9-3-17 - (Day 34 - Rat and Gopher Day )

Ferny Kat found her a new past time, Gopher hunting.  She sat and watched as a Gopher pushed dirt and rocks out of the hole he was digging. This went on for a long while until the Gopher got at ease with her watching and stayed out long enough for her to swat at him.  She didn’t even come close.

We made another ride to town to post blogs and check with the cellular world.  When we returned we saw rat droppings in the camper.  We sat traps and caught 5 in a few hours. You would think, having a cat you wouldn’t have rats.  But then again, Ferny Kat is not your average cat.

The Eagle and Osprey show was not as active this afternoon.  Cry Baby still squawked but not as much.  We had a nice peaceful, day, watching the birds, ducks, and boaters.

We saw the milk truck at the boat ramp filling up his tank with 1000 gallons of water for wildfire fighting. The milk man gave us some more information on pretty scenery in the area. 

When we were walking back to the camper, a ribbon snake slithered at our feet in our front yard.  He was gone before I could scream.

We went to bed with the strong smell of a skunk in the air.  Not exactly the smell you want coming inside your bedroom window.

Pack Rats, Snakes, and Skunks are not the critters we want amongst us!

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9-2-17 (Day 33 - Another Yaak Attack - Crawdad Style)

It was another beautiful start to the day watching the critters.  A couple of bucks were grazing in the campground and our 2 grouse were grazing in our yard.  I believe they have adopted us. 

We went to the Libby Dam Visitor Center and confirmed what we were told by the locals was a Golden Eagle, was in fact a juvenile Bald Eagle.  We have named him Cry Baby, because he is always squawking wanting the parents to feed him.  It looks like they want to kick him of the nest.   

We just couldn’t stand it.  It was time for another Yaak Attack.  We took Highway 37 North and had a totally different gorgeous view of Lake Koocanusa.  We crossed the bridge, stopped for a break, heard the wind singing through the bridge, and motored on.

We took Highway 228, a winding mountain road, with amazing breathtaking views to Yaak River Road, and puttered to The Dirty Shame Saloon.  The Dirty Shame Saloon was a lot livelier than a few days ago.  

We arrived before the crawfish did.  The owner of the bar in his red, white, and blue shorts explained the delay of getting the crawfish was caused by the hurricane.  He could only get 650 pounds of crawfish, so he got 300 pounds of shrimp to supplement the shortage of crawfish.

We were a little hungry, and ordered a half order of Monster Fries  which was a big pile of really good french fries, lots of cheese, jalapenos, and fried bacon.  It was so good!  

While we were eating, a couple of young women requested to sign up for the wet Tee Shirt contest so they could drink for free.  The owner informed them that the free drinks didn't start until after the wet Tee Shirt contest which would be held later this evening.  He put their names on the list.  One of these young ladies confirmed she would need to drink a bunch before participating in the contest, while the other one was ready/

When the crawdads arrived; this one man cooking machine worked his butt off coordinating the corn, taters, and crawfish.  We ate Louisiana Crawdads around 3 pm.

They were seasoned ok; the cook cooked them for a very short time, dump them out, and then shaked seasoning on top.  The more you ate, the more seasoning you had on your fingers, hence, the spicier they got.  It was not quite Louisiana style, but then again we ain’t in Louisiana.

When we paid our bill for the fries, the cute girl asks how much change she needed  to give back to us.  When we paid our bill for the tee shirts another cute girl ask how much change she needed to give back to us.  I’m glad they got their looks!

We took the shorter, less curvy, road home, traveling Yaak River Road and Highway 2.  We watched the Cry Baby Eagle Show and are calling it a night.

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9-1-17 - (Day 32 - Moving Day... LOL!!!!!!)

It was another fantastic start of the day watching Bald Eagles, a Golden Eagle, Osprey, and Ducks put on their show.  These ducks quack me up when they paddle on top of the water against the current, (sorry, just had to do it).

We decided to move 2 sites down to site number 6.  A .14 miles drive to see a different view of the river.  The water forks around an island near this site, an eagle’s nest is in the tree, and this is the eagle’s starting line.  We waved goodbye to our 2 grouse still in our yard and invited them to follow to our new campsite.

