Our layover in Eureka proved to be worthwhile because the Fourth of July opened as a postcard perfect Montana blue sky day!
We headed out route 37 toward Libby, following the Koocanusa Lake ( Koo for the Kootenai Indians, Can for Canada and you can guess what the USA is for!) We owned the road, the lake and the day! Each bend brought a view more spectacular than the last.
When we reached the Libby Dam, where the lake becomes the Kootenai River, we stopped and enjoyed our picnic overlooking the lake. It was so peaceful that we didn't want to leave. But we were on a mission - Jules had read about the Ross Creek Cedars and we were headed to see a stand of the largest, oldest cedars in America.
Ross Creek is a spot of heaven on earth. The Western Red Cedars (on the East Coast we call them Green Giant Aborvitae) thrive in this one area because they love the moist ground. The trees are hundreds of years old and hundreds of feet tall. Some have a diameter of 8' and are 400 years old.The forest is as moving as Muir Woods, without the thousands of tourists, souvenir shop and snack bar! It was an overwhelming experience.
And now we get to the part about the bar! Back at our motel in Eureka, Jules had met a rancher named One-eye ( guess why he was named that) who told him we had to stop at a bar on the route to the cedars named BJ's Halfway House and look up the owner, BJ, another one eye! So we pull into the bar at about 4:00 and had a drink! Then we met BJ, the seventy-ish half blind owner, Ruth, Kim and Betty, who was really too old to drive- pulled out right in front of an oncoming car- but comes to the bar every day like clockwork for her three drinks! We met Bob who builds trikes and Will who is from Nantucket but chose to forsake his stockbroker family to cut wood in Montana. Before we knew it, Ruth was trying to find a place for us to stay. The local motels and cabins were all booked up, but Kim cleaned vacation rentals and there was one available. Only problem- it sleeps 18! But Bunnie, the owner, let us rent it at a rate for 2 people.
Tonight we are staying back in the Montana woods, in an amazing house with a fireplace and mountains towering around us. We booked the house for 2 nights. We're on Bull Lake and will probably put in some lake time tomorrow.
And so ... You walk into a bar in Montana and you meet friends you never knew you had and all they want to do is help you out. I love America!
No comments:
Post a Comment