The air conditioner quit in Challis, but with lows in the 40’s and 50’s, we haven’t missed it.  Now that we have to cross Montana and North Dakota in a heat wave, there will be times when we need A/C, which means a trip to the AirStream dealer in Billings.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the problem is the old Styrofoam jammed into the fan trick.   No kidding: a highly recommended repair shop suggested that, but he was booked for a week.  (Should we have waited?)

We camped three nights in Seeley Lake, MT, at a Forest Service campground called River Point.   It’s a nice place with lots of lodge pole pines and good spacing between sites.  Unfortunately it has mosquitoes as hungry and aggressive as in Oil City, LA.  They’re so bad in Oil City the town doesn’t have starlings:  the birds have figured out that there are better places to live.

The Point’s grass is tall enough to hide a toddler.  Maybe they let it grow to protect the hucks.  Kat picked another $6 bag, and we’ll have another fine huckleberry dish to report on in due time.

On the way to that camp we passed several scenes like this one.  What is that golden flower?  My first thought was hops, without conviction.  After a while, with the wind blowing just right, it quickly became apparent that the crop is the herb known as ‘dill’.

Halfway to Billings we stopped at a pay camp in White Sulphur Springs to recharge batteries, take real showers, and wash clothes.   We also need to do some serious internet research on what to see in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.  Retirement is hard work.

One of the “easy” trails we hiked in Glacier goes to St. Mary’s Falls.  It’s not long, maybe a one mile round trip, but downhill all the way to the falls, and uphill all the way back.   On the way back we were passed by a couple of kids and a young woman, a comely lass, you might say.  As they strode past us I noticed that she was packing heat.  She carried a Glock automatic in a hip holster, so I figured she’s either FBI (they’re required to carry a sidearm at all times) or literally loaded for bear.  This gal was giggling way more than you’d expect from a Special Agent.  Somebody made her spend time and many rounds on a combat pistol range.

Will she get a date for the prom?