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Showing posts from 2009

Fall is upon us!

I really haven't been doing much since cabin sitting for my friend Albert. I tried to get to Glacier National Park before they closed Going to the Sun Road but missed it by a week. It wasn't a lost trip though. We decided we would take a drive up to Polebridge , and Bowman Lake. Polebridge is an awesome little town located just outside the Park. It consists of a big mercantile building, a small bar called "The Northern Lights", a Hostel, and a few other homes. The mercantile has fresh baked goods everyday and a small store for necessities . In the summer, the mercantile rents out little cabins for guests exploring the north west side of the park. The Northern Lights Bar is great too. About 5 years ago we ate dinner there on our way to Bowman Lake and it was the best food I've had. After a little stop at Polebridge we continued on toward Bowman Lake. Right after the ranger station the road branches off. One way takes to you Bowman Lake and the other goes t

Cabin Sitting!

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View's of Albert's Cabin I will be relaxing off the grid in the Helena National Forest the next few weekends. Our friend Albert has asked Michele and I if we would cabin sit while he visits friends in the mid west. I really, really enjoy the time I spend at Albert's place. Albert, he is a wonderful man that has had a interested life and it is great to hear the stories. I think a movie about him would be cool. Albert, Michele, & I share a lot of the same interests and views so we get along well. We decided to go up to his place last weekend to get a little training on how things run out in the woods. Albert uses batteries and a generator for his electricity, so he gave us a run down on the generator and the inverter in case the batteries go dead. There is also a spring nearby that supplies Albert's water and he gave us a quick course on the water pump and the filtration system so we have safe drinking water. Albert also has propane that fuels the stove, refriger

My life as of late.

I know it's been a few weeks since my last post, but things haven't been interesting until the last week. My truck developed a whine in the transmission and after getting a few different opinions a friend and I decided we would change the transmission filter and fluid. We went to a "Chain" parts store and purchased the transmission filter and pan gasket. When the counter person said that the computer recommended DEX-6, a synthetic transmission fluid we were a little sceptical, but we trusted the counter person and the computer. BOY! were we wrong. After installing the new filter, gasket, and fluid we started the truck and took it for a test drive. It seemed to work well and the whine was gone. We thought it was good until we got on the highway. The transmission started to slip and the longer we drove it, the worse it got. We drove it about 30 miles and the transmission didn't have drive, or over-drive. We limped the truck back to my friends house and thought

American Independence Day

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Our Fireworks A brown bear we saw on our way home Our friends cabin I spent Independence weekend with my close friends off the grid enjoying the smells and sounds of the Helena National Forest. My friend Albert, who lives above Marrysville , MT invited Michele and I up for the weekend, and we gladly accepted. We left Great Falls after work Friday night and after stopping by Michele's house in Helena so she could feed the dog, water her plants and grab a an overnight bag we made it to Albert's around 9:30PM. Zack, Albert's German short hair dog greeted us at the door just in front of Albert. After a brief greeting we made our way into the sun room and saw the coffee table armed to the teeth, and though maybe it had a beef with the end tables. after a few hours of catching up on things we called it a a night and crashed. I awoke Saturday to the fresh smell of moist pine coming it the guestroom window and Zoey , Albert's cat prancing around the bed. I crept down stairs

Appreciation???

I recently got into discussion with a family member in Pennsylvania about appreciation. She is one of those people that has to volunteer everywhere in her community and has to take over certain clubs because she thinks she and her family can run them better. She complains on facebook that she never has time to do anything for her self because of it. Recently I posted on facebook that I was going to enjoy an evening ride on my motorcycle, and she commented that she like this. I responded that last I heard she wasn't even riding their bike because they just don't have time for it anymore. I said I think you should sell the bike if you're not going to appreciate it and give someone else a chance to appreciate it instead of it just sitting there not being used. She replied that the bike cannot be appreciated because it is not human. I replied that I guess people shouldn't appreciate nice homes, fine wine, art, sunsets and a bunch of other things. She then replied that she l
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Houses around Bannack Ghost Town My Mother at the border An old Barn at Monida Pass, Montana

I know, I know!!

