Meanwhile Back at the Ranch

Good morning I'm sitting there having my coffee and pastries as I write. I got up early to write because I want to write about this part before I head to Missoula. Above are the cows staring at me , I guess there not used to a city slicker coming through the area. They are on the pasture to the left coming in from the east. Although surrounded by mountains I'm getting a good sense of direction here. It was very quiet around here at around 11 yesterday morning. There was nobody home anywhere, but it was peaceful and quiet with only the sounds of nature.

Old Darby Road, my first address, the ranch is up the hill on the left.

I could be guilty of trespassing, but there was a large white truck parked on the property but not a human to be found so I used it as a photo op. It was not as emotional as I thought it would be since it has been 32 years. The ranch house looks a lot different and is repainted and remodeled. It was a green color and had some black wrought iron railing on the steps from the livingroom. The barn is different too sitting amongst grass with a basketball hoop (not there in my day).  The cabin/guest house my grandparents built, still standing and in good condition except the railing being gone on the porch. The path from the main complex is beautiful meadow with breathtaking views of the mountains. I was lucky to live in paradise my first 8 years of life. The property of course was smaller but again I was little then. It seemed like the Ranch in a nutshell and the rest vast property.
Yesterday was definitely a day down memory lane. After looking around Old Darby road I went to Darby to explore. I went by where I went to Kindergarden and first grade. As I was on the playground taking photos, I heard the bell ring although the school was empty for the summer. It was the playground that I had recess in.

Guilty of trespassing!

 I spent time in a large shop that carried candy to antiques. I had a nice lunch at the Deb's cafe next door, it's also located next to the Darby Pioneer Museum. It started to rain and hard so my lunch turned out to be an hour. As the rain was letting up I went next door to the Darby Pioneer museum and it was in an original homestead cluttered with antiques that I think were donated. At the end of the tour we went next door to the tiny town hall and had my picture taken at the old jail. The guys suggested I go to Painted Rocks park saying it was not too far. It was a little ways off S. Fork road, a beautiful drive.

Painted Rock's Park

Then after a drive to the lake I found Peg McClendon's house, it was so easy to find since her daughter posted pictures of it on Facebook. I left her a message earlier that day and I thought I would chance it and stop by. Her husband greeted me and asked if I was my mom. I had a lovely visit with them a few hours of catching up and a pizza dinner. She has a beautiful house amongst beautiful scenery. Especially a pond surrounded by trees outside her kitchen window. It was lovely to see her all these years and her husband was just as nice too. That was another favorite part of the trip, I got back to my room to wind down at about 8. I will write some more on this last leg of the trip starting today and see some more people in the Missoula area and the Arlee Pow Wow.

Back home in the Bitterroot Valley

This by far is my favorite and most relaxing part of the trip. I'm just discovering after 4 days that you don't come to Montana for the food. I just had a Chimichanga at the old Sundance Cafe that's been around for over 30 years, I think my family ate there before. The decor was rugged with the same wood panel walls of the '70's with those wooden chandeliers if you would even call it that. Anyway the chimichanga was not too tasty although I managed to eat a lot of it since I was hungry. I could barely find the meat since it was mostly beans and cheese. There were only 2 people working there both waiting tables and cooking, go figure.

I'm finally learning my way around Hamilton with more stoplights than in my childhood where there might have been one. The traffic did pick up more on 93, it might be a big traffic jam according to my dad when he thought it was a jam with only 4 cars. Guess what, there's a lot more than 4 cars now.

It was a good full day. I left my motel around 11, slept in a little bit. I drove down to Main street all the way down to the hospital where I was born. It's a small hospital than what I have seen in the city with only one level. Luckily there wasn't many people around to see me walking around the hospital with my camera or they would have thought I was nuts. I took a picture of myself by the sign, you'll see those below. After the hospital I headed to a coffee shop on Main Street , I haven't got the name yet, but I will let you know if I come back in tomorrow. It was a quaint coffee shop and local hangout since the staff seem to know their patrons well.  I had a double shop expresso Latte with some quishe( Keshe), can't spell right now forgive me. The quishe was runnier than the firm kind I'm used to. I feel so comfortable there like I never left although it's grown since 1979. There's fast food restaurants along the highway which weren't there when I came. We had to drive to Missoula to go to McDonalds and it was a big deal at the time. I realized I was in farm and logging country seeing the livestock trucks and logging trucks driving by. I could do this all the time driving to Hamilton from Darby with spectacular scenery!

