Trip to Kalispell

Kalispell, MT is the closet town to Libby that has a Wal-Mart, so today Corey and I made the 90 mile trip just to get some groceries.  We were told that the drive would be beautiful with a lot of wildlife.  The view are amazing, which made the drive seem faster, but the wildlife must have been hiding because Corey only saw one moose and I didn't see even an animal at all.  We also visited the Glacier Harley Davidson store and a scrub shop. Haha!

There are several lakes on the way to Kalispell.  This is a small pond compared to the others we saw.  There were so many campsites with RV's on the lakes.  Corey and I are so excited about getting an RV to travel in.

This picture is through the windshild and is the mountains past Kalispell, we are just about to the town.



The Swinging Bridge

When Corey and I asked around town what sites to go see, the first thing we were told by everyone was the swinging bridge.  Our first reaction was, that would be crazy to go on a swinging bridge, plus it is a pretty far hike to get to the bridge.  So we decided on my first day off that we would check this famous bridge the goes over the Kootenai River.  Of course I love to read the history of the names of places and how they came about so the first picture is of a sign explaining where the name Kootenai.  (Kootenai is pronounced Kootenee)

This is Corey and I posing on a look-out on the trail on the way to the swinging bridge.

There is a bridge that goes over railroad tracks.  As soon as we got across a train came through.

This is a view from the trail.

Corey actually got onto the swinging bridge.  The sign on the bridge says that there is a 5 person limit.



This is a view of the rushing Kootenai river below the swinging bridge.

Can you believe how beautiful the views are?

This is the sun setting.  Can you believe the sun set at 10:00

p.m. here, since we are so far north? 

Here is Corey with his racing Charger and the sunset in the background.

The Venture Inn

When Corey and I found out that we were going to Libby, MT and that we would have to stay in a hotel for the first week or so, we looked up the hotels in the area.  There are only 6 MOTELS here.  Haha!  So we looked on Tripadviser.com and decided to stay at the Venture Inn since it was rated one out of 6 and because it has a restaurant attached to it since there is only a small frig in the room.  So far our stay here has been good.  The food at the restaurant is great and our room has a comfortable bed as well as a recliner for Corey to sit in.

Aren't the mountains beautiful?  It is so neat being able to walk outside and be surrounded by mountains.

  

Welcome to Libby, MT

Welcome to Libby, MT.  It is absolutely beautiful up here!  We arrived on Wednesday June 20th.  We were amazed on how beautiful the mountain roads were on the way up here.  We have never seen anything so beautiful in our lives!  At first we were nervous about coming to a travel nurse assignment so far north, but now we are so excited to be in such a beautiful place and cannot wait to go see the wonderful tourist attractions that Montana has to offer.

 This has to be the biggest mountain around.  There is still quite a bit of snow at the top.

The Kootenai River, which is high due to all of the rain that Libby has received this year and the snow melting off of the mountains.

Here in Montana there are small casinos at almost every corner as well as in gas stations.  The casinos consist of slot machines, but the slot machines are different from the ones in any of the casinos that Corey and I have been to, there are choices for which game to play at each machine, Keno, Line Play or Video Poker.  There are no table games and only 2 of the casinos in the town have 1 poker table each, but the bad news is that they only have poker games during the winter time.

Libby, MT is called The City of Eagles because you can spot eagles swooping into the Kootenai River and catching fish.  I can't wait to see an eagle myself.  There are big eagles all around the city like this one in this picture.

 How beautiful is this?  The sun is coming through the clouds onto the mountains.

Drive to Butte, MT

Our drive today was from Livingston, MT to Butte, MT where my Aunt Linda and Uncle Paul live.  The night before we stopped driving at 8:00 p.m. because we were so exhaused that we could not make it any further.  We took some pictures of the mountains from the car window.  The snow capped mountains are breathtaking especially with the storm clouds over them. 

When we finally made it to my Aunt Linda and Uncle Paul's ranch right outside of Butte, MT, their horses were standing right at the gate to greet us, but we must have scared them because they ran off as soon as we drove by. 

 The colt is basking in the sun.

The horse is coming to check Corey and I out!

Can you believe that there are antelope in the field next to my Aunt and Uncle's Ranch?!