I said I would try and and write more about the adventures of my mother's visit, but I just never know what to write. Well I'm gonna try and write a little, but it's going to be done in parts. Part I: My mother and two of her sisters flew in Salt Lake on Wednesday May 20 and visited with their brother who lives in the area. Another sister lives in Pocatello, ID and she drove down down to Salt Lake to pick up my mother and her two sisters and take them to her house. the plan was that my mother would visit with her sisiter for a few days then Michele and I would drive to Pocatello and get her. Michele and I headed out from Great Falls Friday night after work. We decided we would stay the night in Dillion, MT. Dillion is a nice little town that is about half way between Great Falls and Pocatello so it worked well as a rest point. We got up around 5AM Saturday morning and after eating a light breakfast of bagels and orange juice we continued on our way. It was a nice morning dr

I'm Alive

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I know that I haven't been on here for over a month, but life's been busy as of late. It seems that only a few weekends ago we were in Kalispell for Easter, and now it's heading towards Memorial Day. We've been traveling around the state and recently traveled to Havre on a Geocaching trip with members of the CMGA(Central Montana Geocaching Association). It was my first trip to Havre in the 10 years I've lived in Montana. Havre seem like a nice little town along the High Line. We are planing to go back and check out some of the tourist's traps. One thing I would like to see is something called "Havre under the streets" It's a tour of the old city underneath the new one. Also in mid May my mother will be visiting from Pennsylvania for the first time in 10 years, so I will be busy "Tour Guiding" her around to some of my favorite places. I will try and keep more up to date in the coming weeks on our adventures.

Lincoln, Missoula & Caching

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Sunday morning we were deciding what to when Michele suggested a drive to Lincoln. We hadn't been that way for quite a while so headed out. We hit snow going up Flesher Pass and had it all the way to Lincoln. At Lincoln I topped off the fuel and Michele grabbed a Almond Roca Latte. Lincoln seemed to very busy that day with a fair amount of people throughout the town. We decided that would drive down highway 200 for a while and see what happens. We had our choices of turn offs and different routes along the way. Well, we stayed on 200 all the way to Bonner. At Bonner we decided to head to Missoula for a quick lunch than head back to Helena on I-90. At the Reserve Exit, we decided to call a few of our Geocaching friends and see if they were free for lunch. We called one friend and asked if they were free for lunch, they were but they were in Lolo and would be in Missoula in about a hour or so. Being that we had some free time on our hands we decided to invite other friends

A Boring Month

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Well everyone my life has been quite boring as of late. After getting the new alternator in my truck it started blowing "turn signal" fuses left and right. It took me about 2 Weeks to find the short and fix it. With that fixed we recently had a free weekend and took a drive around Canyon Ferry Lake near Helena. It was our first excursion in weeks. I've been busy here in Great Falls at work, and Michele has been busy in Helena around her house on the weekends. Also Michele needed some new tires and auto repairs herself , so we'll been staying close to home and saving her nickles for repairs. Now both vehicles are running well and with the coming of longer daylight and warmer weather I'm sure our adventures will begin again.

Kalispell & Glacier....Almost!

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Never made it to Kalispell or Glacier. The alternator in my Chevy truck went out just as we entered East Glacier. I called O'Reily's in Kalispell which is 90 miles away and tried to order a new alternator but they wouldn't take my credit card over the phone. I ending up getting Michele's daughter, Heather; who lives in Kalispell, to order and pay for the part online with my credit card then go to O'Reily's and pick up the part. By the time we got this done is was after 8:00PM and rather than have Heather drive out from Kalispell that evening Michele and I decided to find a Motel in East Glacier. Now, East Glacier is a tourist trap in the summer time but in the winter its pretty much a ghost town but we managed to get a Motel room close to the truck. There was one little diner open and we had a small diner before heading back to the Motel. On the way back to the Motel, we past the only open bar and decided on a drink. The bar was very interesting to say the least

