MONTANA HABITAT TRIP
FALL 2021
September 25 to October 10
Saturday, September 25
Baker City to Riverside State Park, Spokane WA
293 miles
We are off and away from home at 7:45 and on to the freeway headed north by 8am – Spokane bound! It is another glorious fall day – crisp in the morning and sunshine. I drive the first shift – the freeway shift most of the way – and we stop north of Milton-Freewater, right on the Washington border, to gas up again.
Then off over the Palouse Hills of Eastern Washington – rolling acres upon acres of wheat fields and wind turbines! All of the wheat has been harvested, and fields are in prep for replanting. We even saw a few shoots of green winter wheat popping up.
After a little stop and go traffic through downtown Spokane, we are up on the north side and headed west to Riverside State Park along the Spokane River. We made a reservation here a couple weeks ago and it was a good thing. The park was swarming with people and the campground full. Turns out it was free day use and with great warm weather, folks were taking advantage of it!
We got set up in our spot right across from the registration booth and then called former interim pastor Randy Butler. Randy drove right over from his nearby home (ok….6 miles away!) and we spent the next two hours walking the trails along the river. Great way to visit AND stretch the legs after a long drive! The river runs through a cleft in the basalt and the rock formations are beautiful.
We follow Randy up the hill to the ‘Five Mile Prairie’ on the north side of Spokane. Developed about 40-50 years ago, so lots of split level homes in a nice subdivision. A bigger house than they need probably, but they like the area. We spent the next five hours in pleasant conversation and a great burger meal with grilled zucchini and baby red potatoes. It was 10pm before we left! Quick stop for a gas up and we wind past the closure gate at the campground to our site for the night!
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| View up river from the Bowl and Pitcher viewpoint at our campsite |
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| I think this is technically the bowl and pitcher area |
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| Randy insisted on taking our picture! |
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| Turnabout was fair play. He and Rick are discussing SOMETHING! |
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| Looking downriver |
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| A beautiful suspension bridge links the campground with the trails on the other side |
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| The 'toenail' formation |
Sunday, September 26
Spokane, WA to Kalispell, MT
252 miles
A warmer night than expected! We are up and trailer hitched and ready to roll at 7:15 and by 8am we are on the east side of Spokane on I-90 with fresh coffee in our cups! Rick drives to the welcome stop just inside Idaho and then I take over for the next 120 miles to St.Regis… it’s all freeway across Idaho! We are enjoying the fall foliage as trees and bushes are changing to their red and gold shades.
A stop at our favorite ‘art store’ at the travel center in St. Regis, where I pick up a bear cribbage board for the house! Then up the Clark Fork River to Paradise and Plains and over the hill toward Flathead Lake. Rick drives us on up to Kalispell. I have a call from Duncan and a text from Tom clarifying a few things. Overall, we are a little later arriving at Rocky Mt Hi RV than planned as we pull in at 1:50 or so. Duncan has already arrived and is set up in Avalanche cabin. The Hajduks have yet to arrive. Tom and daughter Kimberly have taken off on an adventure to Polebridge!
Rick and I get set up in site #71, the back of our trailer looking out over the huge field and the Swan Mountains to the east. Beautiful setting. Around 3pm I get a call from the Hajduks who are at the entrance. I go out to meet them and guide them to their site in #81. Then walk down to introduce myself to Duncan. We end up talking on his front porch for nearly 45 minutes! A dual citizen from Scotland, he has an amazing accent! A lawyer from NYC who is excited for his first Habitat experience and the joy of working together as a team.
We Happy Hour and meet at 5 to do introductions and answer questions while enjoying treats off the tailgate of the truck. Happy ‘Hour’ lasts for two hours! Rick rips out part of his chair… it was on its last legs already. We’ll be checking the stores for a new one.
Then a quiet evening and an early bedtime. We have decided to take a hike tomorrow up to Avanlanche Lake and invite Duncan to join us as he is eager to take a hike. But because the park has been overrun with visitors, we need to leave early to guarantee a parking spot, even on a Monday! 7:30 scheduled departure!
