Unpack The Truck & Pack The Car!

A nice surprise came in the form of a phone call yesterday evening. I was informed that we wouldn't be working today! Why am I so excited to hear this? Well, for starters the car is going to the mechanic at 10:00 this morning and we are leaving for Nebraska early on Thursday morning, so we have a long list of things to do in these three short days. The car has really become a hassle the past few months - since we made it back from San Francisco - and it is in need of some help that I can't give it.

Friday, we left for Troy, Montana a little after 6:30 in the evening. It's about a three hour drive to Troy from Missoula and we arrived just a little after 10:00 due to stops for geocaching along the way. The truck drives like a dream now! The new alignment and tires are almost too nice for me, I'm not used to such luxury.

Saturday we spent the day hiking around the Kootenai Falls area. There is a cool swinging bridge and the falls were awesome to see as well. The river was really flowing from the spring melt - it actually felt more like summer with the 90 degree heat! So the rushing water really made the swinging bridge a scene out of Indiana Jones! Ok, so maybe there were no crocodiles or crazed savages chasing us to the other side of the river, but the bridge did sway.

The falls were well worth seeing as well. We stood right next to them and enjoyed the cool breeze and occasional splash of water. There was a perfect ledge to hand out at and enjoy the full fury of the falls. The first picture of the falls doesn't show the entire river, just the immediate area we were at, I took a few steps back to get the full view of the falls from the side. Definitely not something I want to try maneuvering in my canoe!Of course Brooklyn was excited to see us as well. She was able to do lots of hiking and playing the river while we were there. Actually, her backyard is the river, so she really didn't spend any more time in the river than usual, but she really enjoyed the hiking. After the falls, we went on a 5 mile hike up to a mountain lake that doesn't see many people and she had a good time fetching sticks from lake. I thought this picture made her look especially funny!


Yesterday, we left Troy around 1:30 and made it home just before 6:00. We took the long way home, going to Kalispell and driving the highway on the east side of Flathead Lake. We filled up in Troy before leaving, and discovered that the truck was getting about 22 miles per gallon! That was a nice surprise even though it usually gets 18-20. The new tires might have something to do with that, but considering the car was getting as low as 22 mpg at times, I would rather drive the truck than the car. Hopefully something can be done about the car, and it won't cost us a small fortune to have fixed. A newer car is starting to sound more and more appealing...

After I take the car to the mechanic I'm walking over to the school to get the truck and do some shopping. Laura took the truck this morning and she will catch the bus home this afternoon. It looks like another hot day and I have a long list of things to do. When I'm not working I can get everything taken care of and stay on top of all the problems of the world, but as soon as I start working I can't find a spare minute anywhere! Even blogging becomes a trick to find time, and I am running short on time how it is! Until again

-=Nolan=-