August 16 - 31, 2025 Summer Is Starting to Wind Down

16-Sat-It was a routine day for the most part. After we completed our morning routine, including a walk and chores we just sat outside and enjoyed the morning. I made us a great grilled turkey and cheese sandwich on sourdough bread for lunch. About 3:30 - we drove to Kalispell Walmart so I could pick up my contacts. We got back to the RV about 5:00. For supper we had chili and crackers with berries for dessert.

The story to go with the following three pictures is as follows:

There is an island, easily seen from our RV spot and the dock. Lots of people paddle over there and hang out or picnic. We saw these people paddle over the night before and I guess they stayed there overnight. The next morning a boat came and picked them up.

This island is someone's private property, who does not care if people hang out there. The island is for sale and the list price is about $999,999.00. I am not buying it. Where would you park your car?

See that white round light on the top of the mountain? It is the Blacktail Mountain Weather Station.
Blacktail  Mountain has a ski resort. I am surprised you can see it from our location because it is probably 30-50 miles west, southwest of us as the crow flies. Sara told me about the weather station. 

Sunset at 9:00 PM

Campfire tonight!

17-Sun-Today we walked the loop instead of down the regular road. Then we did our chores. For lunch I made chili  nachos. They were yummy. Kelly was here from 2:30 to 4:15 - so we sat outside and visited with her. We tried to introduce Buster to her by leaving him in the crate and letting her feed him treats. Buster was still not real friendly with her. 

18-Mon-We completed our routine and took a short walk. We gathered up the laundry and trash. Then it was off to the container site to get rid of the trash and then the laundromat to complete that task. I mailed T-shirts to our great granddaughter (Mariana) and to my great, great nephew (Knox). I also mailed a present to my sister, Marsha. Then we went to the grocery store and got gas. We had a late lunch and relaxed. Later we put away all our clean clothes. Supper was Canadian bacon and eggs.

19-Tue-After our walk, I cleaned the outdoor toilet and picked up trash so Steve could start weed eating and mowing. Then we sat outside until lunch time. Kelly was here about an hour. Later the game warden came out about 7:45. I made Hamburger Helper for supper and we had berries for our dessert.

20-Wed-We had breakfast and did the routine chores this morning,. After that we picked up trash on the North beach. That side belongs to DNRC (Department of Natural Resources and Conservation) -so we have not been tending to it much. We went to Burgertown in Bigfork for a late lunch. They have great hamburgers and hand cut french fries. We also stopped at the drugstore and Harvest Foods. The afternoon was spent relaxing. 

See what happened to the dock? Someone must have hit it with their boat and knocked this board loose. Steve tied it up with a leash for the time being. 

This is a house they are building at the north end of the lake. It will be a big one.

flowers

21-Thu-Another day on repeat. Supper was chicken, rice, mixed vegetables and berries.

22-Fri-This morning we were up at 7:30 and got our walk and chores completed pretty early. We left for Walmart at 9:15 and were home by 11:45. We put away the supplies and then had lunch. Next I paid some bills and did some other computer work. We monitored the dock from 5- 6 PM. For supper I fixed sloppy joes and corn on the cob.

This buck visited us overnight! He was here about 1:15 AM, I was not awake to see him.

23-Sat-It was another routine morning. We sat outside from 12:30 - 2:00 to keep an eye on people. We had lunch and I checked the dock again. Tony Powell was here from 2:30-3:15. Then we were back inside to take it easy. 

24-Sun-It was another routine morning. We sat outside until 11:15. Then we had lunch Kelly was here and we were back outside from 2:30 to 4:15 PM. It was hot today. It was 87° at 7:00 PM, which is a little hot for this area. But it is August - so what can I expect? For supper we ate turkey kielbasa, and home fries. 

25-Mon-We had a slow start today - but we did all the necessary things. I reminisced about my sister Pam. Today would have been her birthday. She was 11 years older than me but her birthday was on the 25th and mine is on the 26th of August. We went to Bigfork to haul our trash off. Then we went to the post office, bank, pharmacy and grocery store. Kelly was here from 12:15-2:15 or so. So we ate lunch late. It was pretty hot again - 89° at 5:15. Since it was hot we just ate peanut butter on bread and berries. 

You can see how Steve used a leash  to attach the board to the dock, so it would not get ripped completely off. 