I went for a tour at the Marcus Daly Mansion. It started with a video giving background on the Copper King and the founder of Hamilton. The town was built around a sawmill and stock farm. The mansion that I saw was their summer home that his wife resided in for 41 years after Marcus Daly's death in 1900. Everything in the house is still original. This house wasn't even open to visitors when I lived there back in the '70's it was boarded up standing deserted. The grounds and view around it were beautiful. I still cannot find those Victorian paper dolls for my niece, oh well.

The hospital where my life begin 40 years and 3 months ago.

Garden at Marcus Daly Mansion

Lake Como, see I don't need to go to the Swiss Alps!

After the mansion I went over to Albertsons next door to my motel to pick up fried chicken, veggie chips , and plums for my little picnic at Lake Como. The clerks were talking to the customers like old friends, you don't see it that often in Denver. Then next door to Kmart to get a beach towel since I forgot to pack mine it was on sale for $2.99, tax free. That Kmart seemed chaotic and disorganized compared to Target. I did some beachcombing on the lake and it was nice. I don't need to make the trip halfway around the world to the Swiss Alps since the mountains in Montana look like that plus it's cheaper. I remember swimming there as a kid with the cold water. I only got as far as my ankles and mostly caught some rays.  I didn't know about the $5 fee to the park, oops so I cut them a check and slipped it in the box with the envelope provided(that they left on my windshield). If I go to any of the other Parks in the National Forest I'll look for boxes and slips. Anyway that was my lovely day.

Afternoon at Glacier National Park

It's a little after 11 here and the sun just set. I think I'm going to write some more since I'm up and about. I started yesterday (Sunday, June 26) morning at a tour of the Conrad Mansion in Kalispell. Sorry I don't have pictures of it since I'm not allowed to take pictures there. The tour was great and most of the original furniture and woodcarvings plus windows are still in the house. It was a thorough tour explaining the work of the servants and how the residents lived. Conrad was the prominent businessman who founded Kalispell and also a good friend of Charles Russell the western artist. Charlie Russell was a regular overnight guest at the mansion. Even the original toys were there too. My only disappointment was that they didn't have any paper dolls with Victorian attire at the gift shop - I wanted that for my niece. Hopefully they'll have it at the Marcus Daly Mansion in Hamilton.

Lake McDonald from Apgar Village

Red Buses parked at Apgar

Lake McDonald Lodge smaller than I pictured it

After the tour I stopped by the Hockaday Art Museum and realized it was closed. I went on my way to Glacier. I stopped at the Huckleberry Patch, in Hungry Horse for lunch for a buffalo burger that was mediocre with a bottled Huckleberry flavored soda. The Drive up from Kalispell was lovely and it only took about 40 minutes. Then I went on to Glacier National Park, the entrance fee was a high $25 but it helped to pay for the shuttles that run July1-Labor Day Weekend. I stopped at Apgar Village to look around the shops and the visitors center. It turned out that Logan Pass was closed due to snow. I thought I would take a trip up to Lake McDonald Lodge and perhaps get a boat ride since I did not book a Red Bus tour, after all I did the boat ride on Lake McDonald when I was six. I went to the desk to try to get on the boat but it was for the bus and they first said it was full then as I was walking out the door towards the dock they stopped me and asked if I was alone then they squeezed me in. I got shotgun in the front seat, I guess I was meant to go on that tour like I was meant to go on the Flathead Lake boat ride. The driver was Matt a guy who's been doing this for 30 years and lives near the Canadian Border. He's an interesting guy who works in Glacier for the summer and back country skis in the winter. He seems to know the park on the back of his hand. Since we couldn't go over the pass, he took us on a short trail to look at some forestry like cedar trees, lodgepoles, and a creek. The trail was built like a wooden deck being wheelchair accessible. He gave us a lot of information on the Flora and Fauna of the park. He even mentioned that Laura Bush went through the park(2004) and his name was the first to be crossed off because they wanted a former detective to drive her instead. Anyway he also took us through the burn areas from the wildfires in 2003. Told us about the lodgepole trees and the reason that Native Americans used them for Tee Pees was because they grow straight. He also took us back to Apgar Village and I got to photograph the Lake McDonald again with the sun. I was the youngest on the tour by the way. I think I'm calling it a night now that I'm somewhat caught up.

