn't gonna break your business. I am a salesman and know this is really hurting your business". At that point I became so embarrassed sitting in the passenger seat I wanted to jump out of the jeep!! I felt nauseous. Jeep driving makes me nauseous...or is it my embarrassing husband. That sealed the deal...my comfy Lexus suddenly popped in my head....no jeep for Jill. Matt was okay with the decision...especially considering the money he'd save. Noelle...well...she wasn't too happy to say the least. Sorry John Candy...no deal for you! Once back to our VBRO we showered up and Matt grilled up the most amazing grilled chicken. Afterwards we drove downtown for some people watching and our daily ritual of ice cream. We all got the tired sillies following the cross fit athletes in short shorts...girls and GUYS! The town is loaded with 20-30 somethings all super fit!! Noelle said she'd consider coming to school here...they do have Idaho State College. Matt did find some nice looking riverfront real estate ...you know his side research hobby. Once back to our VBRO Matt and Noelle introduced Jill to "New Girl." A sitcom with 3 guys and a gal who are roommates...very entertaining to me, Noelle, and dad...very inappropriate for Greta...whoops! Reminds me of a newer version of Three's Company.

Wednesday:

After my normal bike ride paralleling the river I decided that ebike riders suck when you are riding a non-electric bike. A 50 something year old obese lady cruised by me on a hybrid ebike barely breathing....she looked like a fat Mary Poppins. Once back to my VBRO we loaded up our cooler and headed to the boat cruise. We rented a speed boat. Matt put his pedal to the metal going 42 mph. After enjoying the breeze in our faces we decided to pull out the tube so we could pull Noelle and Fuzzy. Then we each jumped in the cool 60 something cool waters. Matt and Greta did swim diaper swimming and Jill took photos of everyone. Greta and I attempted to jump off a rock...but unfortunately it would have been too dangerous of a landing. Our 3 hour tour came to an end...we cruised in and then felt the need for ice cream. We hit cold stone for ice cream below our VBRO and then had some air conditioned chill time. I did yoga on our balcony, dad and Noelle watched "Catch me if of you can" and Greta watched her movies on her I-pad. Matt needed a little man time so he had a beer at the Tap House below our VBRO. The man time only lasted a short while until Greta and I joined. Greta wrote out postcards to James while Matt and I researched the top most active colleges. Hmmm...we wonder which Noelle will go to...or will it be the Airforce academy? Tonight Greta took our orders and made us dinner...pizza for dad, Noelle, and Greta and salad for mom...image that. We then decided to go for a walk along the boardwalk to be peeking TOMS gaucking at the $1-4 million dollar homes. Greta is so cute...once back to the hotel she decided to be an artichetect and draw out a house plan on an empty pizza box...I love her creativity. Her and I played Kings in the corner while dad and Noelle watched the movie "Life as we know it".

Thursday:

After my final bike along the River we all had to pack up and depart from VBRO. I return my bike rental and we headed north east towards Whitefish, Montana. We stopped in a little town for lunch and a diner. Everywhere you turn the Huckleberry is advertised. It must be the state berry. I was hoping to find a huckleberry kombucha. Matt tried huckleberry vinaigrette on his salad. Our trip to whitefish took much of the day. When we finally got to our rental which is the top floor of a business right downtown second Street we were surprised to discover that it only has a kitchenette. No oven and no stove. Yet it was the most expensive of all the places we rented this week. There is a community area where you can go to play checkers, watch TV, or makes up drinks. So far we haven't really gone out there we'd rather chill independently. I researched and found us a cute place to rent my mountain bike. At first Matt was really unsure of where I was taking him. We drove 8 miles outside of whitefish to this small gravel road. It was called Whitefish Bike Retreat. People would rent a little cabin, rent or bring their mountain bikes and enjoy the miles and miles of groomed trails for mountain biking. The thing that blew us away was the story of the future owner. He used to work in the corporate world for a prestigious company in Peoria, Illinois. He was laid off from the job. He stated that was the best day of his life. He packed up his family and moved out here to whitefish planning to buy the previous owner, Crickets' business. Matt envisions coming out here with Dave Mccarthy. I was in heaven once I found a new kombucha flavor and huckleberry ice cream in their convenience store. Once back to Rv bureau in whitefish we all walked to a nearby restaurant. It reminded me of a buffalo wild wings yet with an open air environment. We waited forever for a meal we were starving by the time it came. We then hopped in the car and drove to the nearby town target to get leggings for Greta. She needed to have her legs covered for tomorrow's horseback riding. Bachelor Matt tailgated in the back of our rental in the target parking lot while us girls went inside. Noelle search for a new swimsuit but didn't have any luck. We all headed back to VBRO. I hit the hay. I think Matt and Noelle watched another movie or more episodes of "New Girl".

