August 1-15, 2024 Checking Out Things in the Neighborhood

1-Thu-Today we checked the car count and sent that to our boss. Steve worked on the pickup fan. I sat outside with the dogs. Later I paid some bills and Steve looked for parts. Tony P was here and I signed the paperwork for the stipend. After lunch I talked to the insurance agency about our claim. They said it is OK to wait until September when we get home to get started on the repairs. I also talked to my sister Marsha today. It got up to 90° today.

2-Fri-We were up at about 8:00 today. We sat outside after doing our regular morning routine. The Game Warden was here from 1:30 - 3:00. Sydney came by about 3:00 and stayed an hour. Then we watched TV and took it easy.

A lovely sunflower growing out of a pile of rocks.

3-Sat-Today I sat outside with Sara (a boat education volunteer) for about 30 minutes. We monitor the lot and incoming boats. After lunch I kept a check on the lot. Tony P was here about 3:00 for a half hour. My niece and her husband are at Mayo’s with my great nephew trying to get a diagnosis on his health problems. He has had a rough spring and summer. We are hoping that Mayo can help him. 

4-Sun-Routine morning. We had some rain in the afternoon. It cooled off enough  that I made chili for supper.

5-Mon-I fixed my hair and we went into town after we did the chores. We needed to haul our trash off and go to the grocery store. I had to get people off the dock four times today. Sometimes people are just obstinate. 

We saw this old truck at the trash dump (container site)

This is the view this morning

We saw this mama and baby on our way home.

6-Tue-Another pretty routine day. We just hang out and keep an eye on things. We did have some rain today. 

7-Wed-This morning we walked around the loop road. Then we did our chores and drug the hose over to give the bathroom a good washout. We enjoyed our morning sitting outside. We checked out the DNRC side today also.

These are pictures from the loop road. Some people are doing construction up here. We will see next year what has been completed. 

8-Thu-After lunch we went to Walmart in Kalispell. We left about 1:00 and were home by 3:30. Normally we try to go in the  morning because it seems less busy. I am not sure why we went late today.

We saw these two during our walk this morning.

This is construction on La Brant (not the loop), We are curious about this too.

9-Fri-I guess the main thing we did today was some weed eating. We also worked on keeping an eye on things. I didn’t write down anything else. 

Sunset

10-Sat-After we finished the morning routine we sat outside awhile. Tony was here at 11:30. We  monitored the lot. Later we made a quick trip to Bigfork for some items to include in our supper. It seems I always need to fill in with something. I can never get everything we need in our Walmart trip.

11-Sun-OK this morning when we got out and about, we noticed that someone had parked on the outgoing road. Boy did that make me mad. We sat outside until noon. We put a note on the window of the vehicle and kept a watch until he came back to his vehicle. I gave him a good talking to and explained that is against the rules and is unsafe! He apologized and said he will not do it again. We went in for lunch and then we sat out again from 1:30 to 2:15 and re-checked at 3 PM. 

This is how the guy was parked!

This is his parking ticket.

12-Mon-We completed our routine chores. after lunch we gathered up the trash and let the dogs ride with us to haul it off. We picked up mail. It was a birthday card from Kristi and the pickup fan switch. 

This is the really cute camping birthday card Kristi sent me!

Some night shots taken at 10:15 PM.

13-Tue-We got up at 8:30 this morning and I guess we were slow or lazy. We didn’t walk until 11 AM and then did the chores. We decided to go eat at Echo Lake Cafe about 12:30. We got home about 1:45. If you are ever at Bigfork, MT, got to Echo Lake Cafe and have breakfast. Their food is really good. Steve fixed the fan switch on the pickup today. They had a little fish tournament tonight. We just had a light supper because our brunch was very filling.

The wooden Indian outside the Echo Lake Cafe.

A picture in the Cafe.

This is the muffin we got and shared. 

14-Wed-Today we gathered up our laundry and went to town. We were home by about 1:30 PM. Nothing too exciting today. 

15-Thu-It rained overnight. We sat outside after doing our chores. Sydney was here about 11:30 and we had a nice little visit. I had to educate some people about the dock again today. That is nothing new. Although this year it does seem that I have had to talk to fewer people about it. It is just dangerous when we have a lot of boats launching. 

July 1- 15, 2024 Summer is in Full Swing!

1-Mon-After completing our morning chores and walk we headed to Kalispell to get groceries at Walmart. When the 1st day of the month rolls around we also do the car count. We had 5,115 cars through during June. We unloaded and put away all the supplies and then had lunch. I took a little nap. Steve had trouble with his back, so later I put the tens unit on him. We had a cheeseburger, chips and berries for supper. It was 57° at 10:08 PM.

2-Tue-Today was laundry day. So we sorted that out and then headed to town after we did the routine things. We got back about 1:15 and had lunch. Then we watched tv and rested. It rained some this evening. 

