7/1/09

Last night we decided to stay about 15 miles south of Whitefish in a town called Kalispell. Kat had been driving for quite awhile, it was late, and we were sleepy. We also found a Walmart which RV’s are allowed to park overnight in and we needed some stuff from there so it all worked out. We got up this morning and ventured into Walmart. I have spent many hours in Walmarts in my days but this was Kat’s first Walmart experience. It was quite amusing to watch her run around with the shock of how inexpensive everything was. An hour later and of course more than we had gone into buy we were back in the Minnie and back on the road. The drive to Whitefish was short which was nice. We got into town around 11 this morning and decided that instead of checking into the RV park right away we would drive into town to check things out. Whitefish is a very cute, rustic, little town. It has an old fashion, laid back feel to it. We found a spot to park the Minnie and set out determined to find a wireless signal and a place to hang out, preferably at the same place. Kat had some work to do and I had some serious web surfing to catch up on and also needed to go on the Winnebago website to try to find a place that will fix our stupid roof. We found a cool little coffee shop and took over a table in the back. So yeah, the first 2 hours in Whitefish we spent online in a café but we had some good laughs and met some locals so it was worth it. We found our camp which is just off the highway a couple miles south of town. It is a beautiful park with a lot of open space, trees, and we feel very safe here. Actually tonight during dinner (mac n’ cheese and salad) we were talking about how we have felt pretty safe everywhere we have been so far. People have been quite nice and friendly up to this point but we also know that can change so we are still keeping our eyes open at all times when we are out and about. The weather here is ideal, warm with clear skies. We walked the 3 miles back through town and to the lake…wow. Whitefish Lake is incredible; it is huge and has a backdrop of tree covered mountains. I am pretty sure both of our jaws dropped upon coming over the last hill of our walk and seeing it for the first time. But it also could have just been that we really weren’t sure where we were going the whole time and were hot and tired and just happy to finally get there. We actually thought we had found it a bit earlier and were not really all that impressed with the swampy small spot we found. We then realized after looking at the map that we were only at the river just downstream from the lake. We spent about an hour and a half at the lake swimming, taking pictures, relaxing and most of all just smiling at the fact that we are here. We are both still a bit in shock that we are doing this trip. Showers, dinner and relaxing have been checked off the list since we got back from the lake. At first we were a bit bummed at how far we are from town and that it may be a bit inconvenient but now we are happy at the fact that we get to walk and get some exercise to counter the massive amount of hours we spend sitting while we drive. We also get to see so much more that we would miss if in a car. We really get a chance to take in the sights on our walks. It is great. It is about 9:00 pm now and we are patiently waiting the arrival of a group of my friends that are coming in from southern California. I just got the update that they are about an hour out; I am not sure what is planned for tonight but I can pretty much guarantee it will be a good time as I am positive the next few days with them will be.