Suddenly, after coffee and two hours of Internet access, we could breathe again. We celebrated by driving north to Polson, a town at the bottom end of Flathead Lake. It was very quiet, given that it's Labor Day (and in the middle of Montana), but they were still running lake cruises so we hopped on board.
I guess there's a difference between a tour and a cruise, because this outing had 10 minutes of recorded narration and then 1hr20 of silence as we chugged in a circle. It only served to confirm my view that cruises are for seniors and alcoholics, especially ones that don't go anywhere.
That said, I did learn in those 10 minutes that Flathead Lake is named for the Flathead Nation, a conglomerate of Native American tribes. The lake is also deeper than the average depth of the Persian Gulf, larger than Lake Tahoe and, like every other lake dependent on tourism, has a monster that is either a giant sturgeon or related to Nessie (I quote).
After all that excitement, things settled down for the rest of the trip. Now and again a speed boat came past, sometimes pulling children on inflatables. There's some very nice lakefront property around here which probably costs the same as a one-bed apartment in SF. I spent most of the time in quiet contemplation, but did take some pictures of clouds.
All too soon it was over. Back on dry land we popped into Ronan Sports and Western. Now this is a place to visit on holiday. Shotguns line the walls in imaginative displays, revolvers and pistols fill the sales counters, as do booklets on where and how to hunt wolves, elk, and "furbearers". We settled for getting some free hiking advice and picking up a couple of bear bells, which tinkle loudly to let bears know you're coming. Bear spray, to actually repel them, was $45 a can! We decided not to invest, and if we get back from our hike in grizzly country tomorrow I'll let you know if that was a sensible decision...
At the water's edge.
It is impressive in its scale.
Hannah embarks.
This is where I'll be cruising.
Sailing out from land.
The captain. In fact, the entire crew.
Next time we're doing it this way.
Hannah surveys the waters.
I put on a brave face (after three G&Ts).
This might be Wild Horse Island.
Our future home.
Our future lifestyle.
See you again Flathead Lake! But probably not from a cruise ship.