26-Tue-We were up at 7:45 today. I opened my birthday cards from Steve. Then we had breakfast and got ready. We took a short walk. Next we loaded our stuff in the pickup and headed to Polebridge, MT to the Polebridge Mercantile. This is my birthday tradition when we are in Montana. We left about 9:30 and got there about 11:30. It is an excursion on dirt and gravel roads. It is 20 miles south of Canada. They have wonderful treats! So we got the Huckleberry Bearclaws and some cookies for us and to share. We got back home about 2:00. We ate cheese and crackers and 1/2 of a bear claw for supper. It was 88° at 6 PM. 

Scenery from our drive to Polebridge.

North Fork of the Flathead River

Signs in the bathroom at Polebridge

Views looking north from Polebridge Mercantile toward Glacier National Parkd

Huckleberry Bear Claw

Me

Steve and I

27-Wed-We putzed around a little bit this morning. After we were dressed Sydney and Sean from FWP Maintenance were here to look at the dock around 9 AM. After they left we did the  chores and walked the loop road. Then we were back inside working on the trail camera card, downloading pictures and deleting them as needed. At 11 AM Sydney arrived and Kelly was here. Sydney put some screws in the dock to hold the board in place. Steve and Kelly helped. I gave Sydney and Kelly cookies. Kelly was here til almost 2:00 PM. We finished clearing the trail camera card of pictures. It was 87° at 4:15. So another pretty warm day. For supper I fixed cube steak, home fries. Later we ate berries. 

Bird

Mariana with her new T-shirt

28-Thu-We were up at 7:45. So we completed our chores and a short walk. The we headed to Kalispell. It was overcast this morning. I wanted to go to REI and buy new shoes and different socks. We also purchased supplies at Walmart. We got back home at about 12:30 and unloaded our stuff. We had lunch and relaxed. Supper was grilled chicken, corn on the cob, salad and berries. 

29-Fri-We were up about 7:30. We walked and came back to do our chores. As we were walking to the parking lot we saw a wire trap that had turtles and a fish or two in it. It was laying by the sign post. I called Tony so he could let the game warden know. Then we went to Bigfork to do our Laundry. I mailed out 4 birthday cards. We also made a stop at the UPS store for a part for the TV that we ordered from Amazon. Sometimes they charge us $5 to pick up a package. Sometimes there is no charge. We got back to the RV and had lunch, then we watched our afternoon TV shows. We walked around the parking lot two times. There were some boys on the dock - rocking it back and forth. I asked them to stop since we are having trouble keeping it in good shape. They stopped that and then started throwing rocks into the lake. Finally they left. I was glad to see them leave. I made chili for supper and we had chips with it.

Turtles & fish in trap

This is the sign where the fish trap was sitting. 

Look at the bird in the old tree. 

30-Sat-So we were up about 8 AM today. We completed our daily routine and sat outside with the dogs. We had lunch and watched some football. Later I sat out with the boat volunteer for awhile also.  We had a beautiful sky this evening.

31-Sun-We were up at 8 ish this morning. So after breakfast and getting dressed we walked the loop road. Then we did our chores and sat outside. After lunch Kelly was here from 1:15 to 3:00 PM. One of the boat volunteers was here (Sara) and I visited with her. Then it was a short nap. For supper I made turkey burgers and we had a salad and chips with them. 

It was still 88° at 6 PM. 

Moon and its' reflection on the lake.

September 1 - 15, 2021 Winding Down the Summer at Echo Lake Montana

 On Wednesday, September 1 we woke up to 45 degrees in the morning and the high for the day ended up at 67. Today we got the car count and sent it to our boss. After our walk and chores we ventured to Kalispell for supplies at Walmart and also picked up a bottle jack at Auto Zone (because Walmart was out). 

We saw this cute car in Kalispell

We got home and ate our leftover pizza and put away our supplies. We took an evening walk on trust land.  Thursday was another day doing all the usual things. Supper was Ham, Eggs, Toast and Berries. We had another nice walk on the trust land. The evening was just lovely. Friday (3) we were a little more energetic and did some weed eating. We also went to town about 11 AM and did the chores.Steve surprised me and said, "Let's go to BurgerTown and get lunch". I was in agreement and we had a yummy burger and fries. We also stopped at the drugstore to get birthday cards and then went back to the RV. Tony Powell was here and we visited with him for awhile. He left about 1:45. Our evening entertainment was a drive to Horseshoe Lake. We saw lots of deer on our drive. 

