Monday, September 27, 2010

Just a weekend




It's been beautiful weather and we've been enjoying it! Just a few pictures from a small hike this weekend on waterworks hill. Annie has her kindergarten buddy, Maya, with who she pals around as much as she can. Jake has a class-mate, John, who came along. He lives one street down and it looks like he and Jake get along well. I need to get pictures of the neighborhood kids up on here, too. That's how the kids spend most of their time. The little guy in the picture is Maya's younger brother. That's it for now....

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Cub Scout Camp & Bike






Jacob joined cub scouts, and we kicked off the season with a family-invited camping and biking trip. There were about a dozen cub-scouters and a few siblings. We camped in the Lolo Forest at Quartz Flat, along the Clark Fork River (and the highway). It was cold overnight and we woke up to complete fog in the morning. Annie mangaged to stay warm, Jacob ended up in my sleeping bag which kept us toasty, and Brian froze. The next day we drove up to Lost Pass and did the Hiawatha Bike Trail. It sits near the top of the mountain range and straddles the border of Idaho and Montana. Any person who comes to visit us during the summer should do this; I'd happily go again. It is a 16 mile bike trail, converted from a defunct rail line. The trail goes through about 6 mountain tunnels, one of them being over 1 mile long, and across the same number of trestles. The first bike tunnel is so long that it is completely dark for a good number of minutes. Head lights and bike lights are required. The slope is generally down-hill the entire way with a relative gradual grade, which was required for the train engines. The weather, scenery and company was perfect.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Griz, Garden, Ghost for Labor Day Weekend






The letter "g" apparently describes our 3 day weekend. Saturday, Brian and I went to the Grizzlies home game. It was fun, exciting and loud -- everything you want. We went a bit early to walk around the tailgating, then went in to the stadium to watch the game. It was quite a romp - 72 to 3 in favor of the Grizzlies. It was beautiful weather until a storm cell came through, delayed the game, and then the blue skies returned. Sunday, we spent time gardening and taking advantage of the nice weather. Monday, the kids and I went to Garnet Ghost Town. It was a surprisingly large ghost town in the Montana mountains, perhaps 20 buildings. A gold mine boomed there for a few years in early 1900's, with just a few stragglers who remained on until the 1960's. The miners houses were fit for hobbits, at best, and it showcased rather spartan living. It was neat to see and the kids got a kick out of it.