September 15 - Day 7 Getting used to this life!

DAY SEVEN

RAILROAD CONVENTION

The convention is on its last day. As you can see by this blue sky, the great weather is holding out. We had our last breakfast buffet today. Followed up by a nice latte. I seem to be able to drink as much coffee as I want this trip. Or is it that 1 cup of my home brewed is the equivalent of a whole pot of coffee elsewhere???
This is a closeup of one of two totem poles outside the Lodge. The Blackfeet did not utilize totem poles, but J. J. Hill liked the look, so there are totem poles. Phil's comment: "that explains the orcas carved into them". We also learned the Blackfeet did not wear the traditional Eagle Feathers headdresses, but when the Railroad People wanted them to wear them for performances, they were happy to accommodate.

Wild flowers - bachelor's buttons?

Phil attended a lecture that was all about the big blue engine we toured yesterday. He enjoyed it a lot and I enjoyed a little time on my own. We re-connected at 11:00.

Even after that huge breakfast, we needed a little something for lunch! We went to Luna's for Sweet Potato Fries - they were crispy and delicious! This was a huge plate that we shared. Then, we followed it up with huckleberry pie a la mode. I was too excited to dive into that and forgot to get a photo!

This dragonfly was huge!

He let me take a few pictures, then tried to fly right into Phil's head!

You should have seen the guy on the riding lawnmower laughing at us!

Our final dinner banquet was served in the big tent. It was a big party, with a happy hour before, and lots of door prize tickets, and a big raffle going on. We didn't win anything, but still left the tent with three coffee mugs, and an HO model train!

Here is my dinner. It looked in focus when I took the picture! Prime rib and chicken with artichoke/spinach sauce; steamed orange and yellow carrots, roasted red potatoes, pasta dish, green salad. And the above cake for dessert. We sat with some very fun people. No one at our table won any prizes, but we still had a very nice time.

. . .

We are justifying our eating habits with at least one walk a day into town (at least 1 mile round trip) but I think we may be fooling ourselves! We're almost looking forward to oatmeal and salads when we get home!

. . .

More quality time in front of the fire listening to the piano player.

September 14 - Tuesday Day Six

Day SIX

IZAAK WALTON TOUR

We had a quick buffet breakfast (too much!) and a 9:00 lecture. The lecture was two former train cooks telling about their experiences. That was really fun and interesting. Now, of course, everything is pre-made and microwaved. Back then they baked muffins and pancakes, cooked roasts and fish. Those guys worked for 16 hours on their feet - then got to crawl into a tiny space of a bed til their next shift. They made good money for the day though.

. . .

We all loaded onto buses for the Izaak Walton Inn. For those readers who do not know (like me) , Izaak Walton is important to Sports fishing. Prior to Izaak Walton, fishing was for food. Izaak Walton turned fishing into a sport! (who knew?) . Our bus was the yellow school bus in the back. SQUISH. We slowed down at "goat lick". I thought I saw a goat! But, maybe it was a white rock...we still went by pretty fast.

Here is the Historic Walton Hotel.

It was charming inside and out.

It was originally built for the workers to stay in. The rooms are smallish and the fireplace is half the size of the one at the East Glacier Lodge. We were able to peek inside some of the rooms that were being made up. They were pretty cute. The second floor had tons of memorabilia on the walls. It was like being in a train museum. Down in the basement was more train stuff, a pool table, a bar, and a juke box that played records!

Old goats everywhere you look!

The lobby. We really overtook the place when our five buses of train nuts got there.

These folks at the fireplace were not connected with our group.

They were still interesting to talk to.

So much train related art work.

We were looking forward to looking at this renovated train engine!

We saw it from the train on our way to East Glacier.

Here is Phil driving the engine!

It is made into a 'hotel room' with lovely furnishings and amenities.

They have turned these fan things into skylights! And, decorated with a Western theme. We heard its only $300 per night (2 nights minimum) to stay in this Engine!

A new friend took our picture, and we took pictures of him and his son on the engine later.

Phil even did some video taping for them.

They have three cabooses up in the woods people can stay in as well...

It was a lovely area. We fell in love with the Aspen in this area.

The trunks are so striking, and the leaves are beautiful

and they quake in the breeze...

more tipis here too.

Love these vintage signs. The train stop is "Essex".

Here is a restored caboose we toured too.

It was beautifully decorated,

slightly cheaper than the engine I presume...

Phil in the loft of the caboose.

Hurry up and take the picture, people are waiting!

This was one of my favorite moments! This butterfly posed for me for ten minutes!

I actually saw its butterfly tongue going into the flower for nectar!

And it found such a lovely color coordinated flower to land on to pose!

We had a very nice group lunch there. A barbecue. We had bacon-cheeseburgers, home made potato chips, potato salad, iced tea, and what else, huckleberry cobbler for our lunch. We had barely gotten over the buffet breakfast! But we did our best.

A train! Remember who we're with!

Some of the guys had radios so they knew when the trains were coming!

They were prepared on this overpass and got fabulous photos.

There are even photo openings in the chain link fence!