MONDAY, September 27
Avalanche Lake Hike
4.5 miles, 730 ft elevation gain
We are off early, stopping at Town Pump for coffees and gas, and then again at Super 1 in Columbia Falls to pick up some bear spray. Ours had finally died after 8 years of ‘readiness’ (and never sprayed thank goodness!) Duncan was with us, eager to help out financially, so we let him go into Super 1 and pay for the bear spray. Then on up the road – a beautiful morning, albeit with gathering clouds. We can potentially get some rain later tonight, but for now?
On the trail shortly after 9:15am and we arrive at the lake around 10:40. Glad we came early as the trail already seems busy and it just gets busier as the day goes on! But….the fall colors are gorgeous – aspens turning gold, huckleberries red orange. The trail follows along the deep gorge of Avalanche Creek at first – deep pools of water chiseled in the stone. Then we just gradually keep following the creek canyon upwards. This late in the year we weren’t sure how many waterfalls would still be flowing over the rock wall into the lake, but three or four large ones were still easily visible. After a few pictures, we wander on down the west side of the lake a ways to where we had a little space to ourselves…. Some snacks and more gazing through the binocs. Enroute up we had seen a half dozen mountain goats high up on the cliffs.
Duncan just turned 50 and is in great shape. We told him we were old folks and didn’t hike fast, but he stayed with us (and carried the pack!) the whole way. He later said he appreciated the fact that we made him slow down and really appreciate the views and absorb the mountain air. Said he would have gotten up to lake, spent two minutes, and headed back down on his own!
Back down to the RV park around 1:30. Plenty of time for a quiet afternoon! Rick took a nap, I got caught up on prayers and blog, showers, and we had a little steelhead fillet for dinner. No Happy Hour tonight. As of this moment of writing, the Hajduks still aren’t back from their adventures of the day.
We were hoping for a phone call from Jed tonight, and finally, around 8:50pm the call came through – it’s tough when we are an hour ahead! But we managed to have a great conversation for an hour and then begged off with ‘we have to go to bed!’ Good to hear how the start of the school year has gone.
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| Duncan along Avalanche Creek |
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| Ranger Rick pauses to help a young hiker see the mountain goats on the hillside. |
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| Fall foliage was beautiful! |
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| Whole hillsides of color! |
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| Duncan, Ging, and Rick |
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| This New Yorker was just in awe of the beauty of the area. |
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| Avalanche Creek |
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| The gorge area of the creek |
Tuesday, September 28
Habitat Build Day 1
Up early but we didn’t hear the 6:10am plane go overhead today! Maybe it isn’t a daily flight! By 7:15 everyone is gathered out by the trucks and we are ready to go to work! It is nearly a 45 minutes drive down to the build site in Lakeside (part of the reason we were discouraged to see the sign at the Lakeside RV park now declaring they were open all winter!) But we pile Joe and Duncan into the back seat of our truck and follow Tom down to Lakeside. Steve pulls out on to the highway right behind us as we pass through Somers!
It is just the six of us today. Kala will not be working much of the time, as she is still employed full time with a business that processes books for schools. Kim, Tom’s daughter, will be working for two days and flying back out to Oregon at noon Thursday. We have an extended time of introductions, safety, back stories, etc. Before dividing up into two teams. Tom and Kim working on the trim work in the back of the middle home, while the four of us finish up the siding gable on the same house. We need Tom to finish his part before we can continue around the corner. Rick and Joe, who is 6’5” tall, did the nailing part up on the scaffolding while Duncan and I cut the slants, etc and handed boards up. Duncan has NO building skills, so I did a fair bit of teaching and he even made a few cuts on the chop saw.
A light rain falls much of the morning, but nothing that sends us inside until the siding is done!
Around 11:30 Rebecca shows up with our lunch – and she outdid herself. First off, she prepared the meal herself – lasagna, bread, salad, and cupcakes for dessert. We eat over in the townhome – heated and warm!
After lunch our crew of four gets down to business working inside the first house sheetrocking. We get a refresher course from Garrett in terms of how they want it done and go to work in the two back bedrooms. We had two sheetrock screw guns – one of which Duncan manned – and Rick, Joe, and I cut, screwed, measured, etc. I cut out two of the windows and Rick one. We wrapped it up around 2:30, ready to call it a day. My tape measure is still at the job site, stuck at the top of a window behind the sheetrock we are trying to cut out!