My first day in Big Sky Country

This trip started as a fiasco with the rental car as I was given a Nisson Pathfinder and had to trade it in for a smaller car as it was too big. I'm a little behind on my entries as I was exhausted coming into the room after long days of site seeing. The first half of the day was nerve wracking getting used to the rental car and the roads in unfamiliar territory.

The beginning of the trip started perfectly and spiritually with a trip to the mission in St Ignatius on the Flathead Indian Reservation. I was in long enough to take a quick look and soak in the murals painted by Brother Joseph Carignano with the Mission Mountains in the background. What a beautiful church to be found in the middle of  Montana. I also got to see the original houses of the missionaries that are still standing. Learned a little history on the Salish and Kootenai tribes that they educated and converted to the Catholic faith.  There was a Native American funeral going on there as I was leaving. I got more relaxed in the car and drove a little and pulled over at the point of interest, view of the mission mountains for photo ops. After that I went into the People's Center for 20-25 minutes a small museum and gift shop in a nutshell about the Kootenai and Salish tribes with artifacts and fabulous clothing with great detailed beadwork. Everything had long captions on so it was a lot of information to digest. I kept driving onto Polson.

When I arrived in Polson I quickly found the hotel that offered the ferry rides on the lake and it was 12:45 when I got there and I thought I had plenty of time for lunch, wrong. I went downstairs to the boathouse to get tickets thinking the cruise was at 1:30 but it was at one. I got my ticket ran to the car to get my camera and barely made it on the boat. It was a small group with a nice mix of families and 2 older ladies. One of the captains was from the tribe and the other was a transplant from California. I chatted with the 2 older ladies and the man from California. It was about an hour and a half boat ride and I settled for a late lunch at a mexican restaurant on the lake, it was beautiful. Then I took 35-the east side of the lake to head to Kalispell, I heard from many along the way that it was the more scenic route. The traffic was lighter and there were points in the drive where you feel like you're on the lake, it was breathtaking. I made a stop in Bigfork to look at the boutiques and art galleries. It was a sweet little town by the lake and sophisticated too with the gourmet restaurants. I walked around licking my Huckleberry Ice cream cone , it was delicious. After a nice walk in a town you can walk from one end to the other in 15 minutes I headed to Kalispell. Polson was like a boating community whereas Bigfork is more cosmopoliton. All the towns seem to have there own character. Montana should be it's own country by how big this is. I will write more for the duration of the trip now that I should go get myself some dinner, I have no idea when things close in Hamilton. I will keep you all posted!

The Necklace

This is the necklace my dad made for me!

It's almost midnight here in Denver and I'm not in bed reading yet, in fact I'm listening to my new CD that I just burned for the 2nd time. It's a compilation of some of my favorite songs from the last 32 years although mostly '80's and I had to throw in some Enya ( but can take it in small doses), since I will be looking at lots of scenery.

Anyway I am relaxing now after all that work to prepare for the trip, cleaning the house and gathering paperwork and what not. I love traveling although it's work to get ready for any trip. Not like the prom where you get ready for months and the dance itself is lame. It's hard for me to believe I'm finally coming back to Big Sky Country after 32 years. I guess it will sink in once I'm on the plane.

My Dad Wayne Archambault and me Spring 1993

The story about this necklace, I remember in the mornings at the ranch when my Mom slept in and my Dad and I were up early. On those Saturday mornings he would play records of native drumming and teach me to dance. I remember one morning he quickly put together this necklace, I must have been about 5 or 6 at the time, but I remember very young. That necklace has always been with me throughout the years and got misplaced and kept turning up. This represents one of many bittersweet memories with my dad. We reunited for another 13 years and he passed me down books on Native American literature and took me to the Denver March Pow Wow that I still do every year. My interest in my heritage has since been renewed. This necklace is coming with me on the Montana trip and it will be like my Dad coming with me although not physically. This trip will not only be all about me celebrating 40 years but dedicated to my Dad.