The First weeks

 (or standing outside next to the internet tree)

You may be wondering why it took so long for me to start this blog. Our move in date was May 26 but I didn't start this blog till July 10^{th !} Well some things take a little longer in Montana and internet service is one of them. I guess I should have expected it, living outside of town (20 miles) makes phone and internet services a bit difficult. At the house we have one bar of service but only if we stand next to a tree, so we were excited to make the appointments for phone and TV. The appointment for the TV service was 2 weeks out but the first internet appointment was over a month away. We could handle it, it was beautiful and hundreds of moving boxes needed to be unpacked. 

The View From the Deck

We began the unpacking process and made numerous trips to Lowes and Costco to grab supplies. My wife Erin was enjoying most of everything but she was still trying to get used to the quiet and the thought that I had moved her out into the middle of a forest.

Boxes and Boxes

Eating all of our meals on the front deck was now commonplace for us, a pleasant change from the busy and noisy city of Petaluma. Beautiful views abounded, and as soon as we put up a bird feeder we started seeing birds that were all new to us.

 Evening Grosebeaks,

Evening Grosebeak

Downy Woodpecker

Bald Eagles overhead

Calliope Hummingbirds, Woodpeckers even Bald Eagles would soar by. But every once in a while we would catch ourselves trying to send a photo or look up some information on our phones and it would be a half hour of standing next to our tree!




One night while eating dinner it got a little quiet even the birds stopped singing, out of the corner of my eye I see a movement. A young Black Bear sauntered under us and into the driveway. As he heard us gasp he jogged down the driveway, across the street and into the bushes. So great to see one from my own deck, yes I guess I did move Erin into the forest!!

The Black Bear in the Driveway

The bad news is that with all the nature around she had yet to see a squirrel. Now to be honest one of the stipulations on my house search was it had to have a squirrel? (the other two stipulations were no neighbors she could see, or stairs in the house. I was kind of 0 for 3 so far) Everybody said there were squirrels but so far none. I had seen one when I was here last fall but I was getting worried.

We were slowly meeting a few neighbors and the delivery guys began to be our best friends. A quick delivery from UPS or Fed EX sometimes turned into a half hour chatting session. My trips to the dump (which is free in Montana!!) sometimes took an hour as I would find somebody who would want to talk fishing or winter driving or whatever. Store trips took on an unusual vibe as we would always walk out saying…”those were the nicest people ever at store X” or “That was the best experience I've ever had in that store” 

Our bed frame delivery guy who is proficient in chainsaw carving and all sorts of woodworking, agreed to help us with other projects and then take me fishing to some of his secret spots! Now the funny thing is he looks like Grizzly Adams and talks a little like a mountain man but ends up he has an economics degree from the University of Montana and is as smart as anybody I have been around both in Montana or the Bay Area! Oh yeah and our beds and lamps he helped make are pretty cool too!!

Bear Lamp

Pine Bed with Moose Lamp

Now back to the TV and internet fiasco’s. First the TV guy comes out looks around and then tromps off into the woods with what looked like a sextant. About 20 minutes later he comes back and says…well the only way I can help you is if you cut down 5 trees. I moved here for the trees so that isn't going to happen! Nice guy and he recommended another service that could help. We make the appointment for the next week. TV service soon followed, but as soon as it rains, a thunderstorm happens or I’m guessing it snows, we lose service. (Yes a DVD player is on order.) 

The internet guy called soon after and said he would be out the next day. Yahoo!! Well not so fast, he got busy and would have to reschedule for the next week!! OMG this is getting ridiculous, job research, banking, Photoshop, and everything you usually just Google had to be done when we were in a small turn out a mile away, the only  place we had good service. Mapquest, which we needed, was only working when we got out onto the main Highway

View on the way to the store in Bigfork

so we had no idea how long it would take to go anywhere or what direction to head.  Finally the internet guys were coming, they worked for hours and said the good news is that we have internet, the bad is they couldn’t get it from the wall to the computer! A few hours later they gave up. We were at the end of the rope when Erin got the number of the boss and he said he could send a guy to fix it.  The next day a super nice guy arrived and said he wouldn’t leave till it was working. A few hours later we were connected and a few days later I started the blog, just 2 months after we moved in. (Granted we only have 10 mgs on a good day and we hear there aren't many good days.)

Oh and for the direly important squirrels, about a week after the bear sighting I was working in the garage when a squirrel appeared out of nowhere and scolded me good. I figured it was hungry so I put a handful of peanuts out for it. Then I quietly tip toed upstairs and proudly showed off the rare Montana Red Squirrel to Erin. She was happy and was amazed how well that little squirrel had trained me in just one scolding session. We saw the squirrel a few more times and then nothing for about a week. Then we realized it was a female squirrel as she brought back her baby squirrels to rampage all over the deck, terrorize our cats and eat all of the bird’s food!

