Adventures in Great Falls, Montana

Miles and miles of up and down

We had another 400 mile driving day.  Absolutely beautiful scenery, but hard, hard driving!  It was sooo hilly, up & down, up & down.  It was impossible to make good time!  We aren’t McDonald’s people, but I have to say I don’t think I’ve ever driven so many miles in the US without seeing a single McDonald’s!  Towns were few & far between & not much to them.  We stopped in Circle, Montana for lunch at a place called The Lunchbox.  Yummy subs & nice people.  As we were walking from the RV to The Lunchbox, we passed a sign for Montana Liquor & Gun Store.  Alyssa exclaimed, “That just doesn’t seem like a good combination!  You go & buy your stuff, then you drink & you’re awfully tempted to buy a gun!” LOL! 

Big Sky Country is not an empty slogan

We stayed in Great Falls at a place called Dick’s RV Resort.  The place has full hookups with a pull-through site.  Lots & lots of rvs!  When Steve pulled in, he had me direct him to drive up on boards to help level our rig.  As I was staring at the tires, I noticed a bubble on one!  Yikes!  Soooo glad we saw this one while we were NOT driving AND we were staying in a town that had pretty much everything we could possibly need.  Steve spoke to a fellow fifth wheeler whom we learned had been full-timing for 12 of the last 15 years!  He helped direct him as to how to go about getting it all taken care of, and the whole thing really turned out to be a non-event, just more money & minor inconvenience, such a huge blessing, especially considering the hard driving we had just completed and the driving still to come to get to Glacier!

Glad we saw this before it blew

What House???

Not my house anymore :)  :(

After spending time at cousins’ houses, Genna informed us that she didn’t want to sleep in the RV.  I asked her if she missed her old house, to which she replied, “What house???”  Kinda funny, but the reality is that nearly three months after moving out of our old house, there are some family members that are missing our old house.  And that’s okay; I do, too; the rv doesn’t quite feel like home yet!  Some things that are missed: space (if Steve is standing at our bathroom sink, I cannot get by him to get to my clothes or Jake’s clothes), beds (real mattresses are more comfy than rv ones), bubble baths, and baking (cookies, biscuits, fresh bread).  Yeah, I hate to admit this, but we can’t seem to figure out how to light the pilot on our oven, and we actually have asked a couple fellow rv’ers.  I think we need to bleed the line, but we haven’t figured out how to do it.  It has been so hot that I figured it wasn’t prudent to heat up the rv by using the oven, but after living life with a double oven for so many years, I truly miss the option of baking.  I’m sure we’ll eventually solve this problem, but I still miss it! 

SOLD !?!

Another thing I think we miss, dare I say, is routine!  No, I don’t miss the boring, mundane stuff of life, and yet, I miss having an established way of doing things.  I will admit that I have trouble getting it all done everyday.  In our old way of life, I would have procrastinated doing dishes or laundry so I could work on a project, but here, I cannot put off doing dishes or whatever, so that I can work on a project (i.e. the blog), especially if moving day is within 24-48 hours.  The reality is that I still have four kids, including a six month old and a three year-old that still need lots of my time and attention, and thus far, I have had even less “free time” than I did before..  Actually, I guess I should say I have less freedom to take free time because it certainly is not like I managed to get it all done in our old house!  I keep thinking that will change, but nearly three months into this adventure, it hasn’t thus far.  Not griping, just trying to process why it is that even though my home is so much smaller than it was before, I still have trouble getting it all done…

Medora, ND

We left MN and drove over 500 miles to get to Medora, ND for a visit to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  We brought a heat wave with us, clearly.  Steve finally admitted that there actually might be some validity to the term heat index.  It was so muggy in St. Michael that all of the windows on my sister’s house were covered in condensation.  And it is hot & muggy here in ND, as well.  We only visited the South Unit, driving the recommended loop and hiking all the ranger-recommended hikes.  On our second day we took the short drive to the Painted Canyon for a super pleasant evening hike.  The park is beautiful, even more so because, despite the fact that we are visiting in peak season, it just isn’t crowded.  It is also super clean (no litter), probably the cleanest National Park we have ever visited thus far.  The girls were all delighted by the prairie dog towns which are not only plentiful, but active.  There are little prairie dogs all around, just chatting it up with each other!  When Genna saw them, she asked, “Is that a mouse, or is that a dog??”  The Cottonwood Campground Picnic Area is probably the nicest picnic area we’ve been to, as well…picnic tables in great condition and each one separate and shady. 