Friday:

Today I headed out on my bike ride not sure if I was going to go around whitefish Lake or up to whitefish Mountain. so I did a little of both. Definitely going to whitefish Mountain tomorrow that way I can get more of a work out climbing. I finished my bike ride at the nearby grocery store to pick up a few essentials. We all packed up our things and headed out today for glacier national Park. Greta and I booked ourselves a 2 1/2 hour horseback riding trip with a guide. Matt and Noelle intended on kayaking but decided to swim instead. They got some amazing photos of the crystal clear blue waters of Lake McDonald.. Greta enjoyed her horseback riding trip. It was definitely a lot longer than we would've gone on our own. The gal who was the caboose was named Jasper. She was from Owatonna Minnesota. She was a lot of help for Greta.. Our highlights were going through a tunnel going over a bridge and paralleling a Glacier Creek. Our horses road on this narrow stretch that made Greta and I a little bit scared they could fall. We survived our trip with no injuries only sore butts and inner thighs. Poor Matt Noelle waited an hour and a half in the car for us. We had no cell service so there was no way to share with them we were running late. Noelle slept the entire time! Once back to our RBRO the girls chilled while Matt went to a fly shop and I went to the local natural grocery store. I also went for a walk, I needed some movement after the long stretch sitting on a horse. We decided to do a local nearby pizza place. Everyone ordered calzones which was a hit minus the slow service. The impressive pizza dough flippers made up for it.. I did some yoga in our RBRO and now I am watching the sunset over the mountain while journaling. Matt and Noelle just finished another movie and Fuzzy is watching Netflix while in the bathtub.

Saturday:

After another bike ride up the mountain I went with dad to a coffee shop for breakfast. We let the girls sleep in. We then packed up for a hiking adventure to Avalanche lake in Glacier. We hit Walgreens to buy supplies to wrap Noelle's leg and power ups for our trip. The hike to avalanche lake is labeled as easy. It was unfortunately pretty populated. The 2 miles in was 1/2 on a boardwalk and 1/2 on a trail. Once there we were blown away by the beauty. We dipped our feet in the cold waters and chilled while eating our trail mix. We then headed our 2 miles back. Once back our our VBRO we dressed up and went to Tupelo Grill for dinner and Sweet Peeks for ice cream. I would have to vote this ice as best of the trip...I had coconut flavored ice cream with chocolate chips and cookie s and cream on top. Once back to our VBRO dad and Noelle watched a movie and I did yoga while Greta, you guessed it, watched movies on her I-pad.

Sunday:

I enjoyed my final bike up the mountain...I didn't get any further today....steep incline!! Today we didn't plan much since we knew James would be calling and we had to switch to our final destination. After packing up we headed to Starbucks for the kids. 11am James called while we sat and listened in our car. We were so excited to hear he is having a great time and isn't intimidated in the least. 15% of his class has tested positive for covid. If 10% more test positive then they are all sent home to do the first year online. I hope that doesn't happen! It sounds like they are really testing them mentally and physically! They only get 7 minutes to get ready for their day. I loved the story of having to hold a pen cap straight out in front of them for a rediculous amount of time as a punishment for dropping it. Also, having to do arm circles for 3 minutes. Or eating spaghetti with meat sauce in their white uniform testing their ability to not spill...holding the fork over themselves. After our phone call I took off for the Whitefish bike retreat to return my mountain bike rental. The rest of the gang met me there. I was a bit nervous about the trek being that I was riding on a no shoulder Hwy. To ease my anxiety I sang "doe a deer" and "we didn't start the fire". Believe it or not it helped! I really didn't care the farm animals were entertained with my bellowing. Once there dad chatted with another chatty father while I enjoyed my favorite berry kombucha and Greta played with the resort dog. We found Jimmy John's for lunch and then explored the north side of the lake just south of Kalispell. In this stretch of Highway dad got pulled over for speeding. Luckily he only got a warning. As the cop left us he said beware of deer, bear and people. I think that the next part of our trip was probably the least memorable. We couldn't find the solitude we were looking for and weren't impressed by the nature or people views. In silence we returned to our hotel and took a breather. Dad watched Greta swim, Noelle read her book and I did my yoga. After a good 2 hours we found the best restaurant of our trip in downtown Kalispell. I ordered corn bread with honey butter and smoked salmon. After one bite of my cornbread I nearly cut off Greta's hand when she tried to eat mine...especially since she had some of her own! We had the tired sillies this night...plus dad had a good buzz going from his ale. Greta...our future artichetect....drew out plans for a future jeep with a mounted pop up sleeping area. My must have with our jeep is a pop up kitchen that at least has a skillet and sink! Dad thinks we should replace our RV at Indian Shores for this new design. That only leaves room for me and dad to sleep...so would that mean Noelle and Fuzzy at Marks and James at grandmas? And where do we park it? Oh...the details...Jill-Jill should forget about details and just dream. After dinner we hit Target...dad had the worst of the tired sillies! He was scaring us all in the isles!! And then he knocked over a whole display of Reese's pb cups! Not to mention him stealing my cart and running with it to the checkout. Oh...Matt Hanson...you made everyone in that store laugh that night. Once back to our Staybridge hotel suite we watched some TV and hit the sack early...or Jill did at least.