We think this guy is ready for a Montana winter

Saturday it was another lovely day and we were not extremely busy at the lake. We had a campfire this evening and cooked potatoes in foil and burgers outside. I always think that the food cooked outside tastes so good! Later we had another fire and made S'mores. Sunday the 5th was a busy day. People were parked out on the road all the way to the stop sign. Steve was working on researching how to change out the front jack - so I walked Buster on the Loop road and we saw 2 deer. Steve took Poopsie out. We did our chores later and the hose was needed for the outdoor toilet.  Later we drove into town for some groceries.

Saw these 5 turkeys on the east end of the causeway when we came back from town

 

People enjoying the Sunday before Labor Day

Monday the 6th was the actual holiday for Labor day. Steve was up at 6:30 and I slept til 8 AM. We did all the routine things and sat outside enjoying the morning after we did our chores.  Most of the people were gone by 3 PM because the wind came up. On Tuesday we went to town and did our laundry after the routine things were completed. We also went to the post office and store. We were a little late getting to the laundry - and so  it was about 2PM before we finished. Out evening walk was again over on the trust land. It's a flat, smooth place to walk, so we enjoy that.  Wednesday brought smoke back to our area and we stayed in the RV some. In fact I fell back to sleep. Steve had sneezing fits. We started our walk and he had an asthma attack so we hurried him back to the RV so he could use his inhaler. We walked the dogs up on the loop a little ways but then Poopsie started limping so we went back to the RV. Steve worked hard taking off the leveling jack on the right front of the RV. That was no easy task. On Thursday the 9th we got around and did our walk and chores. Then we drove to Kalispell and dropped off the jack to be fixed. We let the dogs ride along so they wouldn't get so lonely. I thought about buying a dog stroller for Poopsie, but decided that they would do good on the rocky road. So I bought her some joint supplements. We watched the Dallas Cowboys get beat by the Tampa Bay Bucaneers for our evening entertainment. Friday rolled around and we did our usual walk and chores. Then Steve painted the floor of the outdoor toilet and locked it so nobody could mess it up. We headed into town to haul our trash and do the chores. We also  went to the grocery store and then back home for lunch. Tony Powell came by and visited with us again. I made taco salad and we ate berries for dessert. It rained overnight. Saturday was overcast and the high was 60 degrees. There isn't much going on here at the lake. Oklahoma State beat Tulsa in football! Yea! We checked the paint in the bathroom and kept it locked. I made chicken vegetable soup for our supper. Sunday, the 12 was watched more football after chores.  

Deer we saw on our walk

Another deer or better picture

Caterpillar - fuzzy - Cold Winter?

  

A structure of some type on Foothill Road. Not sure if they will spend the winter in it?

More Turkeys!

Sunset - Echo Lake

Clouds reflecting in Echo Lake

Lunch was leftover soup and then we watched football.  We took the dogs on a little drive and returned to the RV. Later we had another campfire, which made for a nice evening.Monday the 13th we did all the usual chores and had lunch. We thought the new paint on the bathroom floor should be dry so we opened it up. 

Bathroom floor after painting

Tony Powell came by and we  visited with him. Next on the agenda was to head to Kalispell to pick up the jack cylinder that was repaired. We also went to Cabella's and got a collapsible wagon in case Poopsie needed it to ride around in. The day also included a stop at Walmart for medicines  and other supplies. We got back home and took it easy for awhile before we started supper.  Tuesday we got around and did our walk and chores. After lunch Steve worked on the jack some more to install it. He finished today. Today I talked to Hazel and she found out that we received a letter from the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety regarding Steve's Driver's License. Since he has MS - they require papers to be filled out by his physician every year or so in order to keep his license. Therefore we will make that appointment at the VA and arrive at home in time to take care of that item.  On Wednesday we cleaned and organized the shed after we did the chores. Steve put some caulk around the toilet in the outdoor privvy. We put away the barrier that we had been using since July (good riddance) and the lawnmower. Tony Powell came by again to visit before we leave. He is going to take some time off to go to Minnesota Boundary waters on a canoe, camping and fishing trip. We started making our preparations to leave: Dump the fresh water, fold up the window shades, fold and store the mat, wash the front window, dump the tanks, pack and re-pack the pickup bed. We also have to lock up the picnic table, fire pit and trash can. After all that work, we rested. Tonight we went to town and ate at Rosa's Pizza because we were pooped.