Stories from the road

Stories from the Road

March 5, 2013

Whitefish, Montana

To the east, I see the pink sky as the sun rises in the Rocky Mountains of Glacier National Park. The day is clear, and though the weather consistently shifts over Big Mountain, the group should at least have a few hours of clear visibility on the hill.

 During cocktail hour last night, we saw three deer in the Spragg’s backyard. We had a nice dinner then of minestrone soup with home made rolls. For dessert, Roger put together an ice cream with raspberries dish. It was an excellent meal. A bottle of Malbec accompanied our food.

This morning I went to the Wave, a state of the art pool and workout facility in Whitefish. I swam laps, took a hot tub, and finished off with a steam bath. Later I went to the state liquor store and bought some goods. One of my items was a blue colored gin, named, Magellan, which is hard to find in stores. The man behind me, who was buying a pint of something, took an interest in the blue gin. He was a nice guy, but most people buying pints in mid morning should take a right turn and head directly to AA.

I drove to Columbia Falls and had a great burger and vegetarian chili soup at a place recommended by Carole Spragg. There were a lot of locals there in ball caps, and it was a fun place to eat a good meal, soak up some local color, and read on my iPhone.

I was searching for wild life but didn’t see much until I drove into the gated community where the Spraggs live. I came across 2 different herds of deer and got many good camera shots.  By driving slowly and not making any sudden moves, I was able to have the deer stay in their positions for several minutes.

Tonight the Spraggs have invited Martin and Eleanor Hale to dinner. Martin is a well-known ski coach and former director of the ski school at Big Mountain. Eleanor was an alternate on the 1960 Olympic Alpine Team.  They are gracious, interesting people, and I am looking forward to rekindling my friendship with them. They always have “mountain stories” to tell, and what is better than sipping a martini and listening to the Hales tell of mountain lore?

Have a good evening.