Day Two - Missoula to Golden BC

Sunday May 25th 2008
Missoula to Kalispell to Golden BC
412 miles - estimated 8 hour drive

Drove north out of Missoula. Nick did a little homework, but not much. Mostly reading the old journals of various explorers who visited Soda Springs.. Montana’s Flathead Lake was GORGEOUS. We crossed the Canada border with no fuss at all. We drove north towards Golden BC., this drive along the west side of the Canadian Rockies is stunning.

Canada is like a whole other country, but not really. The candy in the convenience stores is slightly different with familiar brands and British brands mixed together. The gas is in liters so the price listed looks cheap but it really isn’t. Really strange. We stopped at a cafe in Skookumchuck for lunch, the waitress wasn’t exactly on the ball, but the food was good. As we continued north the ‘check engine’ light became lit. It wasn’t blinking so we kept driving. The car sounded fine. I checked the book and it said to take it to the dealer, and implied that it could continue to be driven. When we got to Golden we checked into the Best Western (I got a free night here because of all the other nights I had stayed with them on the sabbatical). I tried to call a local mechanic, to no avail. I thought I was late, but the truth was, people don’t work on Sunday. I called Jessica’s husband Doug, he’s worked on so many cars for my family I thought it was my turn. He said the car would be okay for driving and that it was probably a just sensor.

We used the AAA guide for the first time to find a restaurant called Eleven22. Problem was, the street address was 1122 also. We had a bunch of fun recreating the “Who’s on First” routine when Nick kept asking me the name of the restaurant and I kept giving him the alleged address. The food was AMAZING, but the most fun came from the table next to us. A dozen or so 13 year old girls were celebrating a birthday. They had ordered fancy non-alcoholic drinks, lots of food and desserts. They were very grown up, but not really. Awhile later a group of older women 50’s/60’s, came by and talked to the youngsters. They were every bit as silly as the 13 year olds, especially since they had been having grown up drinks.


The food here was amazing! Dessert: Raspberry Trifle for me and Ginger Cheesecake for Nick.

Recipe ideas that came from these desserts include:

Raspberrys in puff pastry, filling of creamcheese with whole fresh berries
Or maybe wrap the filling and berries in pie crust and deep fry them
Or dust with powered sugar or dip in chocolate…

Mint chocolate cheesecake
Regular chocolate cheesecake with a hint of mint
Options mint flake topping, candied mint leaves, mint cookie crust, mint glaze layer

After dinner we walked around the hotel area so that I could make my 10,000 steps. The scenery was gorgeous; there was a lot of trees, huge mountains and a small stream. “Cats to Cattle” was the sign on the feed store, but most amusing was the sign on the van “Golden Homemaking & Companionship: Helping Hands for You.”

For more images of this leg of the trip see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157605276619777/

Best Western Mountainview Inn
1024 - 11th Street N, Box 2400
Golden, British Columbia: V0A 1H0, Canada

Receipts:
Super 8 – Missoula MT
Exxon – Kalispell MT
Town Pump – Polson MT
Skookumchuck service (lunch) – Skookumchuck BC
Eleven 22 Grill & Liquer – Golden BC

Wildlife & Birds:
Bald eagles
Magpies
Crows
Ravens
Red tailed hawks
Canada geese
American kestrels
Mallards
Starlings
Brewers blackbirds
Red winged blackbirds
Calliope hummingbirds
Robins
Turkey vultures
Yellow warbler
Swainson's hawk