We waited a while, but gave up and explored a little more around the Inn.

. . .

The bus ride back was uneventful, but you should have heard the groans of everyone trying to unfold and stand up to get off the bus!

. . .

We read by the fire for a while, then walked to the Whistle Stop for dinner. We ordered stuffed baked potatoes. They were HUGE! I kept eating and eating and it never looked any smaller! We saw a lot of big dogs roaming around town and overheard that there was a black bear sighting. We also saw a cowboy wearing SPURS! The convention is winding down but there is still a nice final banquet tomorrow night.

So nice to have that big fire to look forward to in the evening!

We aren't the only ones that fall asleep in front of it!

September 13 - Monday in Montana

DAY FIVE

Great Northern Convention

I'm telling you everything around here is goats and railroads!

This handsome fellow is outside the Whistle Stop restaurant. Its a good thing we walked to town every day because we are eating a lot of food!
Every morning there is a certain madness in the lodge while the drivers sort out their passengers for the red bus tours.

Today we had our first (pre-paid) breakfast in the Lodge dining room. It was a breakfast buffet, so you know what that means: biscuits and gravy, french toast, pancakes, eggs, bacon, and don't forget about the fruit and pastry table!

Working off our breakfast, we wandered to the back of the lodge for a look.

This place is massive.

This is a magpie that posed nicely for me.

Phil thinks they call them cow birds in Eastern Washington.

We ate filched bananas for lunch and attended two lectures: "The mystery of Two Guns White Calf" - Is the Indian on the nickel Two Guns White Calf, or not? (not, but everyone says it is); and "Louis Warren Hill", the two white haired bad girls of the train tracks. They gave an excellent lecture.

We were treated to a Hobo Dinner with the other attendees. It was really great: corn, beans, chicken, pork, potatoes, pasta, rolls. Did hobos really eat like this? We did eat on enameled tin plates. Notice the centerpiece: Its a hobo stick, the kerchief is wrapped around a roll of tp, and battery operated candles in each end! Very clever. We are getting pretty good at the small talk (Where's home for you? did you drive or take the train? Have you ever been here before.......)

The entertainment after the hobo dinner was Earl Oldperson. He is authentic Blackfeet. He gave a great talk about his childhood growing up at glacier in tipis outside the lodge, entertaining the visitors. He went on to meet every President starting with Truman. He was a Scout and went to France with a group of scouts. He was very wise, and gave a sincere program respecting both his Blackfeet heritage and ours as well. He and his nephew sang two songs in their language, the first honoring all veterans, and the second was songs of encouragement for warriors or sports teams. He is in his 80's.

There was a lovely sunset tonight. This is taken out the back side of the lodge.

And I took my camera and monopod and tried taking a night-time photo.

That was really fun and I was surprised how well it turned out.

September 12, 2010 - Day Four

SUNDAY - DAY FOUR

THE CONFERENCE BEGINS The conference actually begins today. We registered days ago though, so we still have time to do our own thing. I took the above photo. The lodge was supposed to be in the background, but my arm isn't long enough! Another traveler saw us and offered to take our photo. It's a couple of photos below...
I had a lot of fun taking macro shots of the flowers.
This is probably not native, but part of the landscaping.

And we spotted this Grizzly Security vehicle parked near the kitchens.

Here is the picture with the lodge in the background.

I wore my glasses this day for some reason.

Phil on one of the many verandas.

We watched for the morning train to get a picture and we were treated to this special car at the end of the train! (Southern Business Observation Car). Phil had the binoculars too so we got to see right into the windows. We heard later that some people (from our group) actually walked out on the tracks to get pictures and got in a lot of trouble. We heard lots of scorn for those bad kids, making these train guys look bad. Later, during one of the lectures, two little white haired ladies that were presenting a lecture about Louis Hill confessed it was them!

They were just overwhelmed by the urge to get the perfect picture!

More piano music. The pianist started playing Christmas music because he wanted to imagine being there at Christmas (it is totally closed after the end of September).

We walked into town for lunch and took photos of some of the cute motels available.

And there are goats everywhere!

The main activities today were a model competition and photo competition. There was also a "rail fair" where people sold various train related memorabilia. I enjoyed both of these activities. I bought some postcards and a pin. I liked the train china but it was SO expensive!

This is the Whitefish Depot.

We saw the real thing from the train Friday morning during breakfast....

Phil is voting on his favorite caboose...

...

We loafed around some more and then went into town for dinner.

We went to the Glacier Village restaurant and had a most yummy dinner. I had chicken in huckleberry barbecue sauce, Phil had Broasted Chicken! I also got a bowl of bison chili, and I would have been happy with just a big bowl of that. It was very good.

...

We had to hurry back to town for the first lectures. "History of Glacier National Park". This was a powerpoint slide show. The second was an old retired bus driver "jammers" they call them, relating his adventures as a young man driving the tour buses "Jamming through Glacier". Then we sat by the fire and skipped the last lecture. I think I'm a bad influence.

...The sun is shining and its easy to find a sunny spot on the veranda.

My nose continues to burn but I don't care.