Back up to Rocky Mt Hi, showers, and a little relaxing before our 5pm Happy Hour in Tom’s trailer. I take over the glass etching materials for Kim can do her mug before she leaves. The conversation bounces all over the place and we don’t break up until nearly 7pm.
Quiet evening – cooler tonight.
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| Opening conversation to start the day - introductions! |
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| Rick and Joe finishing up the siding on the east wall of the two-story house |
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| Kimberlty supervising her dad! |
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| Duncan learning the ins and outs of the sheetrock screw gun |
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| I got my tape measure caught in the window while cutting out the sheetrock in front of it. Will have to rescue it on Wednesday! |
Wednesday September 29
Habitat Build Day 2
Today we will be joined by the local volunteers which number around 7. Steve divides us up into several groups...Rick and I join Bruce on siding; Tom and Kimberly continuing trim work; Joe and Garrett are up finishing some roofing; and Duncan joins two locals to continue sheetrocking. Pete and Steve M are doing door trim. The backside of the middle house is a busy place! Steve T is even busier going from team to team checking on progress, answering questions, explaining process, and bringing supplies.
Lunch is provided by Rosauers Grocery – fried chicken, an assortment of salads and baked beans, and brownie bites! Tasty!
By days’ end we have a good section of siding done in back, ready to move on as Tom has the trim work done for the next section.
Happy Hour tonight is campfire at Duncan’s cabin and he went all out! Wine, Bailey’s, whiskey, marshmallows, and some cheese and crackers – rather gourmet stuff! I brought some little hummus wraps appetizers and zucchini brownies. Enjoyed roasting a few marshmallows. Sunlight beautiful setting on the mountains in the distance.
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| Garrett has built a coffee stand for morning starts - and to keep the group from crowding into the trailers....social distancing! |
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| Getting started....and waiting for all the local volunteers to show up! |
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| Joe made the mistake of saying he had some roofing experience, so guess who is up finishing the roof with Garrett! |
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| Kimberly and Tom working on a piece of trim |
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| I loved Joe's suspenders! |
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| Duncan is back sheetrocking |
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| A beautiful evening for a campfire - and to say goodbye to Kimberly! |
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| Duncan, Kimberly, Tom, Joe, and Kala - at Duncan's cabin |
Thursday September 30
Habitat Build Day 3
BRRRR! The temp in the trailer is 46 when I arise and the outside thermometer hovers right at the freezing mark. But….this is forecast as the coldest night while we are here. And the day is suppose to hit the 70 mark!
It is just the four of us this morning as Tom has to take Kimberly to the airport this morning and will join us shortly before noon. We meet Steve and Garrett and quickly get started on our siding task on the back of the house. However….it is a rough start as lines don’t match up, backer boards are showing and we have to remove some of what we put up at the end of the day yesterday. A bit frustrating! Steve sticks around for a couple hours to answer questions and to deal with a couple of subs who arrive, and then leaves to handle end of the month paperwork for the rest of the day in the office.
Once we get going, we have some siding up and the team does an awesome job on the window area (a large window!) Tomorrow should be a smoother start and we have a wall all ready to roll on!
The sun came out after our chilly start and by the time we were heading home I had shed down to my t shirt. But most of the day we were working in the shade, so the sweatshirt stayed on! Brought our own lunch today and we all moved to the table out in the sunshine!
No Happy Hour tonight. Rick and I were going to be gone, as were Joe and Kala. Tom was looking forward to a quiet night after a busy time with his daughter. Duncan had some legal business to attend to!
After showers, Rick and I headed into Kalispell, stopping at Salvation Army and Goodwill stores. Rick found new jean shorts and two pairs of jeans, while I garnered new jeans and a stretchy belt. I wanted to buy a pair of overalls, but they were sized wrong and didn’t fit. :( Then over to Subway for dinner and off to the youth fields to meet the Schultze’s at Ethans football practice. Bonus was that Ryan Davidson is on the same team, so we got to see Mary and kids when she came to pick up Ryan. Hopefully we can invite them all out to a Happy Hour next week.
Blessed with an incredibly different sunset while at the fields – a glowing plume that reminded me of a volcano explosion!
