A Summer in Montana

We are currently on our way to our next destination, the sugar beet harvest in North Dakota.  We committed to a few weeks of crazy work, but we are excited to take on a new adventure.  I will fill you in more on this opportunity soon, but in the meantime, I would love to share a few more of the highlights of our stay in Polson, Montana.

Along with Glacier National Park, we had to visit a few other local destinations such as the National Bison Range.  This huge park is a must-see if you are in the Flathead Lake area.  We were told that not only would we see bison, but there were also bears, coyotes, deer, elk, and much more!

After being told that in this part of Montana, there is a bear within every square mile, we were excited to see a few.  (At least from the safety of our car).  The National Bison Range is about 18,000 acres, and you drive on a loop road that takes you throughout the park in about 2 hours.  (More if you happen upon a few animals up close).

We did see plenty of bison and elk, but unfortunately no bear.  It seems that the bears avoided us during our entire stay in the state.

The Kerr Dam, officially known as the Seli’š Ksanka Qlispe’ Dam, is a concrete gravity-arch dam located about 10 miles south of Polson.  The dam is owned by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, as is much of the land in and around Polson.

To get to the dam required walking down roughly 300 steps, and the whole time I was going down I was thinking about having to go back up them.  But I have to tell you that it was worth the extra workout.  On the day that we visited the dam, all of the gates were open.  The concrete arch-type dam stands at 204 feet high, which is 54 feet higher than Niagara Falls!

Our summer working in Montana was very enjoyable.  The resort itself was amazing and had by far the nicest view I’ve ever seen in a campground.

From our campsite we could see the Mission Mountains and the amazing Flathead Lake.

The owners of the resort are Paul and Carlisa London.  They have owned it for 19 years and have put so much of themselves into the place.  We enjoyed being part of their team this year.

Taking the dogs for long walks in the nearby fields and enjoying the views from the deck were things that we often did on our days off.  We enjoyed the season changes.

We arrived to snow on the mountain peaks and green, green fields.

And then came the drier summer season when rainy days were a distant memory and the fields turned golden brown in the sun.

September brought some needed rain showers and colder nights where we could sit around the campfire with our co workers and talk about our day.

We will miss Montana.

Even if we didn’t get to see a bear.

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5 thoughts on “A Summer in Montana”

  1. Best of luck at the Beet Harvest! Fellow coworkampers from this past summer are headed that way as well, they may be at the same location as you! If you run into Barbara & Roger that’s them!
    Isn’t this fulltime life just amazing, even with its challenges it is so much better than corporate America!

  2. We’re in GF for a funeral staying at the same RV park and saw your RV. I’ve been following your crafty sitcom for years. Just wanted to say hello. Also, we’ve seen wayward sugar beets in every intersection 😁

    1. Hi Aimee!

      I’m so sorry that we missed you in Grand Forks! I saw the name of your website and I remembered you from way back in 2012 when I did an interview with you! It would have been great to see you in person.

      The sugar beet harvest was crazy and when we finally got out of there (just ahead of the below zero weather), we made a beeline for Atlanta. Unfortunately, it isn’t real warm here either. LOL!

      Maybe we will meet up on the road again sometime! Take care of yourself and have a great holiday!

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