Missoula, Big Fork May 8-12

  May 8

   

Willy took us to Logan this morning. (He will travel up to Maine for a few days.) We checked in relatively easily, although had a glitch with Mark's boarding pass we had been unable to put in our virtual "wallet." He had to go back to the check-in to get a new one. Then, we tried to go to the Delta Sky Lounge to wait for our flight, but were turned away by a woman who said that Barbara's card wouldn't scan and that Mark couldn't go in, even if the card had scanned, without an extra payment. So, we left.

   The flight to Salt Lake City was about 5 hours and, other than some turbulence about an hour in, it was view easy. We sat across the aisle from each other and both read audio books. We landed at SLC airport with a beautiful view of the mountains. We tried our luck with the Sky Lounge again, and, lo and behold, not only did my card scan, but we had a free voucher. So, we spent about 2 1/2 hours in comfort and had some good food. Then, we boarded a smaller jet for the hour-long flight to Missoula. The mountains were gorgeous and the view of Missoula was great. We landed early and David picked us up. We all had a lovely salmon meal. We are sleeping downstairs. 

Salt Lake City Airport

May 9

   Maura went off to work at the high school where she is a paraprofessional. David has the day off and, after breakfast and all three of us working out and doing P.T., we went to the Blackfoot River with Maebe and Dutch. Later he dropped us at the airport where we picked up our rental car - a Hyundai Kona which has less than 400 miles on it. 

   We all went out for a delicious dinner at BoxCar restaurant. It was really good. Barbara - steelhead trout. Mark - duck confit. David- steak tips. Maura - pork chops. Then, we went home and watched 3 episodes of Abbott Elementary, a series we had never seen.

May 10

    After seeing David and Maura off to work, we left for Big Fork. We moseyed our way there, enjoying the sunshine and scenery. Flathead Lake is so beautiful. We had lunch by the falls in Big Fork and then went to Maura's dad's house and the three of us drove to Kalispell where we picked up Jordan and went to one of his favorite restaurants - Nickel Charlie's Eatery. Then, we dropped Jordan off and went back to Dennis's and then checked into Timbers Motel in Big Fork.

Flathead Lake

Mark in the rental car

Flathead

Jordan and Dennis at Nickel Charlie's

May 11

    What gorgeous weather we had today - almost 70 degrees, sunny with beautiful white clouds. We started the day by going with Dennis to Echo Lake Cafe - soooo good. Barbara had a crepe with eggs and veggies. Mark had eggs and veggies with cheesy potatoes plus a delicious muffin. They have "Nantucket prices" but so good.  

     Later we went to a flat area of Lake Flathead where we went birding on the shore. We saw a mature bald eagle almost immediately and then another a juvenile shortly thereafter. We also saw swallows including a violet green which we think is a life bird for us. We also saw hooded mergansers, mourning doves and others that we recognize. 

Looking back at Big Fork. And, there were eagles!

From there we went into Big Fork where Barbara got some huckleberry honey for her book club. Then we went to Grateful Bread for takeout sandwiches (turkey terrific and BLT) We took them to the Big Fork Nature Trail, recommended by Dennis which he says is called the Wild Mile. It runs along the Swan River, an easy walk. We saw an osprey on its nest and we heard two birds that we have never seen...and still haven't seen! A Cassin's vireo and a MacGillivray's warbler. Merlin identified them by sound, although we tried really hard, we couldn't spot them. They were tantalizingly close. What a nice day.

The Swan River rushing along

May 12

 We went into Big Fork to the Pocketstone Cafe for a very large breakfast. Then we went to Wayfarer's State Park to look for birds. By using all the wonderful aids now available with our phones, we were able to track down a flock of chipping sparrows. And, we also managed to see two "life birds" - spotted towhees, and an orange crowned warbler.. We met a ranger who is in charge of all the state parks on the lake and he was informative, an avid birder.

From Wayfarer's S.P. looking back at Big Fork

Then we drove back to Missoula with a stop at a nature reserve on an Indian Reservation (Saltish Kootenai) called Nine Pipes, a pothole pond. We saw a flock of double crested cormorants, several great blue herons and red wing blackbirds, but the real find was another "life bird" for us - the yellow headed black bird. We also saw Caspian terns and two Forster's terns, which may be another life bird, but we'll have to check when we get home.

Nine Pipes with "pothole" lakes

Nine Pipes

At Nine Pipes

We checked in to the same apartment on Spruce Street where we've stayed before. We went to the Fresh Market for some groceries. Then we went over to David and Maura's for burgers and veggies skewers on the grill.