We also went to the Medora Musical on Sunday night, when kids get in for free.  Lots of country western songs and dancing.  Pretty good show, all in all, though it would be super spendy to go if we had to pay for tickets for the kids. 

We took it easy on our second day here, which was much needed!  We discovered that Medora has awesome playgrounds, especially considering it is such a small little town!  The girls wished we had more time to play at all of them, as well as browse all of the gift shops.  Definitely a neat little town to visit!

More Family Time

We left Orr and drove to my brother Mark & his family’s home in Ogilvie, MN.  We spent a week here.  The kids all had a blast, even Jake.  It was so good to see our kids get to know and have fun with cousins they rarely get to see.  We experienced fall-like temps (TX fall), violent storms (Steve & I were at the grocery store in St. Michael when the storm hit which picked up & moved the cart corrals all over the parking lot, narrowly escaping our truck…yikes!!), and even super warm & muggy days.  Steve worked a lot, and I’m not sure what I did, besides dishes, laundry, and cooking.  Mostly intangible things, but we sure were busy!  What a treat to meet my newest nephew, just three weeks younger than Jake!  He is such a cutie & has such a sweet personality!  We got a chance to keep Julia and Clay for them while they took Cole for his hernia surgery.  And I got to deliver that special project I’ve been working on since we moved out of the house.  :)  And by the way, Grandma Zavocki, take a look at what those Christmas presents you got for the girls last year netted.  Feel free to place your orders now.  :)

Besides Cole’s surgery which went well, the other major happening of the week is that Jake started crawling!  Yikes!  He is just 6 months old, and I will confess that I was actually secretly hoping he would be a late crawler.  Not so much though.  He is our earliest crawler by a good month and a half, I think, and he is the first of our kids to learn to crawl before learning to sit unassisted.  He already survived his obligatory falling off the bed once.  Ouch!!  Always makes me feel awful, but he survived completely unscathed, and I now know that he is really quite fast & cannot be trusted or left alone.  That made the last couple days at Mark & Wendi’s more interesting as he can quickly get to all the things that are unsafe for a 6 month-old to play with & put in his mouth.  For the first time ever, Steve has actually admitted that mobility in a baby is a doubled-edged sword.  Man, he is growing up sooo fast!

These are the knit hats that our kids made for them

Cole holding the quilt that Linda and the girls made for him

We ended our time here in MN with an overnight stay at my sister Donna’s place with her family.  More fabulous cousin time, followed by a chance to be a witness to & partaker of my brother-in-law Todd’s weekly fire-up-the-grill and grill everything that’s not pinned down routine.  :)  Oh my goodness…he made the most fabulous grilled ribeye and grilled stuffed jalapenos!!  And Donna made some super yummy curry soup, too!  I know what I’m requesting next time we visit! 

It was such a sweet ending to such a fabulous visit here in MN.  I really treasured the time I had visiting with my siblings and their families.  Yes, I know that those of you who are keeping tabs, or at least attempting to keep tabs on our whereabouts were probably frustrated by the lack of updates, but our days have been full, full, full, and nights were short.  I wouldn’t trade the time we had here for anything, but I am hoping for a slower pace from this point forward.

Bummed that we somehow missed getting a family shot of my sister Hope and her family.

Orr, MN

The drive from the lake to Orr was a tough one!  We left on a super sad note, scanning the horizon one last time for a little white & black dog bounding through the grass.  Shanan commented in tears, “It’s so easy to take things for granted; you just don’t realize how special something is to you until you don’t have it any more.”  Wise words from a ten year-old.  

We have certainly learned some valuable lessons from losing Belle, & not just about pets.  After she ran away, I realized how easy it is for something to happen when there’s a crowd & people or pets are out of their element.  I hugged my kiddos a little tighter & kept closer tabs on them.  I remembered the importance of the buddy system, especially important in crowds.  And, the silver lining is that we were blown away with how helpful & concerned the neighbors were, as well as the people at the Sheriff’s Department & the Humane Society.  Everyone seemed to check in to see if we had updates & we even saw some out looking for her, as well.  When Steve & my brother-in-law went into town to put up flyers, someone had already made copies of the flyer we had given & posted them in town. 

