2017 LINCOLN, MONTANA III

SATURDAY – August 26^th

Today’s outing was a little West and North of town, up Lone Point Road. We drove out of town and found a safe place to park. Then we hiked up the forest service road for three miles before deciding that it was time to return. It was another lovely outing with some nice views. 

There was a good view of one of the several wildfires in the area that had flared up due to the warmer weather and increased wind.

 A nice panoramic view of the valley to the east showed the valley in which Lincoln is located. 

We came across a number of aspen, one of which showed the signs of bear having used it as a scratching post and leaving scratch marks in the bark. 

BEAR SIGN

It is quite common to see deer wandering through yards in town. This fawn was quite at home wandering through Klara’s yard. 

We ended our stay with sharing dinner with Klara’s immediate neighbor, Sally. It was fun to learn a little bit more about the small town of Lincoln and feel its neighborliness.

BACK TO SAN DIEGO –

  

We hit the road on Sunday morning for the start of our drive home, a distance of about 1250 miles. We opted to do the drive in three days.

We stopped in Dillon, MT, a small town off of I-15 South of Butte. There was a Patagonia outlet store there, but because it was Sunday it was not yet open while we were in town. The town has a number of old buildings including the Hotel Metlen which is 

HOTEL METLEN

reported to have at least one ghost. 

As we approached Idaho Falls I saw a sign for a Cabella’s store and we were planning on stopping at the one in Utah.

We found what we were looking for in this smaller version of the store.

Our stop for the night was in Pocatello, which is the home of Idaho State University. We found a small independent motel for the evening, and then walked into town to find dinner, and some bagels for the morning. It did not take long to find a local sandwich shop where we purchased two very good sandwiches to enjoy back at our room. We also located the 5th Street Bagelry.  We returned to it the next morning to pick up coffee and some bagels before heading South to Nevada.We also got to see and photograph a praying mantis.

PRAYING MANTIS

 The drive to Mesquite, Nevada was uneventful. We have done this several times as we have driven to Idaho for Christmases, or other visits to see Klara. Near Beaver,UT we stopped at the Eagle’s Landing Gas Station. The highlight there was the Bronze Eagle which is going to be on displayed soon. 

It was on a flatbed trailer when we saw it. Mesquite was hot and 112˚F. We took advantage of a special rate during midweek, at one of the Casinos and hunkered down in their air conditioned room.

Tuesday morning we were off in good time to get through Las Vegas before the start of the commute. We were in San Diego by 1130! After quickly unpacking the car, we were off to pick up Phoebe before the kennel closed for the mid-day break from 12-2 p.m. She was one happy dog to see us.

It was a good trip with a great deal of variety. The highlight of the trip was the solar eclipse, with second being visiting with Klara in her new home and town. She seems to be fitting in quite well.

Knowing that Montana is a beautiful state with beautiful blue skies, we have decided to return next year in June when hopefully the air is clear.