So, yesterday, before we set out, I fixed breakfast for John and I. I hadn’t quite sat down as John took his first bite and somehow managed to lose a crown (so glad we no longer have to refer to him as “your majesty”). This morning, he got on the phone to try and track down a dentist. The nearest town to us is Kalispell, which ironically is the hometown of our family dentist. John looked and looked and apparently all of the dentists around here only work Monday – Thursday. John decided it was worth a shot to call our dentist and see if he had any suggestions. He called the office and they said, “Unfortunately, we are unable to ask him for you as he is away… visiting his family… in Kalispell!”
Today we headed into Polson, the birthplace of our family. My great-grandpa owned a clothing store on the main drag and the man who bought the store from him still manages it to this day! We visited that shop (and the man) and then headed down to the museum in town. The president of the museum still remembers my great-grandpa! As we ventured further back, they had all of the class pictures from all of the graduating classes from the high school, we found my Nana and Papa and a couple of great uncles.
Nana 
Papa 
Uncle Jack
One of the main attractions at the museum is a giant, 7’ White Sturgeon, mounted on the wall. There is a Loch-ness monster legend around Flathead lake. Back in the day, a group of Rotarians (including my great-grandad) got together and sponsored a fishing contest to settle the matter once and for all. They offered $100 per foot for any unidentified fish that was pulled out of the lake. This giant white sturgeon was the talk of the town. They drug it out and had it in the back of the truck and everyone came to see. The lady who was the president of the museum told us she was 8 years old (same as Trista) and when she went to see it, it was still flailing around and it caught her arm with it’s fin and she showed us the scar that she still has to this day! I can’t explain how cool it is to be nearly 40 years old and be somewhere that people still remember your great-grandfather (he died when I was 13) and see high school photos of your grandparents prominently on display!
We saw some other cool stuff at the museum and then headed out for a picnic lunch down by the lake. We ran some other errands in town and then headed back to our RV for a nice dinner outside… our “friendly” neighbors apparently spend every summer in the same spot and came over to chat. They said that the party is “so much better” when the 4th falls on a weekend and I looked her straight in the eye and said, “I can’t even fathom something worse than last night.”
I am learning that RV life frequently is not best for introverts!
