Saturday, May 4, 2013

PORTLAND, OREGON

PORTLAND , OREGON

We spent two nights in Libby, MT visiting our Grand Daughter and 3 amazing Greats. It was a fun time, not soon forgotten. Our last day, we went to the City Park and played with the kids on the cool playground. Afterwards, McDonald's.

We said goodbye and headed for home at 1:00. We had an 8 hour drive ahead of us. We really enjoyed staying at the Huckleberry House Bed and Breakfast. The early 1900's era home was beautiful and well cared for. The owners, Keith and Ellen, were gracious hosts and made everything perfect. The 3 upstairs rooms are spacious and beautiful. Our home cooked breakfasts were perfectly proportioned and delicious.

If you ever desire to take a trip to Libby, MT, we would highly recommend that you try to stay at the Huckleberry House! You will not be disappointed!

We pulled into Portland just after dark (about Dark-Thirty). It was great to be home! As soon as I get my facts together, I will blog facts about our trip, like miles traveled, hotel nights stayed, etc.

Now to put the house back together!





















Friday, May 3, 2013

LIBBY, MONTANA

LIBBY, MONTANA

Enjoying one of the best days of our road trip here in Libby. This is the home of our Grand-Daughter, Emily and our 3 Great-Grand Children. It is a joy to be here and just have fun with them.

We drove into Sandpoint, Idaho yesterday for a trip to Walmart. We took the kids to Burger King to play while the girls shopped.

Our afternoon was filled with a photo shoot. We were getting some professional photos of the family. It was fun We did it in the great outdoors. The kids had fun.

Emily fixed chili for dinner. It was good. Saying goodnight was hard.

Today we meet them again for a trip to the park to play (weather permitting). Looks like we will be heading home about noon today. It's a 9 hour drive to Portland.

Saying goodbye will be even harder!




























Wednesday, May 1, 2013

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

I was hoping Glacier National Park would be a highlight of our Montana adventure. I have seen amazing pictures of this scenic area and listened to people brag about it who have been here. But for us, this was not to be that amazing. The park was open but the road was open only to McDonald Lake Lodge. The rest of the park remained closed due to snow on the roads. The mountain tops were cloud covered, for the most part. What we did see was beautiful.

We stopped at the park ranger station and the train depot to pick up a couple of souvenirs.

We took highway 2 to Libby and arrived in mid afternoon. We booked a couple of nights at the Huckleberry House Bed and Breakfast. After Checking in we went to see our family.

My Grand-Daughter and her husband have three live wires that we adore. It was so good to see them again after nearly a year. The kids seem to have missed us! They were wound up like a two dollar watch! It didn't help much that we brought them some great toys! We get to spend tomorrow with them.

It's all good!



















MONTANA

MONTANA

Our first stop out of Billings was to Bozeman, MT. There we met up with our good friends, Jill Jacobs, Glenna and Kiersa at Taco John's for lunch. It was great seeing them again. They had gone to our church for a while when their baby girl was going through some cancer treatments in Portland.

Although our visit was short, it was a blessing to us! Wish it could have been longer. I told Jill that we would come out and stay with them next summer. She said ok. After a couple of photos, we parted company.

Continuing North, we couldn't help but notice the change in scenery. The mountains began growing and looming over us. The weather began to change that we could see snow falling on the mountains. Soon we entered one of the snow storms and watched as the temperature fell to 29 degrees and the swirling snow fell all around us. Beautiful!

There was no accumulation on the highway so the traffic did not slow much. The roadsides were turning white, however. It felt good to be in possibly, the last snowfall of the season.

Towards the end of the day we decided to make a stand. We pulled over into the entry way of a large Best Western Resort. It boasted a casino, which we declined to help support. The Motel backed right up to Flathead Lake and our balcony view was awesome! PoLson, MT was a very nice area. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. This was the city where some dear friends of mine have her roots.

Tomorrow we head for Glacier National Park! Yea!!












NORTH DAKOTA

NORTH DAKOTA
Monday, April 29, 2013

North Dakota was the only state in the lower 48 that we had not yet visited in our Sienna road trip. Not really needing to see anything in ND, we decided that would be reason enough to go there! I know what you are thinking: "What kind of reasoning is that!?" EXACTLY my point! That's why we went!

So we drove the 4-plus hours to cross the state line just long enough to have lunch at JABBR's Family Restaurant in Bowman, ND. I asked our waitress if there were two "B's" in JABBR and she said it was. I asked what kind of name was JABBR? She said, "It's not a name at all. They are letters that begin with his name, his wife's and his children's names". How clever is that??

From Bowman, ND, we headed for Little Big Horn Battlefield Monument, located in Big Horn County near Billings, Montana. The area, dotted with many white tombstones was made famous in June 1876 when General George Armstrong Custer and his army were defeated to the last man.

Regardless of who wins, everyone loses. Standing on any battlefield, one cannot help but to feel sadness of lives lost. The story leading up to "Custer's last stand" is history. You can Google it.

This night we sleep in Billings, Montana and dine at CRACKER BARREL!

Life is good!