POST 645: 06/01/12: KALISPELL - MARION, MONTANA

Kalispell is the large city in Northwest Montana where SPIA and I spent the night in the WAL-MART parking lot. I was on the road at 05:30 am...well before sunrise.

Walked three miles on US 93 (WAL-MART was not on US 2) to reach US 2...then another three miles West toward the village of Marion, Montana.




Kalispell also has large murals painted on buildings.





Returning to SPIA, traffic on US 93 was heavy.
We then drove the 20 miles to Marion, Montana, where SPIA found an overnight spot in the local Convenience Store lot.

We were offered another overnight spot by Tina of The Marion Mercantile and Hardware Store.


Common in Montana are "Range Cattle". These cattle simply roam the countryside, often to be found on busy highways.


From Marion, I walked BACK on US 2 toward Kalispell for 8 miles, completing the 20 miles needed.

The above hill was 6% incline and was over two miles from top to bottom. Yes, I walked down...then out another couple miles before climbing back up to Marion.



Turkey Buzzard.

First Turkey Buzzard encountered since leaving the deep South many months ago.


Turns out there were eight (8) altogether roosting in nearby trees. They circled overhead for a few minutes before perching in trees a bit farther away from the highway. Later, while walking back to SPIA, I found the reason for the family reunion...a freshly road-killed deer lay in the ditch below the fence they were originally sitting on.


Ranch House along US 2.

We are in the deep Rocky Mountains, and will remain in them until we cross Idaho, some 150 miles distant...then it is 100 miles of desert crossing the "Columbia Basin" in Washington State.











Returning to Marion, I stopped in at the Dashboard Diner, ordered a late breakfast of pancakes and eggs.



The above is a "Cross-Cut" saw.

Back in the '40s on our Stump Ranch, us kids used a similar saw to cut blocks from large Cedar trees felled into our back yard.


The Mercantile displayed a number of photographs and paintings...among them, the above horse-drawn logging wagon.



...and this painting of the Male Chinese Pheasant.


...and the above Horned Owl.


Please say HELLO to Glenn and Isabella., dining companions for lunch.

Glenn and I chatted for quite some time, discovering that we have been living in the same places around the world. He, for example, was in the US Navy in Sardinia, Italy...the home of my secretary, Gianna Solinas, when I lived in Naples, Italy some 60 years ago; Glenn's family is Swiss, living in the same Swiss valley as my Wife, Christianne; and Glenn's recent family lives in Seattle in the same neighborhoods - yes, more than one - as my mother's family...indeed, also only a block from where I lived on Queen Anne Hill.


Please say HELLO to Danielle Bowen (l.) and Tina Miller, both of Marion Mercantile/Dashboard Diner.

Tina is also from Washington State, with family living very near places I also lived. Tina's family is from Holland, only a few miles from the home town of my Maternal Grandfather's home.

Is always pleasant to meet folks from back home...in a single store and at the same moment, I met two such neighbors.


The Marion Mercantile.


After finishing my late breakfast at Tina's, which she gifted me...would not accept my $$...thank you Tina, I walked a third leg for the day; this one for 4.5 hours North on US 2 toward the resort town of Happy's Inn.

Came up 8 miles short of reaching Happy's Inn, which I will drive to before sunrise in the morning; find a parking spot for the day, and walk the 8 missing miles...then walk North toward the city of Libby, Montana, some 60 miles distant.

The above is an "A" Frame fence.



This is Marion, Montana, pictured as I returned from my third leg of the day...Yes, I was very tired, but content to have completed 36 miles today...and met some home-town folks.