Monday:

We woke up early this morning to get an early start for Glacier National Park. I got a 30 min run in...only had a vague ache in the leg...but no knee pain!! The funny part about this morning...the tired sillies continued! Our 1.5 hour drive to the park seemed to fly by while laughing...I'm not really sure what we were laughing at? We entered the park and took photos at the welcoming sign...the protesters of the self stick came out....ie...everyone but Jill. Once in the park we were blown away at the beauty while driving the road called..."road to the rising sun." It passed Lake McDonald and paralleled beautiful crystal blue streams and snow capped mountains and waterfalls. We only stopped once or twice for photos roadside since we wanted to make it to Logan's pass parking lot to get a spot! Once to the top our lot was full. Fortunately we found road side parking only 1/2 mile away. We packed up our hiking packs and headed out Highline trail. The trail has breathtaking views with only a narrow pathway along the cliffs edge. Fortunately for Greta and others with a fear of heights a rope was there to hang on to for balance. Our turn around spot came quickly....maybe only 1 mile in when a mountain goat decided to have lunch on our pathway....we took a million photos from only 10 feet away...including amazing butt shots. We made our way back to our car and descended "the road to the rising sun" to Lake McDonald. We all (minus Noelle) braved the cold waters for a goggle glimpse of the deep water below us. Noelle and dad swam even further into Lake McDonald a few days earlier. We hoped back into our car and made our way to...yep you guessed it...to get ice cream. This time we got Dairy Queen. Lunch of fries and ice cream!! Once to our hotel we all opted for alone chill time. I went downtown to Sage and Spice...I wished I could smell all the wonderful scents...but unfortunately being told I cannot since I had to keep a mask on. I then went to Toggery (an outdoor apparel store) with way too expensive of prices!! Last I hit the health store to see if I could find a new Kombucha...found Strawberry! Meanwhile Noelle read her book, Fuzzy watched her shows on her I-pad, and dad finished his book..."Can't hurt me" by David Goggins. Yea...now Jill can read it!! We then decided to do Panera for our final dinner...Fuzzy enjoyed her first ever bread bowl with tomato soup in it....dad and Noelle each got their favorite salads.

While sitting there we reminiscenced about our trip. Fuzzy said if doing it again she would want Wilson with us. She also would have done a one hour horse back ride instead of 2.5....I would have to agree on that!! We all agreed staying in one place...Cord du Laine....for 7 days (rather than 3 places and 10 days) would have been better. We would have done more hiking in Glacier...that is if more areas would have been open. The whole East side was closed due to Covid. I bet Matt would have enjoyed fishing...he never did get to that. I would have enjoyed doing some standing paddle boarding or maybe some hiking near the cliff jumping in Cord du Lane.

The trip was a hit...even though James wasn't with us or Wilson...the Sunday afternoon phone call from James and the many snap chats from the Maas family of Wilson kept us reminded of the fun they too were having.

Where to next year? Maybe Jasper National Park in Canada? That is if we can fly out of the US...stupid COVID. Greta says..."you know Trump isn't gonna be re-elected." Where did she get that? Was it you James?? :)

Until next time.

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