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| Rick grabs a mid morning snack |
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| Duncan enjoying the lunch time sunshine after a cold morning |
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| Tom and Rick |
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| An amazing sunset glow from the athletic fields |
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| The Schultze family: Jen, EJ, Ethan, Mahrias, and Isaiah |
Friday, October 1
Habitat Build Day 4
A warmer morning! Joe rides with Tom down to Lakeside – we figured more leg room for 6’5” in the front seat of Tom’s rig rather than in the backseat of ours! Plus we discover that today is Joe’s 62nd birthday! We’ll celebrate tonight!
The morning sunrise does not disappoint as we drive down to the build. In fact, Rick finally stops along the Lakeside marina so I can take a picture with the reflection in the lake waters.
A smaller crew of locals today, but a lot gets done. Steve has folks working in the duplex with finish work, Tom doing trim on the middle house, Duncan and Joe are over with Jim sheetrocking in the blue house, and Rick, Bruce and I are back on the siding crew.
And we get a lot of siding put up today! I let Bruce take over the saw and work to do story board lines, help with chalk lines, and put in a lot of nails! We finish the back side of the house and move around to the west side. At days’ end we are about halfway up there. Later, as Steve is moving a lot of ‘board’ around to the back, I steal a lot at the plans in the office and see that the entire top of the house is board and batten. I wondered where the siding was going to stop. Rick and I stopped siding for a bit and helped move some of the board around to the back as well. Working on the west side in the afternoon, we actually got a little HOT!
Lunch is pizza from Papa Johns – good stuff! I will contact Rebecca and get addresses from these local places providing food and send a thank you on behalf of our group.
Back to the park around 3:30 ready for a nap! Rick takes a short one while I hit the showers and office – get our bill settled up and purchase a few more postcards.
We are camp firing again tonight down at Duncan’s cabin, but starting later as Kala has purchased a feast for our dinner birthday celebration. Duncan has to pick his partner Greg up at the airport at 6:30, and they join us around 7pm. A congenial evening swapping stories, having a drink or two, birthday cupcakes, and other goodies! A pleasure to meet Greg who is from Australia and after 40 plus years in the states, still has his accent as well. Love it!
In bed early – we are wearing down and will welcome our Sunday Monday break!
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| One can never tire of beautiful sunrises over the lake. |
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| We struggled with this corner for awhile - the lines just weren't matching up! |
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| We have now sided all this part of the back side of the house. |
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| This was mostly Wednesday's progress |
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| Rick takes another measurement for the cuts over the door |
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| Duncan at work trimming sheetrock |
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| Closet work! |
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| Tom deep in thought 'figuring' |
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| Bruce and Rick work to make another window cut |
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| Tom, Duncan, and Greg HOW IN THE WORLD DID I MISS GETTING A PICTURE OF THE BIRTHDAY BOY? |
SATURDAY, October 2
Habitat Build Day 5
Second day in a row and I am out to the world when the alarm goes off! I didn’t even hear the 6:10 flight go right over head from the airport! But it is a beautiful clear sky starry morning!
A smaller crew today as other than the five of us, only Robert and Betty, the homeowners of the duplex, are here to work. Robert has a friend coming to help with the installation of the flooring in his home. Rick will work with Duncan and Joe to continue the sheetrocking in the blue house. Tom and Garrett are working to cut boards to be ready for a first coat of paint. And who’s painting??? Betty and Ginger!
But first, we must clear out all the debris in Betty’s garage unit, sweep the floor, and lay down plastic and/or cardboard to protect the concrete. Then move the drying racks from the garage across the street. Finally, shortly before 10, we are ready to actually PAINT! I realize now as I write that I never got a photograph of our painting progress. We spent the morning painting the rest of the green trim boards for the middle two-story house (the one we have been siding) Just before we broke for lunch we went over to the two-story and painted some of the trim that got installed prior to painting, a job which included the soffit above the garage. Not the easiest to get a ladder in place, but we figured out a method.
After lunch we helped move a truck load of siding boards for the board and batten upper into Steve’s truck and over to the paint garage. Tom and Garrett had been busy all morning ripping boards to size! We didn’t have a lot of time left in the day, but we did manage to get about 14 of the boards painted before quitting for the day.
