Day 20

A park ranger told us that Flathead Lake is the largest freshwater lake west of the Missouri River. Since we have already gone swimming in the five greatest lakes east of the Missouri we figured we should probably take a day trip to Flathead Lake. There were a few state parks boarding the lake and their websites said they had swimming. We went to both Wayfarers and Yellow Bay and we were disappointed in both of them. Wayfarers didn’t have a beach and Yellow Bay had a beach about the size of my tiny car. The minute beach was already crowded and since we hate crowds, especially in tight spaces we went back to Wayfarers to swim off the rocks.

While most days have been too hot for Kati, today, a day set aside for swimming was the coolest day we had — too cold for Kati to jump into the water. G3 and I, however, had a fun time in the lake. The water was deep which was perfect for swimming and G3 enjoyed climbing on the rocks.

The area around Flathead Lake had many cherry orchards and stands along the road were selling the cherries. I LOVE cherries so I had to stop to get some. Unable to decide if I wanted red cherries or white ones, I got a pound of each. They are delicious — probably the sweetest cherries I’ve ever had. And they were so much cheaper than back home. I liked them so much I ate them all for lunch — okay G3 had a few so I didn’t eat exactly two pounds but it was still the best lunch I’ve had on the road. If I could get them home with having them spoil I’d bring some to Mom. But I am fairly certain they wouldn’t survive the trip. Sorry Mom.

G3 and I were both insanely itchy. It must have been caused by something in the water since Kati is fine. But what could it be? There were no warning signs posted and there were lots of other people swimming. Only after dousing ourselves with rubbing alcohol did we feel better.

Kati is often bored with history. I can’t fathom a vacation without including some historical stops. To counteract her boredom she decided we needed to stop at wineries along the way. But wineries bore G3. It’s not surprising. He isn’t old enough to drink so wineries bore him as much as history bores Kati. Several months ago, when we started talking about our summer holiday G3 told Kati that if she earned her orange belt decided in taekwondo he would let her visit 6 wineries on our trip and he wouldn’t whine. In June, she earned her belt. And today, she cashed it her first winery. After swimming, we detoured to Glacier Sun Winery where they offered not only wine tasting but cider tasting as well. When it comes to alcohol Kati and I are good about sharing. She opted to taste wine. I went with the cider, but we shared our samples. Kati and I agreed — yes, us agreeing is a rarity — that the Bear Food cider was good so before we left we bought some to drink at our campsite. Oh, and Kati might be a little jealous that the bartender was flirting with me.