Here There and Everywhere

From Missoula to Kalispell to Coumbia Falls and Glacier National Park

Our day starts off with our divine leftovers from The Notorious Pig, and we hit the road early.

 

Once we leave Wye, we are on the Flathead Reservation. Things are done a little differently. There are bilingual signs, and there are special protected places for the animals to cross the highways.

 

 

 

This sign is not bilingual, but easily understood. AdventureMan and I are taking a short hike and he points it out. He knows I am irrational about snakes.

 

 

When we get to Polson, the road splits. The iPhone is working once again, and tells us to go up the east side of Flathead; I had thought we were going up the west side, but sometimes the phone has a better idea. This time, I think how much we might have missed – the east side is very rural, with gorgeous views of the lake and with orchard after orchard – cherry orchards!

First, we came to this beautiful Camp, Blue Bay.

 

It is early in the season, and there are only one or two campers, but we can see the signs that someone has been very busy preparing for the campers to come.

 

The Lodge is not ready for the season, but we peek in the windows; the lodge is my idea of camping 🙂

 

We see signs like this everywhere. Montana is working very hard to protect their lakes and rivers against an invasive mussel. All boats have to be inspected before launching. So far, this campaign may inconvenience the boaters, but the lakes and rivers have not been infested.

 

 

 

 

Sometimes I fall in love with a name – like Kalispell. We had a lot of fun in Kalispell, this day and the next day when we came back for a Farmer’s Market.

 

This day, AdventureMan parked so I could run into City Hall in Kalispell. Two women were there, and no customers, so I asked first if there were any German restaurants, and there weren’t, and then I asked where they might eat lunch and why. That started a great discussion, and then they mentioned the Split Rock, just up the street. It sounded perfect for us.

 

This is an old mercantile, sort of the predecessor to a much larger department store. Below is the interior of what is now a Cafe and restaurant. Their coffee smells divine.

This is what this room used to look like if you were coming in the door, a long time ago.

 

The special today is a French Dip Sandwich – I have a weakness for French Dip Sandwich – and this one is made of prime rib. So that is what I order. AdventureMan orders the clam chowder and half a club sandwich.

This is the best French Dip sandwich I have ever eaten. I limit the bread I eat, I limit the red meat I eat, but – not today. Today against all my better angels, I eat the whole thing. The dip is juicy and spiced, and hot. It is heaven, every bite.

 

 

This is what we had for dessert:

 

From Kalispell, we explored Whitefish, very picturesque. This is the old railway depot:

We get to our hotel, and we have a beautiful room. Here’s the funny thing . . . I thought we were going to have a view of the mountains. What we had was a view of the roof. Mostly the underneath of the roof!

 

 

 

Our room is square over the lobby, and we look out on the antler chandelier. I thought maybe we should ask to be another floor up, but when I looked at the rooms from the outside, I could see that the third floor also had a view of the roof. Aargh.

June 27, 2019 - Posted by intlxpatr | Adventure, Food, Geography / Maps, Hotels, Restaurant, Road Trips, Travel | Cedar Creek Lodge, Flathead Lake, Kalispell, Montana, Split Rock, Whitefish