Rick and the sheetrockers got the second bedroom finished in the blue house and much of the bathroom completed. Bathrooms are never fast with the number of penetrations that must be measured and cut! Around 2:15 or so Greg arrived and Duncan showed him around the site. He was most encouraging of our work and Betty relished the chance to give him a tour of her nearly completed home!
A final washing of all the paint tools and finally we are off for the weekend. I was tired! Rick is tired! So what do you do at the end of a hard week??? You stop for Sweet Peaks Ice Cream on the way home! We had found the one scoop free coupons from about three years ago in the front of the truck. Time to put them to good use! Went up to the upper balcony and enjoyed a few relaxing minutes imbibing!
Back to campground to wind down for the night. I realized I left the ice chest with our lunch remains on the picnic table in back of the house when we got back. Downside was it had the last of the leftover pizza that Rick was going to eat for dinner! Hopefully it will be waiting for us on Tuesday morning.
Joe and Kala are going exploring for the next two days. Duncan and Greg have accommodations in Whitefish for three nights. Could be quiet around here! We don’t have plans for much!
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| A picture of the front of the two-story house....we haven't gotten to this side yet for the siding! The top will all be board and batten. |
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| We brought the leftover pizza from Friday's lunch and 'warmed it up' in the sun! |
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| Duncan sitting down on the job. |
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| Duncan's pants have a bit of a white spot on the rear! |
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| Duncan and Rick with Betty in background |
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| Ginger painting the soffit above garage |
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| Betty taking her soffit turn! |
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| Rick spent the day sheetrocking |
SUNDAY October 3
A Day of Rest
Wow. I don’t think I have stayed in bed for 9 hours in ages! Sure did feel good! I was up around 6:30 to get caught up on Facebook, write my blogpost and prayers, and send a Photos Album to the rest of the group of our pictures.
What else today? I took a walk around the park. We did laundry. I went to JoAnn’s and bought fabric and more! We had pesto mescalunes for dinner. I took another walk and talked with Margaret for over an hour. I did about 10 Sudoku puzzles. Whew!
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| Our aspen tree is beginning to lose leaves rapidly! |
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| Our little trailer set up with our habitat sign. |
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| Reflections in the pond at the entry to the RV park. |
MONDAY October 4
Exploring Whitefish
It was COLD last night, colder than we expected. When I got up I found the water not flowing very well. Coffee was a little late in coming!
Another day to relax and rest. We did get moving around 10:15 and headed over to the “Box Store” strip to find Sports Clips where Rick had a coupon for a free, and much needed, haircut. Unfortunately, the shop was closed due to a Covid outbreak. :( So….up to Whitefish to wander the little Main Street shops and find a place to grab some breakfast/brunch,. We parked up near the train depot and soon thereafter found the Montana Coffee cafe. We had a great little breakfast, sharing everything: a mocha coffee artistically crafted, a breakfast wrap that was actually a square cut in diagonal half plus tortilla chips, and finally a lemon blueberry scone (giant size). There was one table available outside which we enjoyed.
Then a wander up and down visiting many of our favorite little shops. We bought a few more postcard, a fuzzy rustic throw blanket for the couch, and a couple patterns for wall hangings at the quilt shop!
Drive home via Whitefish Stage route and a return along Rose Crossing – we had to check out the widened curve Tom had told us about!
Dinner of tomato, spam, and cheese sandwiches (mine with tortilla) plus a few chips and apples which I picked off the trees in back of us. They have some worm spots, but if you cut around them, there is still a lot of good apple! Conversation with Tom when he returns from helping Steve hang some doors. Early evening to bed!
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| Our trailer with Tom's behind. The tan and brown in distance belongs to the Hajduks. |
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| The apple trees behind us are producing well...with a few bug spots. |
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| Montana Coffee barista is an artist with Rick's mocha! |
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| Trees in the park are turning wonderful colors. |
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| Beautiful flowers still can be seen in some of the campground beds. |
TUESDAY October 5
Habitat Build Day 6
Well, today took a little different turn when Rick woke up having had another series of dizzy spells during the night due to sinus problems. Best that he NOT be on ladders operating power tools when this is the case. He stayed in the trailer, rested and slept much of the morning, and by noon was feeling MUCH better. (In fact, spent time in the afternoon fixing the window shade that has been broken for a couple years!)
