9 Days at Thompson Falls - Beginning of Glacier NP

We spent 9 days in Thompson Falls. We loved it. If it just wasn't that far away ???
Birdland Bay RV Park is the place to stay - tell Julie we said Hey. Clean, Quite & Beautiful. We met a gentleman that is a logger and does excavating. He also owns mining claims on the Vermilion River. What a great guy. He took Karen and I prospecting, 3 days. One of the pictures I am going to post is 2 days of "his" work on the river. We had a blast and made another friend. We finally left on Monday, drove 150 miles and ended up at Glacier National Park. It beautiful, but I think we are getting tired of traveling. Its time to come home or just throw the anchor out for a while. We did a boat cruise on Lake McDonald. Prior to the ride we sat on their porch and just watched the beauty and had a drink. The next day Karen went for a two hour horse ride. I didn't go - horses and I have an agreement. I ventured through out the park. We did several small hikes and took a few pictures. We are at West Glacier now. We are heading over to the east side tomorrow. We may stay there a day or two. Then we will be off for the Dakota's. After that we will be heading home.
See Ya All SOON. Tom & Karen

Thompson Falls Montana

Hi Everyone - Well we are still in Thompson Falls Montana. We were to be here just a few days. Today is day 7 and I know we are staying 2 more days. We have Kayaked on the Clark Fork River. We have cooled off there and washed the truck there also. This place is just peaceful. We have a 5.5 mile loop we run, some of it is trail the rest is rural road. We were at a thrift shop the other day, its what we do. I bought a nice fishing lure collection. That's what Karen said. "You need that". And I said "Yes I do". At the same shop I asked the usual question about a gold. I was given a man's name and number. I called and he returned my call that evening. What a GREAT man. He owns claims along the Vermilion River. He has taken us panning and we were told we could go back without him. Which we have. Today he told us he was going to dig some test holes tomorrow - "wish you could be here to help". We are staying another day now, maybe two. We have found gold - not a lot - but it is pretty. We also purchased a few nice nuggets from Jim.
Everyone take Care
Tom & Karen

Coeur d' Alene's Idaho and Thompson Falls Mt Golf

Well we made it to Thompson Falls Montana. We set up the trailer and headed to Idaho to meet friends Bill and Jan. We had met them last year in N.M. We met in a resort town of Coeur d' Alene's. What a beautiful little town, oh - don't forget your wallet. Wait till you see the pictures. We stayed there a few days with Bill and Jan then we came back to Thompson Falls Montana. We were going to leave here but have decided to stick around a week or so. It is very peaceful and beautiful. I just got back from visiting the golf course up the road. I hit a small bucket of balls - I am playing after I run tomorrow morning. Again, the pictures we have taken don't do justice to the places we have visited.

Take Care Tom & Karen

North Yellowstone Gardner Montana

Hi Everyone - All is well. Yesterday we spent the Day visiting sights in North Yellowstone. We left in the a.m. 30 miles into the drive we saw a sign that said petrified tree. We made the right and there was a Grizzly. We left that spot and traveled another 5 miles or so and there was a Black Bear with two cubs. We saw more buffalo and hiked around the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. WOW - what beauty.
Oh we also saw a huge Elk Bull. But two far away for a picture - he was just laying down and watching the tourist go by. When we arrived back at the camp ground we got a big surprise. A Very Large Bus - marked ROTEL Tours USA. All I can say is LOOK THEM UP (NO A/C in what you are viewing). Just read about them. We are heading for Bozeman Montana in the morning.
Take Care
Tom & Karen
P.S. I forgot - Today I fished the Yellowstone River at the Camp Ground. I caught 3 nice Browns on worms. I tried spinners and spoons - they would hit them but I could not hook them.

mammoth Hot Springs and White Water Raft Trip

Hi Everyone - Its those people again. We visited Mammoth Hot Springs - I wasn't impressed. We hiked the Beaver pond Trail. That was 5 miles out and back. It was nice. Elk were walking the streets the day we arrived. We didn't take pictures - we should have. Went White Water Rafting on the Yellowstone River. That was tons of fun. Twice our raft was completely in water. Once the water settled down a little the guide told we could get out a while. I was the first one out - the water was really cold. After that trip we were told about a place called Chico hot Springs.
We drove 30 miles to check it out. Check out the pictures. The place was really nice. Two pools - one warmer than the other - with views of the mountains. We enjoyed the day. We are going back into Yellowstone tomorrow.

Take Care Tom & Karen

Hi Folks - Where do I start. We just spent 7 days in the Tetons. What Beauty. We Kayaked in Jackson Lake, String and Leigh Lake. We also paddled in Yellowstone Lake.
We fished in Jackson, I caught a White Fish and Karen caught something (It got away).
We got caught in a storm on Jackson Lake. Between the large boats and wind I managed to upset my kayak. I drowned the camera and binoculars. The next day we drove to Jackson Hole to replace them. That was one expensive trip. We padded string lake then portaged our gear to Leigh Lake. Again, what beauty. The waters are crystal clear and COLD. See I forgot - Our first evening at camp we drove up on everyone out of their vehicles with cameras - Grizzly. These people were out of their vehicles taking pictures. Stupid. We hiked to a place called Inspiration Point and some water falls. That was on Jenny Lake. We did a 15 mile hike to Surprise Lake. I am going to guess we climbed to about 10500. We watched a helicopter flying beneath us. Anyway, then we ran into spotty snow then the last 300 yards we were in snow that was still feet deep. Again, just beautiful.
We did a day trip to Old Faithful and Geyser Basin. Some of the Geysers back up against Yellowstone Lake. We kayaked there also. We have seen Elk, Bison, Mule Deer.
We are now in Gardner Montana, just outside of Yellowstone. We will stay here till wed seeing this end of the park.
I hope this finds everyone well.
Tom and Karen

Victor and Cripple Creek Colorado

Hi Folks. Well we left Mueller this morning. What a beautiful state park. We will miss the area plus our friends Mike and Judy. We hung out in Victor and Cripple Creek. Both are gold mining towns. Google the towns and read about them. We ran with Mike and hiked with Judy. Some of the sites we've seen. We fished one day at Bison Lake. A beautiful Lake with lots of fish that would not bite. Lets see, I snagged a Golden Trout, I chased a nice rainbow up a creek and caught it with my bare hands. An hour later I snagged another nice rainbow, lost it and then somehow managed to get it in the landing net. Then I managed to catch another trout, Brook Trout, in the landing net. Who needs rods and reels and bait??? We gambled in Cripple Creek. Karen and I both left there with some of their money. We love blackjack. Each day, late afternoon, it would storm. After one of those I took a picture of a double rainbow. One day we hiked to 11000, ?, Some views - what beauty. The beauty this country has to offer. On the way to Cripple Creek one afternoon we say a nice buck sitting on top of a 30 foot boulder just watching traffic and the beautiful view. One evening going back to Mueller we saw two huge Bull Elk, non-typical, book end racks, just standing along the road watching traffic. Sorry no picture...that one wil stay in my memory forever.
Well we left Mueller this morning. Right now we are are sitting in Ralines Wyoming. We will arrive at Flagg Ranch tomorrow - Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons are next on the list. Take Care. I will try to update this site in 4 or 5 days.
Tom and Karen