Montana | Retirement......LOVE IT!

Columbia Falls, Montana

We left Boise, Idaho, August 2nd. After traveling three days with two one-night stops, we arrived in Columbia Falls, Montana, on August 4th. We saw some beautiful scenery as we traveled the last day.

Looks like these people are getting ready to have a fun adventure.

We are staying three weeks at Columbia Falls RV Resort. This is a very nice park located right in the town of Columbia Falls.

The west entrance to Glacier National Park is about a 20 minute drive from our RV park. After spending a couple of days restocking the RV and resting from the three days of travel, we finally drove into the park.

The day we drove to Glacier was somewhat hazy because there have been many small fires in the surrounding states as well as in Montana. Smokey haze is not the best circumstance under which to take photos, but one has to work with whatever one is given.

Zoom in and you’ll see two deer.

I think this little guy was paid to pose for pictures. He was there on that rock perched on his hind legs for a VERY long time.

The second week we were in Columbia Falls, we had some friends that we met in Island Park, Idaho, come to visit us. They had always wanted to see Glacier National Park, so we planned a day to go.

Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. It was a rainy, foggy day. The higher up in elevation we went, the foggier and colder it got. Needless to say, it was an even worse day to take photos than our first day at Glacier was with the hazy smoke.

We did have a unique encounter though. We rounded a curve and the oncoming car was going really slow and pointed up in the forest. Then we saw what she was pointing at: a momma bear and two cubs! I got several pictures, and, although they aren’t great, if you look closely and zoom in, you will see the black cubs.

These are black bears even though the momma is a brown color. We learned how to tell a grizzly bear from a black bear while we visited Yellowstone National Park. You can google it and learn the difference.

There is mama bear. Her two, black cubs are in the trees behind her. You might have to zoom in to see them. They are REALLY black.

Mama bear decides to take off after digging and eating a little.

One black bear cub decides to come down and dig where mama was digging to see if he can find anything tasty. The other bear cub’s head is sticking out from behind the tree trunk right behind the cub doing the digging.

The bear cub behind the tree decides to go off and follow mom.

Finally the bear cub doing the digging decides he better follow mama also.

We were really excited to see these three bears. We also had a lot of fun with the friends who came to visit.

So, for now, “On the Road Again!”

Betty

Mesa Falls & Big Springs

This past Wednesday and Thursday we took a couple of short day trips. Someone in the RV park had suggested we take a drive to see Mesa Falls and Big Springs, both in Idaho, just a few miles away. So, away we went!

Wednesday we went to Mesa Falls. You have to pay to get in, however, since it is a National Forest, the lady at the gate looked at our Senior Citizens National Park Pass and said that worked there, also.

The falls were beautiful, but the mosquitoes were vicious. If you go, BE SURE to take some repellant!

Located at Mesa Falls is Big Falls Inn which has an interesting history and has been declared a National Historic Place.

The falls were fabulous! It’s really too bad that you, the reader, cannot hear the thundering water or smell the mist in the air. We visited the Upper Falls first.

Next we went to the Lower Falls. They were lovely also, however, the view was from quite a distance.

On Thursday we went to Big Springs. It was a beautiful area, but it wasn’t what we expected.

My husband grew up in and we lived many years in Thayer, MO, which is on the Missouri/Arkansas state line basically in the center of Missouri. Just across the state line is Mammoth Springs State Park. If you Google it, you will see some beautiful pictures of the water bubbling up out of the spring. You can also read about it on Wikipedia (you will NOT the amount of water that gushes out of the spring hourly!). This was the torrent springs we were used to, so we were a little let down when we saw this spring.

However, this spring has its own unique beauty wrapped up in the surrounding serenity that causes the visitor to take pause, relax, and enjoy.

Around the spring were these small white birds with tiny webbed feet. Zoom in and you’ll see the webbed feet. They swam in the spring just like ducks. I wish I knew what kind of birds they are.

Beside the spring was a log cabin and small water wheel built by German immigrant, Johnny Sack, in the early 1930s. It was very interesting to learn about this man’s life and the cabin he built with his own hands.