Missoula and Beyond

We pulled in to Whitefish, Montana around 10 pm and there was my brother, David, standing on the platform waving at us. He had to drive about two hours from Missoula to meet us, so we had a bunch of time to catch up on all the news and family stuff on the way back down.

Since this was Julie's first trip to Montana, David was trying to describe the scenery we were passing in the dark. Later in the visit we got to see everything in it's sunlit glory.

Here's bro' Daywee with his big mountain machine and his "trail-mix" bag...
...and at a rest stop...David and Kate's house in Missoula, nestled in the trees.
and toadsty warm inside...
It was terrific seeing Caleb all grown up!One of Mom's antiques which she inherited from a friend in England:All the gang at dinnerThey have a great front porch with a view of Missoula down belowand deer grazing in their front yard and the neighbor's...
And trees galore!I took an early morning walk with Katiekins and Sharly, their doggie, who unfortunately died shortly after we left of some stomach complications.
And we all took an evening walk by the riverside.Missoula has a fabulous place called "The Good Foodstore" with every kind of food known to Gringolandia. Check out the bulk dispensers for grains and nuts! (Sure could use one of these in Costa Rica!)The last day we drove back North to catch the sights in daylight and head toward our train station again. Here's a view of the Flathead lake enroute with a rainbone poking up.and a Magpie on a sprinkler (Magpipe?) David wanted us to see an amazing decorative gateway along the road. There are a number of heavy steel eagles built in. (Ali, check out the 2 inch thick steel eagle mounted on the gate below!)
We stopped at the St. Ignatius Mission on the way to see David's first house in the area.David built this house some years ago and now rents it out. He's hoping that some day they can make some improvements on it and move back up there from Missoula.Along the way Caleb excitedly wanted to stop to see Tom Smith, a friend of the Moore's who's working with the Salish Elders at their cultural center. A tribal council was going on when we stopped by.Somehow I missed getting a shot of Tom, but here's his wife, Karin, with Julie in front of their very amazing home in the valley.Karin and Tom are so very special! We are hoping that they will be able to travel down to CR to visit one day.Below is a shot of Karin's Herbal heaven. She's an acupuncturist and has built her own office and clinic to see patients at her home.