Kalispell & Glacier

Well not much has been happening around here lately so I haven't been writing, but things are gonna change because I'm heading to Kalispell after work and will be spending some time in Glacier. I will have some new pictures and a story or two next week. In other news I got new tires put on my motorcycle yesterday and it snowed 4-6 inches. I did however managed to drive it home and got a lot of looks from fellow drivers. Well have a good weekend everyone and will chat next week.
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I wish we had this much snow in Great Falls. This snow fall is near Essex, Montana

Trying not to get sick

My co-worker Michele has been battling a nasty cold for over a week and I'm trying not to get it. It seems like a lot of people have it around here. Other than that not much has been happening. I am glad to see that the days are getting longer. It means I can actually do stuff after work besides just going home and watching movies, or reading. I got the motorcycle out a few times this month, but now it's snowing today. I'm sure I'll have plenty of time for riding in the coming months.

A Super (Bowl) Weekend

The weather was really nice here so the weekend was very enjoyable. Didn't do too much after work on Saturday but drive to Helena and see a few friends. Sunday I met up with Michele and her daughter for brunch at a local Casino. After Brunch Michele and I headed off to do a little shopping before venturing into the mountains to test shoot a new firearm I purchased recently before heading to a friends house to watch the Super Bowl. At the Party, I was the only one rooting for the Steelers and 5 other people were fro the Cardinals and we know who won.

Not much Happenin' Here

Sorry that I haven't been writing, but my life's been slow. I have been enjoying the warmer than usual weather here by spending time on my motorcycle. I've also hid a few Geocaches around town. For those of you who never heard of Geocaching, it's like modern day treasure hunting, only we us GPS receivers now. If you would like to check it out, here is the website http://www.geocaching.com/ . It is an awesome outdoor sport for the whole family. Michele and were supposed to attend a Geocaching chili cook-off in Helena this past weekend, but I had to work Saturday and Michele wasn't feeling well. We missed the event, but managed to visit with a few of the Geocacher's from Missoula, and Billings. We try to get to all the events we can in the surrounding area. I usually get all the ones around Helena, Great Falls, and Missoula. We haven't made it to an event in Billings yet, but we're still trying. I talked to my mother this weekend and in my hometown just n

Gotta Love The Snow!

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Logan Pass Visitor's Center Sidewalk, Glacier National Park Well the weather here has been interesting. It's 30 degrees and snowing one day and the next it's 50degrees and melting everything. When people ask me "How do you like the weather" I give them a response that they often don't like. See, I love the snow and tell everyone that asks me that I wish it would snow 3 feet. It seems alot of people here in Montana don't like the snow and I find that weird. I wish it would blizzard for a month. The people here always say "Well you must not drive in it, or you would wouldn't like it" Well I do drive in and love it. I have no problem with the snow and say "It's winter in Montana" All these people who grew up here don't like it. Now I grew up in Western Pennsylvania and had snow growing up and loved it then too. I talk to my mother yesterday and she said they had 8 to 10 inches and she was fine with it. I wish we could ge

A Cold New Year

As I write this I see that the temperature here in Great Falls is -11 and according to The Weather Channel online it feels like -28. Winds out of the SW at 8mph. On my way to work this morning I started both my trucks and let them warm up. After I got to I remembered that I left my camera in my truck and I'm hoping that the lens didn't freeze and crack. I can say that walking to work this morning was refreshing. Michele drove to Helena last night and said that the roads were terrible and that I should be careful today when I drive down there after work. I talked to the friends I'll stay with down there and they said the roads around there place haven't been plowed yet but should be by the time I get there. My friends got me a new circular saw for Christmas that I am dying to use and if the temperature warms up I might build a few shelves for Michele's house. If the weather doesn't warm up I guess I'll relax and enjoy my day off and think about what I'