3-Wed-I talked to the house insurance people today. We have a $1500.00 deductible. So that doesn’t seem too bad. Later we learned that our full coverage depreciated, so our cost is going to be a little bit more. Maybe a lot more. Who knows! We did some weed eating for about an hour. After lunch we sat outside and listened to music. We had rain at 2:00 and again at 7:30 PM. Steve worked on the battery bank. Our boss picked up the wheelbarrow and our volunteer timesheets. Supper tonight was Rosa’s Pizza.

A deer we saw on our walk

Steve weedeating

Pretty nice house on the lake

We take a picture in case we need to remember how the wires go.

Sunset at 9:35 PM

4-Thu-Happy 4th of July Everyone! We completed our chores and then monitored the parking lot about every hour. Sydney came by about 1:15. Later Tony P was here about 3:30 PM. Every one behaved pretty good. There were no wrecks and no fights. The game warden was also here for a few hours this afternoon. The fireworks around the lake were pretty. This year they seemed to bother Poopsie. I just cuddled her and told her it would be OK and soon it would be over. 

5-Fri-Well we sat outside and watched everyone quite awhile. We usually do this on holidays and weekends. About 11:30 or Noon to 1:00 or 2:00. Then we just do checks throughout the day. Sydney came by to check things out about 1:45 and stayed an hour. We had to re-stock the bathroom. 

This is called a floating dock.

6-Sat-We did all our chores then made a quick trip into town about 11:30. I had been lulled into a false sense that this holiday is not going to be busy! Boy was I wrong. Tony P came by and stayed about an hour. We kept a check on the lot. He also called the non-emergency Sheriff's number about the number of people we had parking outside the gate. Then I thought things were going well and we went inside the RV for awhile. When I came back out at 3:15 or so there were tons of people parked outside the gate and on the wrong side of the road. I called Tony and he said he would call the game warden. He also sent Sydney back over, she stayed another hour. Anyway it was a wild Saturday, but we survived. There was another problem in the parking lost about 6:00 PM. A man showed up with a low boy trailer that had  lab puppies he brought to the lake. But he left their mom in the trailer and she barked like crazy. So I had to go give him a talk - and he gathered up the pups and left finally. What a day! But we survived. 

Too many vehicles parked where they are not supposed to be parked!

This is the trailer that had the puppies and barking mama dog. 

7-Sun-We sat outside from about 11:30 to 12:45. So far so good. The game warden came by today from 11 to 1. But everything was fine then. He doesn’t come by when we are slammed. Today things were better, less people. I did take a nap, yesterday pooped me out. 

Osprey on its nest

8-Mon-We checked in with our house insurance again. I mailed a check to the young man taking care of our yard. We fixed the speed bump again. Steve took out the battery and solenoid. Then we drove to Kalispell and got a part at Car Quest and a new replacement battery at O’Reilly’s. It was 89° at 6:30 PM!

Speed bump back in place

This is a trailer used to deliver a dock.

Canola and blue skies

Sunset 9:45

9-Tue-After the chores Steve worked on the battery solenoid and wire. There is still some concern. Also the steps may need a new motor. He stopped at about 11:30 and we stayed inside . It got pretty warm today - 92° at 4:30 PM. 

Deer posing nicely

10-Wed-Today was a bigger than normal clean up in the outdoor toilet. We dragged the hose over and gave it a good wash out. Somehow Steve tweaked his back, so I walked Buster while Steve did his back exercises. Then we drove to Walmart for supplies. We were back at the RV by 1:00. Tony P came by to try out his new credit card that he has to use for weed eater gas. It’s a state government thing, use one credit card for certain items, another for different items. 

Moon

11-Thu-Steve spent a lot of the morning working on the motor for the step. We ended up ordering a new step motor from Amazon. Sydney came by about 12:45. Not too exciting today. 94° today.

Deer nibbling on leaf

12-Fri-Pretty routine day. I didn’t make many notes. We did have pizza from supper. 

Buster

Poopsie

Buster and Poopsie

My flower is doing good.

13-Sat-We are also having trouble with the fan in the pickup. We sat outside and kept an eye on things from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Our boss was by about 11:00 and 12:30. I found out later that the sheriff had came out and gave some tickets to people parked out on La Brant Road. We were really glad to hear this. Maybe people will stop parking where they aren’t supposed to park. Another hot day, 90° at 6:30 PM. We are so glad the mornings are cool so we can walk and do our chores. 

I have boat envy!

14-Sun-We did all the morning things. The we sat outside from 10:30-11;00 and again at 12:00 to 1:00. I checked the lot again about 2:30. Sometimes its is good for people to see you watching them. Sometimes we give them the evil eye! LOL. Later we took the dogs on drive and went to Dairy Queen for Chicken Strips and Sundaes!

How about this contraption? We think they use this as a duck blind during hunting season.

Moon reflection on the lake 10:35 PM

 

15-Mon-Today we did some extra cleanup on the beach. Then we did weed eating on the triable and where we sit on the road to watch people. We also went to town for groceries and a part for the pickup fan blower. Our lunch was taco salad and chips. I talked to lots of people on the phone today.