The Girls Come to Montana

Last Friday (August 20), we arrived back from our trip to Canada at about 11 p.m. At the same time, Cookie and Jen were driving from Portland to Ronan. Allison and I stayed up pretty late getting things ready and texting with the girls. I finally went to sleep at about 4 a.m. I woke up when Jen was hovering over me around 7. Then we all went to sleep for a few hours.

Cookie had been looking forward to a bacon festival in Portland for the last year. When I found out that she was missing out on that festival to come to Montana, I decided we would have to have a little bacon fest of our own. I enlisted Dad's help, and this is what happened...

Two pounds of delicious bacon!

Cookie was so pleased with the bacon! But, she didn't end up eating the entire two pounds by herself. We helped her out a bit and we also enjoyed waffles and fruit and mimosas.

Later in the afternoon (the mini bacon fest was around 1 p.m.) we headed up to Flathead Lake. We crashed a wedding reception of some of Dana's friends. We were there just in time for good food, especially the homemade cinnamon rolls.

Cookie considered getting in...

And, Cookie doing her best 'gangsta' impression???

Jen was artsy and took a photo of her own cute toes dangling over the water.

Jen took this line-up on the dock.

We really had to eat and run since we wanted to swim and have fun away from the wedding group. We found our way to Chuck Dixon State Park. It is a fairly secluded area where there is a nice dock and a good swim out to the island pictured above.

This is looking the opposite way of the island from the dock. Pretty amazing views!


Cookie models her adorable new swimsuit!

Cookie made a cannon ball run! She committed to it so much that her butt hit the bottom of the lake!

Cookie, Allie and I posed on some nearby rocks.





Later that night we went to Willard's Bar in Ronan. This was the first bar where Jen drank (no, she was not legal). It was 17 years ago in October, so we took a stroll down memory lane.

At one point on Day One, Cookie had offered to make some food for the family. Mom was so excited that she thawed meat for the occasion and purchased some supplies.

After Cookie sliced and marinaded the meat, she taught us how to prepare the skewers.
Jen was a good apprentice; I had a difficult time so I stopped "helping."

Allison, of course, was the best student of all! He is good at everything!! The food (Vietnamese Bun) was delicious, though we didn't take any photos of its awesomeness.

On Day Three we went to the Windmill Village in Ravalli to get some huge doughnuts.


We were so denied! Cookie and Jen were pretty upset!  The bakery was closed for no apparent reason!

I thought I could appease the girls with some huckleberry empanadas from Allard's Fruit Stand. We were again denied! I wasn't sure where to go next. It was after noon at this point...I then remembered the Ronan Cafe. It is a little cafe on Main Street in Ronan run by Mennonites.


Yay!  We made it to the cafe. 


Jen went for the German Chocolate Cream Pie.


I tried the Triple Berry; it was delicious! The crust was flaky, buttery perfection.

After our pie instead of doughnuts, we stopped to visit with Dana for a while at his office.  Then, Jen and Cookie wanted to see where I went to high school, good ol' RHS, Ronan High School. 


I guess Cookie is giving me a 'high-five' for making it through RHS...

One of these was my senior year locker.  I could not remember the exact number, but I know it was really close to the library door.  One day I was called in to the library by the librarian because I may have made an inappropriate comment about him from my locker...oops!

In the hallway, we ran into a janitor who happens to be the mother of a classmate.  She was super excited to show us the computer lab (I believe it is called technology lab now.  I'm sure it is not just limited to computers).  We were able to see some amazing student work, including the Eiffel Tower above.

Remember the huckleberries that we purchased on our way back from Canada?  Well, Mom and I decided to make pies.  We used a cute little mold that Mom purchased in Canada for a couple of pies and Mom made a regular double crust big pie.  The little mold was a bit of a pain in the arse, but it turned out pretty cute, eh? (that's Canadiana for agreement)



This will be featured in an upcoming Empanada of the Day post.

Jen, Cookie, and I went outside for a small photo session when we noticed Dad and Allison chatting in their matching outfits.




They were making some plans for something on the ranch--watering the garden or feeding animals.  Allison doesn't work the ranch for his job, but he makes a pretty good farmer.

Cookie jumped through a photo!

So I jumped through a photo!

And we both jumped through a photo.  Pretty coordinated, huh?




BFFs! BFFs! BFFs! BFFs! BFFs! BFFs! BFFs! BFFs! BFFs! BFFs! BFFs! BFFs!


