LIBBY DAM FIRE 2013

We had a little excitement  Friday evening about 8:45pm on July 26th.  A visitor knocked on our door and announced there was a fire in the woods across from our trailer.  Dale had me call the control tower at the dam to see if they could spot anything on their cameras and in the meantime he hopped on the "gator" and grabbed a fire extinguisher.  The control tower finally spotted the fire at the point just across from us...in a heavily wooded area.  When Dale arrived the flames were high up in the trees and he couldn't reach it with the extinguisher.  The tower called 911 and we made sure everyone was out of the day use area so they wouldn't be blocked in by fire equipment.  When management arrived and checked out the situation,  they suggested we evacuate.  So at about 9:30pm our co-host, Barbara and us packed up our rigs and moved to the Garage parking lot.  It takes awhile for us to get everything packed up (1 1/2 hrs) So we pulled into the parking lot at about 11pm for the night.  When we woke up the next morning.  We were advised that about 3 acres had burned through the night and that a helicopter was coming at 8:30am to drench the smoldering area with water.  God knows there was plenty of water available there at Lake Koocanusa.  We were allowed to stand on top of the dam to watch this spectacle.  It was quite a sight. It did the trick.  The firemen told us we could move back into our campsite Saturday afternoon.  However, on Sunday morning while Dale was doing his rounds, picking up trash and the like he noticed that the fire had started up again.  The Forestry Firemen had just arrived to check on things so were able to water down those little hot spots.  It was very interesting, really, and I never was afraid.  I love the helicopter photos.

AMISH AUCTION - Summer 2013

There is an Amish settlement in Kootenai, Montana.  A small town close to Eureka about an hour from where we were volunteering at Libby Dam.  Once a year they have an auction.  We were lucky enough to be able to drive up and check it out.  We didn't buy anything but food.  But for those of you that know us, that shouldn't be any big surprise.  There were some gorgeous quilts.  They also auctioned off furniture and even log houses.  It was a lot of fun just to watch.

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK - June 26, 2013

We have really been enjoying our time, here in Montana.  We took a few days off and drove over to Glacier National Park.  What an awesome place.  There was lots of snow and flowing water that last week in June when we were there.