Pelican Lake is a beautiful as ever

Anyway, we did make it to Orr, a place of special memories for Steve & me.  We attended summer camp there as teenagers, and we went back as a married couple & worked canoeing for three summers from 1999 to 2001.  Tom & Jenny Burnett live on Pelican Lake and graciously let us park on their property and share a bit of life together for about three days.  Their five beautiful kids quickly won us all over, and our girls had an absolute blast here!  Shanan has always been interested in fishing in spite of the fact that her daddy has no fondness for it, and we encouraged her that this was the place to really learn all about it.  And learn she did!  Wow…she fished, and fished, and fished.  She pumped Tom for information so she could improve, and she was delighted to catch fish and even take them off the hook herself!  Alyssa fished, as well, though she wasn’t quite as delighted with it as Shanan.  Even Steve got reacquainted with fishing & enjoyed himself...because the fishing is just that good on Pelican Lake!  I think I see a fishing rod purchase in our future…

Shanan caught one of the famous Pelican Lake giant bluegills ;)

We did drive over to the old S.E.P. property, which bears little resemblance really to the camp it once was.  We also took the kids to see Vermillion Falls and the Gorge on Crane Lake.  If you haven’t been to this part of the country, it is such a gem!  There is something so incredibly peaceful about this part of the world.  Definitely a fisherman’s paradise, a canoeist or kayaker’s dream.  We’re looking forward to bringing our kids back here for a canoe trip in Voyageurs National Park and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area when we don’t have any nursing babes any more.  

Hiking to the gorge

The gorge, kayakers must love this place

Shanan caught a bass at the bottom of Vermillion Falls

Tom, Jenny, and baby Tessa.

Jonah and Morgan had a sleepover on the last night we were there

Lauren (don't tell the others but she was Steve's favorite)

Carsyn

Reality Bites

Still no Belle.  So upset we’ve lost our dog.  Hard not to get stuck in the land of would’ve, should’ve, could’ve.  Yesterday I realized that if she hadn’t bolted on Saturday night when there were fireworks, she would’ve bolted on Sunday when there were more, or Monday, when there still more (this is fourth of July on the lake after all)…we just didn’t know that she would run away from us when she got scared.   We had no experience with that;  she has always come to us when she’s afraid.  I’m pretty sure the only way to have truly protected her was to have her crated when it happened.  This is a whole different ballgame, a scenario that we did not foresee. 

Today is moving day again, off to Orr, MN, and it just feels wrong to pack up & leave without her.  We’ve invested in her for over a year; we survived house training and the puppy urge to chew up & destroy everything in sight.  She really was perfect for this way of life; she had adjusted well and become more obedient.  Because she is so portable, we really did take her everywhere we could & do everything we could with her; she truly became our constant companion.  She even swam out in the lake to get on a float with Shanan even though she’s not super fond of the water.  She was always with us , and she attracted attention everywhere we went.  Ever since she ran away, I can’t help but think how much she would have enjoyed being with us & doing what we have been doing, and how scared she is right now being separated from us.  We’ve posted flyers with her picture & our contact info, we’ve called to see if someone picked her up & turned her in…the reality is I don’t think we’ll ever see her again.  And that reality really bites…

On a more positive note, Alyssa picked up poison ivy from our stay in Kansas.  After her last two bouts with poison ivy, she burst into tears when she realized she’d gotten it again.  However, I’m so happy to be able to say that it was very contained on one leg & foot, didn’t spread, and it is already done & healing, just a week later.  Praise for that for sure! 

And it really has been sweet to be together with family.  I can’t think anyone else would have invested so much time & energy in helping us look for Belle.  And the cousins have partied hard!  There has been swimming, paddle boating, jet skiing, pontoon boating, and great big slumber parties.  Lots of memories being made, for sure!