Cookie strikes a traditional tourist pose...

Jen and Cookie smile for the camera with Sheepshead Peak in the background.  They were both able to see why it was named that.  But Cookie said she would only call it "Dogshead Peak" because she thought it looked more like a dog.

An adorable shot of Allie and the girls.

Another glimpse of Sheepshead Peak.

Cookie plays the part of Farmer Ted...

Give Cookie some props and you'll probably get some acting. 


And, maybe some dancing!  Cookie twisting on the haystack.


Allie, Jen, and Cookie on top of a haystack.


Cookie being, "Lewis or Clark or whoever!" as she said.


A view from the haystack near Grandpa and Grandma's house through the fields toward our house.   We had a great three days in Montana.  We played dice and Canasta, spent hours in the hot tub, and generally just enjoyed each other's company.  How lucky we are to be friends!

Empanada of the Day! Moroccan B'Stilla Royale

The B'Stilla Royale may be a little large (about 6 inches across) to be considered an empanada, but I have not posted an Empanada of the Day for a while, so here goes. Mom, Dad, Allison, and I shared this lovely savory pastry at the Sultan's Tent in Calgary.

Look at the layering of texture and flavors in this little pie.

According to the description on the menu, the B'Stilla Royale is, "a delightful preparation of chicken, eggs, onions, ginger, saffron and almonds wrapped in paper-thin layers of pastry and lightly dusted with frosting sugar and cinnamon." I couldn't have written it better myself.

The powdered sugar and cinnamon with the egg, chicken and other spices created a somewhat surprising flavor combination. It was a bit like breakfast in a pastry. It reminded me of when I take a piece of breakfast meat (sausage, bacon, ham) on my fork and slide it through the syrup and stab a bite of French Toast. I love the sweet and savory combination. Some people (Cookie) may be put off by the eggs (almost like scrambled eggs) in the pastry. I think the combination just makes the dish open to more possibilities. We ate the B'Stilla Royale at dinner, but I think it could make a delicious breakfast option as well.

Rocky Mountain High--Montana

After our mini-chuck stop, Allison chauffeured us through southern Alberta and across the border into Montana. We stopped at St. Mary's to find out which route they thought would be the fastest to get home. The lady suggested going through Glacier National Park. I was a little skeptical but Mom and Allison agreed with her. I like Glacier Park, but it was getting dark, and I'm not a huge fan of the Going to the Sun Road, especially when it is under construction.


Almost as soon as we entered the park, I changed my mind. It was so beautiful and it felt like home.

Though these landscapes don't look like our valley, a funny feeling of being home came over me.

I don't remember ever being on that side of the park before since I usually drive in from West Glacier and stop at the top of Going to the Sun Road.

I really liked the striations in the rocks in this photo.

As we climbed the mountains, they started to look more like our mountains.

Such incredible peaks!

I was determined to get the moon rise over this peak.

Allison stopped so that I could look back to take some photos.

Another incredible peak in Glacier Park.

We were stopped at a temporary stoplight where the narrow two lane road became a one lane due to construction. The light was next to a waterfall, so Allison had to play in the water.

The falling water over these rocks was quite nice!

Looking up to the top of the falls.

As we approached the Logan Pass Visitor's Center we saw this awesome bighorn sheep. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to turn off my flash, so it has the freaky white eye that I could not remove on Picasa...wah, wah!

He crossed the road so I could get a better view. The picture was a little blurry on the edges, so I chose a soft focus to highlight his face.

Then, all of a sudden, a whole group of sheep came running across the road from the Visitor's Center parking lot.

They ran across the street in front of our car and over the cliff on the other side of the road.

As we descended, there were some more breathtaking (literally!) views.

Looking back toward Logan Pass.

Looking down the winding Going to the Sun Road.

And a final look back up the road to the top of Logan Pass.

We made it to the bottom and I didn't have any major scares. Of course I was in the back seat and we were on the inside lane next to the mountains the whole trip.
We stopped at the grocery store in Hungry Horse so Mom could buy some huckleberries. Huckleberries this year are between $35 and $45 per gallon; we were pleased that in Hungry Horse they were $35.

Allison drove us the rest of the way home. We made it home around 11 p.m.

We really had a fantastic time on our Canadian Adventure. Traveling with Allison and my parents is a lot of fun. We find our way around through construction, bad directions, and location changes since the last time we were there with laughter (mostly, ha!).