Finally a Squirrel

The squirrel has an audience

Even though they wake us up at 4:30 in the morning we still love them.

Next time…My first fishing trips, what is with the world being light from 4 am till 10:30 pm!! And our first trip over going to the sun rd and Glacier National Park!

The beginnings.......WHY?

Airport Sign

So I guess the big question is, Why do a blog? And why should anybody read it? I am not sure I can answer the second question but as for the first I thought it would be interesting for my friends from Northern California to read about my adventures and misadventures as I moved my family away from everybody and everyplace they have ever known and drop them in the top Northwest Corner of Montana. A place that I think is more beautiful and different than anyplace I have lived before. Relocating from Northern California’s foggy days and moderate winters to a place that has snow ice and -30 degree temperatures. The awesome fishing, wildlife photography, fantastic scenery and proximity to Glacier National Park may make it worth it. (I hope!)

Flathead County Courthouse

Moving from a busy SF bay area with millions of people to a place where 100,000 people live in 5,256 square miles could be interesting and a bit aggravating as well. Would I miss the ocean or would Giant Flathead Lake and all the streams and lakes around me make up for it? Would I hate the snow or revel in its beauty? Will I fall down my driveway on the way to get my mail, or will I fall in love with snowshoeing and cross country skiing? Do they have internet? Will all the things I hear about Montanans hating Californians be true or is it just a way to keep Montana’s beauty to themselves? (so far more of the latter but more of that later).

Maybe this blog will help somebody else in a warmer climate make a decision whether to move to a colder one or maybe you will just enjoy my photography or maybe you will use some of the information you find here to catch a few fish. I just hope you enjoy it!

My goal is to log the journeys we take, bring you along for some of my fly fishing trips and tell the stories of some of the everyday experiences we have that might help you understand a little about what we learn along the way. As a photographer I hope you enjoy the photos and the stories about where I took them. I also hope someday you decide to visit Glacier National Park.

Finally please ask questions, leave comments or offer suggestions. I am new at Blogging and I am always trying to learn new things.

The Beginning……….(or 18 hours or 1,000 miles)

It all began as a dream two years ago. I was just passed over for a promotion and it looked like my future would be doing the same thing for the next 10 years with no possibility of a raise. I was a park Ranger and that was a great job but it seemed as if the organization wanted to go another way. Embracing the new and getting rid of the old. I was 54 so old I was. Sensing my disappointment and seeing the writing on the wall my wife asked if I would be happy doing the same job for the next 10 years. I said yes but she could tell it wouldn’t have made me happy or healthy. She asked where was the most beautiful place I have ever been, I told her Glacier National Park. She immediately booked me a flight. When I came back she asked if I enjoyed it. Of course! She then said, could I live there? A dream for me but what about her? We talked and we were both fed up with long commutes, overpriced homes we could never afford, working so we could just stay the same and hardly ever being able to go on vacation, me driving 2 -3 hours to go fishing, more houses being built with no water, and in general California! She was willing to go so we started trying to figure out how to do it. I could officially retire in a year, use some of my vacation as down payment, save some, but we would need the right place and the right price.

6 months later I went back to Kalispell Montana and spent 3 days looking at houses. 22 houses later I found one that fit the bill. I convinced my wife it was the one and without ever seeing it or ever have been in Kalispell (we had been in Glacier 22 years ago) she agreed to go for it and trust my decision.

May 23, 2019 Departure

It was finally time to go, the Petaluma house was fixed up, we had spent months painting and fixing up the yard we were exhausted but we were ready to head to Montana. Everything was already in the new house in Montana we had been living on a couch and twin bed and paper plates for 2 months. We had a small batch of boxes two cars and our family to move. My wife, myself and 7 cats. We knew we would be fine but the anxiety over moving our furry family almost gave us heart attacks. What if they fought all the time? What if they screamed the whole way? What if they escape?!! We built a special barrier for the car and my wife drove the cats and I followed with everything else.

We left Petaluma Ca. at 6:30 am and were on the way. I wasn’t in the car but I can tell you the cats were amazing! They didn’t cry or fight. They didn’t try to escape they were brave and probably a bit scared. 

The road through Oregon

We made it to Kenniwick Washington by 9 pm. My wife stayed with them in the car (my hero) as I’m 6’5” and it would have been uncomfortable. We traded in the morning to take showers and were off by 7 am. We drove into the town and into the house that my wife had never seen in person at 3:30 pm. Exhausted we got the cats into the house and Montana greeted us with a giant hailstorm. We didn’t care we were here!

Home!

Would my wife like it? Were there squirrels,or bears?!! How far was the store? Stay tuned...😉