Meadow Lake Resort

Last Sunday, shortly after Sam's early "Birthday Dinner" had ended, we received a phone call from a couple who John knew growing up.    They explained to us that months and months ago they had book a couple of Condos at the Meadowlake Golf Resort in Montana, but now none of their family could make it - and they were hoping to find somebody who could take their place.    

It didn't really taken much convincing for us to want to go.   I mean really - they had me at Resort;)    So...we spent the better part of Monday trying to clean the house, pack, and do all the jobs around the house we'd been planning to do throughout the week.    By later in the day though- we ALL were ready to hit the road!    

We were able to pass over Logan Pass just as the sun was starting to set and it was breathtaking!!    

I loved the feeling of riding on that road, while the evening Sun shone brightly with the windows rolled down, smelling in the mountain air....

This is a photo of "Lunch Creek" which is located just before you reach the top of Logan Pass.  John has told us so many stories of visits him and his family would make to Lunch Creek.   

The creek flows under the road and comes out of this tunnel below.   Off to the right, there is a flat rock bed where the family would always sit to ...well...eat LUNCH of course!!!

...Okay- that's it,  I want to go back!

We made great time, and got to the resort with still plenty of time left for the kids to explore a bit.    

This was the main building.    

We would often take morning and evening walks up to the main building because they had a beautiful pond out front that was full of gold fish.   The kids named them all, and dubbed them our "family pets" throughout the duration of the stay.    

One fish was named "Elle," and one was named "Freckles" if that gives you any idea of the type of names these poor fish had to endure while we were here;)

The first morning there, Sam woke up to a table full of presents, and a pile of pancakes with 7 Birthday Candles.   Of course, he felt extra special because he's the only one who has ever gotten a vacation for his birthday;)! 

For the next couple of days we kept ourselves busy by:

* taking care of our new found pets

* doing a teensy weensy bit of shopping in Kallispell;)

* Swimming at the indoor/outdoor pool

* playing at our favorite playground

* and enjoying some of the programs that the resort offered (the kids loved "Frog-a-rama" which was an hour of games in the pool;)    

On Wednesday night, they had a Cowboy dinner in the park for all of the guests.   We could cook hot dogs over the fire, and roast marshmallows for s'mores.   The kids ate very little, but played a LOT!   

While they played, John and I sat on the hill and listened to this cute local couple play and tell stories about the history of Montana.   Very Cool!

Oh now this picture really doesn't fit in- but I do want to remember this fun restaurant we ate at one day that Jewel and Kendall had recommended to us. 

  HuHot in Kalispell was seriously so much fun!    It was an all you can eat, Mongolian Buffet sort of a thing, and I am pretty sure I ate a weeks worth of food just because it was so fun!    tsk tsk.    

Luckily, the next day we drove up to Glacier and I was able to walk some of that excessive eating from the day before off;)!   

Trail of the Cedars isn't much of a hike, in fact it isn't really a "hike" at all, but rather a stroll.    However, it's the prettiest stroll I've ever done, and I never get tired of it!

Even though I LOVE Waterton, Glacier never ceases to amaze me either, and one day I'm going to do a controlled study to determine which park I like best of all!    The study will involve lots of fancy hotels, fine dining, and a lot of "alone time."    I plan to take it very seriously;)   

We packed a lot of fun into just a couple of days down there, and we are soo grateful for the chance we had to take advantage of the offer.    It was so great to just be alone with John and the kids for a few days, as this summer has been so full of wonderful, (but busy) things like ....camp, reunions, swim lessons, fence building, etc.  

I'll never turn down the chance for a little bit of resort...ur...I mean Family Time!