So, I grabbed a ride with Tom down to the build along with Joe. Duncan had already said he was going to drive himself down from Whitefish. Makes for a smaller crew today – just Duncan and Joe, myself, Tom, and Garrett. Steve was there to get us going and then went back up to the office for meetings and to deal with invoices!
I spent the morning finishing up all the painting of the boards for the board and batten upper level of the two-story house. About 28 boards of varying sizes. I had to have Garrett help me a couple times to move boards onto the drying racks as they were longer or bigger than I could handle alone. After lunch I was going to do some primer painting on the two story but Garrett and I couldn’t find the primer paint! So, I swept up the sawdust when the table saw had been in use and then went to help Duncan and Joe.
Duncan and Joe had been back at the sheet rock process in the blue house. They finished the bathroom and were working on closets. It was fun to listen to Duncan feel like he knew somewhat what he was doing! Progress already!
Tom spent the day fixing errors in the trim boards and then installing the final corner trim. He and I moved all the boards that Betty and I painted on Saturday over to the other side of the street so Tom had the boards he needed. Garrett was prepping porch foundations for the cement truck to come tomorrow.
A BEAUTIFUL day where the temps hit nearly 80 degrees! This was probably the LAST warm day in the forecast, as by Thursday the high is supposed to be around 55! Low tomorrow night around 30. Time to bundle up!
Happy hour is at the Hajduk trailer tonight….good food and conversation.
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| Tom's son Adam gave him a 'western style hard hat. Tom modeled it in the morning, but it was too heavy to wear for the whole day! |
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| First layer of painting on the rack. |
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| Duncan is getting good at the drywall process! |
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| Garrett working to set up the forms for a step. |
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| Joe measures for another section of drywall. |
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| Paint rack is much fuller by the end of the day! |
WEDNESDAY October 6
Habitat Build Day 7
A warmer night and cooler day, both very pleasant! We are joined at the build today by 5 local volunteers: Steve Maneras, Jim, Randy, Gary (whom we hadn’t met before), plus the five of us. Rick went back to work sheetrocking with Joe and Duncan while I was back at painting! Four more boards that needed to be green trim and then Steve came back with the missing primer and I got started on the awkward task of applying it in impossible to reach places!
A short stop to help Tom rip 6 boards from a sheet of OSB for his trim work on the porches.
Lunch was provided by the Montana Club and it was delicious tomato bisque soup – a little bite to it, chunky tomatoes, and THICK! Plenty of crackers to go along.
Highlight of the day (questionable!) was the 1 pm arrival of the cement truck! We had 6 small steps, footers, garage aprons, and porches to pour! Everyone got into the act helping in some way. The cement truck driver was incredible in maneuvering the truck into the back of the house to be able to use the shoot instead of wheel barrows to do the back porch.
We stopped at the Restore enroute home today just to check it out, but didn’t stay too long as Duncan had a dinner ‘date’ with the brother of one of his best friends in New York! The brother happened to live in Kalispell! Joe had some errands to run so no Happy Hour tonight!
We are keeping a close look at the weather forecast – both to be aware of when we need to unhook the water line and when we need to make our escape! At this point Duncan will be leaving to fly home after work on Saturday, Joe and Kala are leaving Saturday morning. Snow is forecast for Monday!
Watching the Dodger-Cardinal playoff game tonight!
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| Duncan shoveling concrete |
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| The concrete truck driver was amazing in getting the truck in back of the house, saving us a timeconsuming wheelbarrow brigade. |
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| Rick helping to move the concrete down the chute. |
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| You can tell from Duncan's pants that he was sheetrocking prior to the concrete arrival. |
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| Tom, Garrett, and Steve begin with the garage apron. |
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| I asked Rebecca to take a picture of me when she brought lunch. These are just two of about a dozen!! |
THURSDAY October 7
Habitat Build Day 8
House Dedication in Columbia Falls
BRRR! Time to get out the second space heater as we are below freezing overnight, the water line is frozen again, and it is chilly!!
Had to check the internet and discover my Dodgers WON last night with a walk-off homerun in the 9th inning! They are into the playoffs with the Giants.