Don’t it always seem to go... that you don’t know what you got till it’s gone…

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  Really, it kind of was.  Before we left Kansas, Steve decided that we needed to pull our slides in & see what would happen if we stayed for an overnight at a place like Walmart where etiquette dictates you don’t put your slides out or stabilizers down.  Considering that the girls’ room consists of two slides, one on each side, and it is inaccessible from the inside of the rv with the slides in, we wanted to see if they could get in through the second entrance and make it work in a pinch if needed.  There was a lot of hasty preparation for departure (still working on smoothing out the whole process of moving).  Steve hadn’t considered the fact that it had stormed pretty heavily on our first night, and since we were level and he pulled the slides in before hitching, water had pooled on top of the slide.  When he hitched, the rv was no longer level, and all of the water that collected on top of the slides poured off onto the carpet inside.  Niiice…  We blotted it up with a towel and poured baking soda on it to help absorb the moisture, and we were off…Minnesota-bound.  We had a big day of driving, but Steve handled it well, and the kids really did well, too.  We arrived at my oldest sister’s place just before dark, right as Minnesota Mosquito Madness was peaking.  Boy, they are vicious!!

Upon arrival, much visiting & fun ensued!  And mounds & mounds of laundry, too!  Nonetheless, we have had an absolute blast together!  It has been so great to not be in such a big rush to visit with all of my siblings and their families that live around here, so much fun to see my kids get a chance to bond with all of their cousins from around here!  And Belle had a blast, too…she had so much fun pal-ing around with her brother (yes, she’s fixed) and making new doggie friends.  She played, and played, and played!  And got jealous when she saw us petting or holding cats. 

So here we are at my sister’s lake house for the fourth of July weekend, and we couldn’t have asked for better weather!  Warm & sunny during the day & cool at night.  All of my siblings that live in MN were able to come, and it has been just one big party, until last night.  After a full day of fun by all, there was an impromptu fireworks run and show.  The dogs were all inside, thoroughly whooped by their full day of frolicking with each other.  As the fireworks were going off, I kept thinking that Belle would be terrified by the noise, and asked several times if anyone knew where she was because I was nursing Jake.  The consensus was that she was sleeping in one of the bedrooms in the house.  I should mention that with all of us together there are 8 adults, 15 children, and 4 dogs…a whole lotta people, and unfortunately, there was a lot of traffic in and out of the house...and Belle is a 12-13 lb rat terrier, quite small.  Bottom line is that when they were done, we couldn’t find her.  She had clearly bolted at some point during the fireworks.  Even though we mobilized well and quickly, on foot, in Tim’s golf cart, and even by vehicle, calling & calling & calling for her & looking for her, we couldn’t find her.  We had no real option but to go to bed and assume that she had probably run until she found a place she deemed safe to hunker down for the night.   We slept with all fans off, so we could hear her, and left our windows and doors open, so we could hear her come home when she determined it was safe.  But…as soon as my popped open this morning, I realized she had not come home over night, and I had a sick feeling in my gut. 

This is the last photo we have of Belle

It’s been a full 24 hours since we saw her last, and we have searched, and searched, and searched.  Family has been awesome; they have devoted hours of their weekend of fun to help us look for her.   We have talked to every neighbor around here; everyone saw her yesterday but no one today.  And did I mention that her I.D. tags just fell off recently & we hadn’t replaced them yet??  Talk about feeling like irresponsible owners…can’t help thinking about how scared she must have been last night and how terrified she feels now that she can’t find her way back to us.  Rat terriers are super loyal; I can’t think that she is purposely staying away.  She must be lost…or dead.  Steve & I went out looking for her together at one point today, and we prayed together that God would lead her back to us but ultimately, we put it in His hands.  We both felt more peaceful afterwards.  It doesn’t look good, for sure, but it is still possible she could come back, and if she does it will be nothing short of a miracle.  And we will be grateful…  I did realize though that my tendency is to hand something over to God and then realize later that I have subconsciously decided that because I’ve given it to Him, He will reward me by giving me what I wanted in the first place.  Ummm…it really doesn’t work that way.  The situation is in His control, and should He bring our dog back to us, we will give Him all the glory, we will be much wiser dog owners, and she will be all the more cherished because of what we almost lost.  But, there are no guarantees here, except that God is good, all the time, regardless of what my circumstances look like, regardless of the outcome of this trial.  And I’m happy to say that in handing it over to Him, we all managed to choose to find some joy & happiness in this otherwise perfect day today, in spite of the fact that we’re aching a little inside for our loss of a member of our family, our fiercely loyal companion, our little guardian watchdog.   Still hoping…