My Glacier Park Montana Summer

Saturday, July 20, 2013

The good news is my computer is working pretty good now after a lot of work to get it back to somewhat normal.  The bad news is my on-going off line draft of the blog since July 4^th was corrupted and I lost it and the thoughts and sharing I had documented for the past three weeks.  I guess this old laptop had been infected with every kind of virus and malware there is but I was able to download the necessary software to deal with it and get it to working again. 

There really hasn't been much to share of any great interest.  I did comment about how these Blackfeet Indians really like their fireworks on Independence Day.  It was a big free show that probably went on all night after I went to bed.  I know they started firing off the darn things a few weeks in advance and continued a few weeks afterward.  Fortunately Dexter is not affected by the noise so he didn’t have a melt down.  Here are a few examples of what I watched sitting outside my trailer.

Happy Days From The Past

I was looking through my many digital pictures and found this one of Pati and me taken in Luckenbach, Texas about eight years ago.  It makes me happy to look at pictures of Pati so I put it on my home screen. I think I will just keep doing that….putting different pictures of her or us on the home screen….every now and then so I can always see her beautiful smile.  I still have a difficult time accepting the fact she is gone forever and all I have are these beautiful pictures and wonderful memories of her.  Life is so not fair.

Me and my girl....what a lucky guy I was to have shared 47 years with her.

Another Hike

I did go on another hike at Two Medicine Lake and made sure it was a little shorter this time.   Actually it was three miles and then I took another one in a different area for about a mile and a half so not so bad and it was beautiful at both locations.  Here are some pictures of the areas.  My next hike is going to be in the Many Glacier area and I hope to see some big horn sheep and maybe a bear...from a distance.

I think this area will be perfect for some fly fishing before I leave here.

Notice the water coming out of the rock.  There is a big hole on top just before the edge that it drops down into. 

Technical Issues

I finally received my big new Direct TV dish and an appropriate tripod for it and tried everything to make it work like it should.  It was supposed to capture three satellites and give me local channels from somewhere, probably Great Falls.  Anyway, that didn’t happen and the people at Direct TV told me I would need an HD Receiver in order to use my new antenna, the one they suggested I buy in the first place since they don’t provide them to “non permanent locations”, ie my travel trailer.  Frustrating but I am going to keep it in the back of my truck until I get to Portland where I have a Direct TV HD receiver in storage and see if I can get that one activated rather than keep spending money I don’t have on things that don’t work!  There isn’t much on the local channels anyway during the summer months so I will just watch re-runs and the upper channels and read more.

Dexter’s New Haircut

As you may recall, Dexter has been plagued by tick or fly bites since we got here.  I have been trying everything to help him and doctor him and prevent the bites.  I finally decided to just cut him down as close as possible and see if that helped.  It is real nice and the sores are all healed now but he did look pretty weird for a week or so.  He is growing back out now but I am going to keep him shaved close for the full summer. 

This is funny.  Since I started losing my hair about fifteen years ago, I have kept my hair and beard short or shaved.  I decided to let it grow and it is getting pretty long (not on top…nothing to speak of there) and I kind of like it for a change.  I am not going to grow a ponytail so don’t worry.  And I am not going to get an earring.  I just want to let it grow awhile and see how it looks.  Dexter probably thinks I am losing it…..cutting all his hair off and growing mine out!

Before haircut

After haircut

His favorite place close to his Mom

Elk Burgers for Dinner

My new friends, Bob and Diane, had me over for Elk burgers recently.  Wow…talk about some good eating!  It’s difficult to describe the difference in that wild game meat taste and hamburger or turkey.  I really liked it but I best not get used to it since it won’t be happening after I leave here.

Last night I grilled myself a big T-Bone steak that I really enjoyed too.  I haven’t been eating as much or as frequently as I did before coming here so big meals are real exceptions.  Since I usually work from 9:30am until around 2pm most days, I haven’t been eating lunch.  I’ve only lost about five pounds so far but I hope to lose a total of twenty by the time I leave.  Not sure it’s going to happen but I think I will lose a few more inches around the middle for sure.

This is a picture of Bob in the cowboy hat and Diane in the blue shirt.  The other lady is Roberta and she works for them also doing housekeeping.  The other guy is Martin, their friend from Atlanta that drives the red tour cars every summer.  He's a retired airline pilot and very funny.

New Stuff

My little cheap blender went belly up so I bought me a Magic Bullet at Costco the other day while I was in Kallispel stocking up on things.  It will do most anything a food processor will do plus it is a great blender.  I’ve missed having my morning whey protein and Chia seed or flakseed shakes so now I’m back in business.  I like freezing fresh strawberries and chunks of bananas and blending them with juice of water or milk.  I forgot to get myself some blueberries while at Costco but I will get them next time.  They freeze real well and taste better than buying the already frozen ones.  I really wish I had a bigger freezer!

It does more than I need but the price was right

I also bought me a new outside lounge chair while at Costco.  I had bought one before but it never worked right and wouldn’t lock in place.  Since I can’t have a home with my lounge chair, I figured $55 bucks was a pretty good price for this baby.  It is real comfortable and I plan to take a few naps in it over the  years.  I also bought some cable and locked it and my other chairs to the travel trailer to keep someone from walking off with them.  It can happen. 

My new lounge chair...very comfortable.

That’s all I have for now. Things are pretty routine around here unless I take a hike and see a bear or big horn sheep or bull elk or something else happens worth sharing.  Bob is ordering a bb gun on line from Amazon so I can “pop” the “res” dogs that plague Dexter and me day and night.  I don’t want to hurt them but they are a very big nuisance and I wish their owners or the tribal government would control them.  We may be on a reservation but we are not out in the middle of nowhere like it was a hundred years ago and the dogs would serve a purpose in protecting the TP village from predators or invaders. 

I mowed again today but we are starting to have to irrigate so the growing season  is shorter and the sun is really hot during mid day. Bob is starting to clear a parameter area for a fence to keep the loose cattle out of his property…just like the dogs….they also run free.  It’s an Indian thing.  They come into his property and ruin his trees and poop all over so not a good thing.  We are looking at installing an electric fence which is a lot easier that a traditional fence.   I guess it’s a good thing the Bison (Buffalo) are not running free too.  Here is a picture of a herd right up the road where I go to dump trash.