Ferny Kat threw her a fit for the less than a minute drive, and then realized what we were doing.  Another Ferny Kat approved campsite.

Today was payday, we went into town, checked our dwindling bank account, and got a couple of necessities at the busy grocery store.  The 1^st of the month and the Friday before a holiday equals a mad house.  

I Googled weasels.  It looks like we were lucky yesterday.  They are viscous animals and will spray like a skunk.  What we thought was play yesterday could have been a ploy for an attack.  This never crossed our mind being he was such a cute little thing.  We will be leaving the hood of the truck open in the daytime because of their nocturnal habit.

We got back, ate lunch at camp, sat back, and the Eagle show continued, but not as active as this morning.

A guy named Thomas, who was camping in the campground, punctured a tire on his car.  He didn’t have a spare.  We know how that is from our last trip when we had a flat on our motorcycle.  Lauren took him to town to get the tire fixed, leaving me and Ferny Kat on wildlife patrol.  Ferny Kat wasn’t much help snoring in the camper.  It must have been nap time for the wildlife as well.

Lauren and Thomas returned a couple hours later.  Thomas and Sharon, his companion, were very appreciative for his help.  Lauren told them no thanks needed, just pay it forward.

About the time Lauren returned, the eagle squawks had woke up Ferny Kat.  She was outside on the prowl. What we were told  is a Golden Eagle may be a juvenile Bald Eagle.  He squawks all the time and frequents the nest.

We had leftover red beans, cauliflower rice, and fried Pearl River Tabby Cat.  Thanks to Brad Harris for skinning these fish a few months at George and Lisa’s.  The best Tabby Cat this side of Pearl River Swamp!!

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8-31-17 - (Day 31 - Catch Up Blog Day)

It was a nice peaceful wakeup this morning to the chirping of Ospreys, quite a bit different than the usual Rooster crow.

We did our usual watching the critters this morning as our resident grouse watched us.  We just can’t get enough of the wildlife on this river. 

Ferny Kat, aka The Hunter, found her a new critter this morning.  She was insistent on hunting around the truck.    Lauren opened the hood and a weasel poked his head up.  When we tried to get him to get out, he would playfully stick his head up at different places of the truck. We left the hood open in the hopes the bright sunlight would deter him.

We went 15 miles to obtain internet signal to upload our pictures and post the last 4 days of our blog which took a lot longer than we expected due to slow internet.

We stopped at the Farmer’s Market at the Libby Chamber of Commerce.

We ate a Frisco Burger and Hamburger Steak at the Switchback Bar and Grill.  It was another great recommendation by the Chamber of Commerce Visitor's Center.

We had planned on a do nothing day, guess we will have to wait until tomorrow for that.

Ferny Kat really wanted to go play with the grouse this afternoon, when she would go toward them, they would chirp at her.  They were not scared of her at all.  We stopped her before she got very close.

We ended the day watching Bald Eagles, Golden Eagles, and Ospreys until the bright, beautiful, half moon appeared in the sky.

Tomorrow is moving day!!

Pictures are here:

8-30-17 - (Day 30 - Yaak Attack)

It was a pretty cold morning with pink colored clouds in the sky as we watched the fish and game show.  The ducks were fishing, the ospreys circling, the crows were crowing, the eagles were soaring, and the 2 grouse were grazing and pooping in the yard.

An osprey with a fish in his claws was being chased by another osprey, and then a Bald Eagle joined in.  They went up the river. After a little while the eagle came back and roosted in a tree across the river.  We bet the eagle won.

Ferny Kat and the chipmunks were at it again this morning.  She charged after a chipmunk, I thought she was going over the riverbank into the water. I screamed.  She missed the chipmunk.  Lauren missed the picture. Needless to say, they weren’t very happy with me.

The ranger at the National Forestry office had recommended the "Yaak Attack"  when we stopped by yesterday.  She told us it would be a pretty ride on the motorcycle to an old logging town that use to have a lot of bars.  

It clouded up by the time we decided to ride to Yaak, Montana.  We headed north on Highway 567.  It was a winding, narrow road, with deep drop offs.  We saw more ospreys, another bald eagle, and a bumper crop of turkeys.  Most of the ride, we felt like we were riding on a paved road through the thicket. 