Besides Steve M showing up to work on installing the cupboards again in Betty’s home, we are joined also today by a new volunteer, Cher, a woman about my age. She hopes to work once a week and we told her to contact Rebecca and get on the schedule! Otherwise for today Tom has his trimwork job, Rick, Duncan, and Joe are back at the sheetrocking. (By days’ end they have come out of the hallway and are in the main room/kitchen!)
It is brisk outside with a slight breeze blowing, but the sun has come out! Cher and I first head across the street and start clearing over 45 painted boards out of the garage there and into the habitat truck which Garrett brought over. Then it is an hour process to sort all the boards and stack them up in reverse numerical order so they are ready for installation. LOTS of steps back and forth behind the house!
Next job is to paint more trim boards that Tom has gotten cut for us. We finished that job by lunchtime.
After lunch Cher held the ladder for me while I finished up my primer painting on the back edge of the fascia boards. Then Garrett showed me the same boards on the upper level. I went up on the roof, scaffolding, and metal spans to do as much as my short arms and legs would allow – which left Garrett the peaks and a corner section that had no scaffolding in front of it.
Day ended doing some caulking in Betty’s house on the door moldings and nail holes.
Back to RV park by 3:30 to shower and be ready for the Home Dedication tonight up in Columbia Falls.
Duncan offered to drive up tonight and since Kala and Joe were going out for dinner, the four of us piled into his rental vehicle for the trip up. Hajduks followed us! A good crowd for the dedication, although because of covid a little smaller than recent ones. Two single moms, one with one child and the other with three, signed the papers this afternoon for the home purchase. They were SO EXCITED! I was excited because the homes being turned over were at either end of the street and both were ones that Rick and I had worked on back in the fall of 2014.
A really nice ceremony.
Back to the campground to relax for the rest of the evening catching up and finishing up the last of my photo drawings of the group.
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| While I was up on the scaffolding painting the backside of soffit fascia, I took the opportunity to get in the view of fall colors and distant mountains. |
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| Beginning of the dedication ceremony. |
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| The last house Rick and I helped with in Columbia Falls (foundation work) was one of the ones being rededicated to a new family. |
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| The program from the dedication which involved MUCH of the Habitat staff plus board members and a local pastor. The family bios are a fun addition. |
FRIDAY October 8
Habitat Build Day 9
Another chilly night as my phone registers a subfreezing 26 degrees in Kalispell this morning. Rick disconnected the water line last night so we are using jugs this morning to heat up in the microwave. I still slept really well however, but I left my leggings on for the first time.
We are joined this morning by just Steve Maneras and Angela, the homeowner wife of Ricky (and the still empty slab home!) That’s all besides the five of us CAVs.
Rick, Duncan, and Joe are back at it in the blue home trying to get as much sheetrock hung as possible! After they fix a framing issue (which takes over an hour!) they concentrate on many of the upper sheets while tall Joe is around to help! (He and Kala are leaving Saturday morning.)
Angela and I head over to Betty’s house to continue work on the caulking of doorframes and filling nail holes. Unfortunately, Garrett had a different method from Steve and we should have been using Spackle for the nail holes yesterday instead of caulk. Steve got us re-oriented and Angela decided to Spackle the rest of the time while I did the caulking. I spent most of the morning in one little section that must have had 6 door frames (both sides) to deal with! I started Angela out in a closet to give her some practice where it didn’t show as much! Maneras was in and out still installing cabinets in Betty’s house before moving over to Robert’s side of the duplex (but many of those cabinets have not been delivered yet).
Lunch is provided by the Senior Center – huge sandwiches, apple, chips, cheese stick, and a coconut dessert. More than most of us could eat!
After lunch more of the same. I finally finished the inside of the master bedroom and will move into the hall perhaps tomorrow. (Or I may be doing sheetrock!)
As we drove home, Duncan and I made up a menu for him to take to DeSoto’s tonight to pick up some take out for dinner. We were going to ‘go out’ but decided with Covid numbers and Tom’s reluctance to expose himself prior to picking up his sick sister that we would do take out and eat at Tom’s! Duncan ordered and picked up (and paid for it all!) We had a very pleasant evening for two hours in Tom’s trailer eating, drinking, and visiting. And I forgot to take ONE picture!! Plus Kala brought two packages of eclair mini treats! A bonus!
