Me and Commando got a hitch with a nice lady who took us to Columbia Falls outside Kalispell. After we crossed the divide at Mariah's Pass all of a sudden the barren landscape transformed into lush, deep green forest more remiscent of the Pacific Northwest than the barren plains we'd left behind. Towering spruce and fir trees dominated the landscape as the rains fell more generously on the western slope than from where we'd come.
Michael, my friend Cody's dad, picked us up at the coffee shop in Columbia Falls and took us back to their house a bit south. It was a beautiful house on about 20 acres of property, complete with a pond and horse pasture. Michael is in his sixties and one of those guys that can talk forever about one story or another - whether it's about hunting or traveling with his wife or kids, he always had an anecdote ready, and I was happy to listen.
When we arrived he immediately offered beers and I ended up drinking plenty of beer with him and Casey over the weekend. He showed us his African animal collection on the wall complete with Oryx, Black Bear, and Deer.
We went out and fed the fish in the pond, trying to scare off the osprey which was stealing his trout. The western slope of the Bob Marshall Wilderness lay to our east and we knew all this rain would open it back up. As it cleared up we saw the tops of the nearest peaks were all licked with snow. We laid around and ate a lot. I texted my buddy Cody telling him how good of cook his mom is and he responded: "She'll try and make you fat" Our breakfasts were awesome, including eggs, toast, and bacon and then fresh-baked banana bread the next day.
I watched the first Husker game and though they lost a heart breaker I was proud of how they played. Afterwards I played bumper pool with Michael as Casey had gone to hang out with another friend. We drank more beer and hot chocolate with schnapps. I fell asleep early that night, sinking into the soft bed.
The next day we went to a muscle car show and Karen and
Michael's friends came from Oregon. Good appeared out of nowhere and we all feasted for lunch.
My mom came and picked me up with her friends Rebecca and Yes and our dog Cooper! We all drove to East Glacier and we had a nice dinner at Luna's. It was great to see my mom and dog, though it almost didn't feel real. I planned to meet my mom at St Mary's on Tuesday and I shared a room with Commando at Brownie's. His planning ahead was good and we both slept well.
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