We stopped at the  famous Dirty Shame Saloon.  There was not much going on, except they were setting up for the Crawdad Festival this weekend.  We took some pictures, and continued on Yaak River Road to Yaak Falls.  It was another pretty waterfall.

When we got to Highway 2, we headed west to Idaho.  We stopped at the International Visitor Center in Bonners Ferry and ate our picnic lunch.  We were going to ride the wildlife loop, but it was a dusty, gravel road.  We took a hike to Myrtle Falls and headed east. We saw a buck and doe on our way to Idaho, we saw Big Horn Sheep and a bunch of turkeys on our way back to camp.

It was another 98 degree day today, with a hot breeze.  It had been cloudy most of the day so we cranked the generator, fried some fish in the fry daddy, cooled off the bedroom, and charged the batteries, being the solar didn’t have much help from Mother Nature today.

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8-29-17 - (Day 29 - Kootenai Falls & Ross Creek Cedars)

We put on our jackets, sweat pants, sweat shirts, and drank our coffee, while watching the river roll by.  Ferny Kat, in her thick coat, was amused by the chipmunks.

We went to town and stocked up while waiting for the temperature to warm up.  We thought we would leave tomorrow.

We took a ride on Amber to Kootenai Falls.  It was a very pretty waterfall. We thought with the drought, that it wouldn’t be very much to it.  It was amazing.

After watching and listening to the waterfalls, walking across the swinging bridge, and being in awe, we continued on.  We stopped at a rest area, had a nice secluded picnic lunch, and Ambered on

We hiked in Ross Creek Cedars, saw the bee bear aware sign, I thought. Oh S***, I don’t have my bear spray.   After we walked the trail a little bit, there were a lot of kids making a bunch of noise.  I knew we were safe.  The cedar trees were huge, similar to the ones in South Mississippi, only there was no swamp water.

We returned back to camp in 98 degree temperatures, wearing shorts and short sleeve shirts.

It was a nice afternoon, sitting under the shade tree, with a light breeze blowing.  We have 2 grouse that have set up camp with us.  Ferny Kat was amused by them as well.

It was a very pretty ride today.  So pretty, we will stay another day, and check out some more scenery tomorrow. Tomorrow is Yaak Day…stay tuned.

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8-28-17 - (Day 28 - Eureka, Montana)

I woke up cold this morning, and thought about our big windows being open, and seeing a bear yesterday.  Needless to say, I shut the big windows and decided I needed to get my bear spray out of storage, just in case.

                                                    morning from the river bank

We got up this morning, drank our coffee, and sat outside enjoying the critters and the river flowing by. We waited for it to warm up, so we could go exploring on Amber.

We stopped by the Libby Dam Visitor Center, talked to the volunteers, who were from Monroe, Louisiana.  We discussed the weather, and were told there is a 50 degree swing here.  We agree.

On our way into the visitor center, we saw a doe and triplets sporting their spots.  They must have been pretty green, cause, they kept running back and forth across the road, like they have never seen a motorcycle.  We patiently waited for them to follow momma.

We rode Highway 228 on the west side of Lake Koocanusa.  It is a 90 mile reservoir.  50 miles are in the USA and 40 miles are in Canada.  The name of the lake is a combination of KOOtenai-CANada-USA.   We stopped in Eureka, ate Fish Tacos & CBLT, (aka Canadian Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato), at Café Jax per recommendation of the volunteers at the visitor center.  It was delish!

We took Highway 37 back to camp.  Both east and west views of the lake were beautiful, riding on the mountain roads, watching osprey, buzzards, and turkeys.  And we only saw 2 vehicles on the secluded Highway 228.  This must be one of those hidden gems!

After we got back to camp we decided being the river is just a few steps away, we are conserving water, and it is 90 degrees, that we would put on our bathing suits, get a bar of soap, and take a bath in the river.  I promise you, it was COLDER than the Pushepatapa Creek, especially when I wasn’t thinking and touched Lauren with my ice cold hands.  He screamed like a girl!!   We bathed in the cold river, and survived the frost bite, we think.

We grilled pork chops, corn on the cob, and had black eye peas on the gas grill.  We are in Stage 2 fire restriction and cannot build a real campfire.  Considering we saw another Fire on the Mountain today.  We totally understand.

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