Watching the Dodger Giant game to some extent…..only to discover in the morning that they lost 4-0. :(
I took ZERO pictures today.
SATURDAY October 9
Habitat Build Day 10
It is a small crew that gathers this morning! Duncan drove himself, which worked out great because he took off a half hour early so he could drive around the lake prior to arrival at the airport for his 7pm red-eye flight back to New York. We are joined by homeowners, Hosanna, Betty, and Robert, as well as a local volunteer, Ken, who had been absent for much of the summer.
In Joe’s absence, Ken joins Rick and Duncan to make a crew of three. They get VERY close to finishing the house...just a few small areas left to rock. I helped Rick hang the last three boards in a closet after Ken and Duncan left.
Betty, Hosanna, and I worked all morning in Betty’s house, spackling the nail holes in the door frames and caulking the joints. Betty was the nail hole gal, while Hosanna and I manned the caulk guns. We finished up right before lunch.
After lunch (we enjoyed the left overs from yesterday!) Betty and Hosanna worked with Robert in his side of the duplex, while I found the two missing boards that needed to be painted green trim for Hosanna’s house. Painting done, I wandered over to the sheetrockers, after taking a few pictures. Unfortunately the picture taking caused me to forget to wash the brush and roller I left soaking in a bucket by the side of the house. Disappointed that I had to email Steve and left him know they were out there, as I didn’t remember until we were nearly back to the RV park.
We doing a little packing up and grab our showers. Dinner is leftovers from last night. Around 6:30 we head over to Tom's to visit and say goodbye.
Dishes and then Rick shuts down the water system! I had decided to forgo my Winco stop and I think we will go all the way home tomorrow...hopefully avoiding some of the pending storm.
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| Some of the local wild turkeys were behind Betty's house this morning. |
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| The front of Betty and Robert's duplex...we did much of this siding last October and May, plus Rick and I did the board and batten work on the top gable. |
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| Hopefully the LAST of the green trim is painted. |
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| Entry to Betty's home - I did all this siding last spring. |
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| Some of the door trim we were busy caulking today. |
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| The 'blue house' across the street from the duplex. This is where Rick and team were sheetrocking all week. The original homeowner was disqualified- something that has never happened before for the Flathead affiliate. |
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| Duncan on a few of his final sheetrock screws. |
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| I'm done!!! |
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| Rick's standout sheetrock panel - Five little round penetrations all perfectly cut and located. |
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| Look at all that sheetrock done! |
And now....for my digital drawings of the team, plus Garrett!
SUNDAY, October 10
Kalispell to Baker City
544 miles (via Ravalli and Plummer)
A long day, but we are HOME!
As we drove down the west side of Flathead Lake we thought about Tom’s route to St. Regis via Ravalli and Hwy 200. A little longer (25+ miles) but better road and perhaps not so ‘deer likely’ A good time to try a little section of highway we hadn’t taken before!
But first, we were reminded of the beauty and ruggedness of the Mission Mountains down near St. Ignatius. You seem to see INTO the depth of the range more heading south than when we drive up northward.
Five miles past St. Ignatius is Ravalli and the turn off to Hwy 200. What fun as we ran into a light rain and then were treated with rainbow upon rainbow as we wound along the Flathead River just before it joins the Clark Fork. Some classic western scenes, especially as a bright red train engine and coal cars went past.
Into St. Regis for gas and drinks and I take over driving over Lookout Pass and I-90 over the panhandle of Idaho. We ran into more rain, but only a couple heavier bursts and then broke past the clouds into sunshine and….WIND! And the wind from varying directions was with us the rest of the trip!
I drove to Plummer, gas, etc. And then Rick drives the winding up and down roads through the Palouse Country to Walla Walla and the Oregon border. Fields for the most part are either fallow or showing the green tint of winter wheat poking through. I enjoy the lines created by the tractors, noting I would really love to fly over the palouse and see the agriculture art!
More gas at Milton Freewater and I take the wheel for the final 120+ miles to home! We arrive around 5:15….with the time change it’s 10 hours, but actually 11 hours on the road (with stops!)
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| Along the Flathead |
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| You can't go wrong with rainbows to mark your path! |
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| Classic image of 'The West' |
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| A window into the clouds |
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| Mission Mountains near St. Ignatius |
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