Daily Archives: July 18, 2020

A Daytrip To The Island . . .

Jan’s been wanting to do a Galveston Daytrip and today seemed like a good day for it. So we headed out about 1pm with our first stop the Sunflower Bakery and & Café on 14th St, our go-to brunch place on the island.

We eaten here a number of times over the years, usually with our kids, but also with friends. It’s always good and it’s always busy, with a wait on weekends.

But not today, which I assume was WuFlu-related. They were busy, with most of the tables full, but rather than cordon off every other table, it looks like they just removed half the tables to meet the rules.

Since this was a special trip we started out with Mimosas, with Jan showing off her new Viking dragon shirt.

Sunflower Cafe Mimosas

Jan got the Small Breakfast with Fruit instead of the Fried Breakfast Potatoes,

Sunflower Cafe Small Breakfast 2

while I got the Migas, with Three Eggs Scrambled With Tortilla Strips, Onion, Tomato, Jalapeño, And Cheddar Cheese With Fruit, Beans And Flour Tortillas.

Very, very good. Especially the Mimosas, which we both agreed had more than their normal share of Champagne in them. Really strong. But good.

And before we left we had to pick up a couple of their fantastic Wedding Cookies for each of us. It is a bakery after all.

After that delicious meal, we drove up and down a number of streets looking at all old homes, some completely redone, some in-work, and some badly in need of help. But all interesting.

One thing we did notice was that Galveston now has their own animal mascot. Over the years as we traveled we’ve seen porpoises, bears, pelicans, mermaids, moose, pronghorn antelopes, and a javelina mother and baby.

And so we’ve got Galveston’s Sea Turtles.

Galveston Turtle 1

Galveston Turtle 2

Galveston Turtle 3

Really neat.

After Jan finished critiquing all the home color schemes she didn’t like, (and she was right. Some of them are down-right hideous.) we drove down along the seawall a good ways until we finally lucked on parking space on the ocean, and just sat and enjoyed the views.

Galveston Beach 1

Galveston Beach 2

Finally about 4:30 we started home after a really nice, fun day.

Wrapping up, I know yesterday I promised you a WuFlu HCQ update, but you’re going to have to wait until tomorrow.

 

Another in our Where We Were 9 Years Ago Today series.


July 18, 2011

Another Wild Moose Chase . . .

Today is our last full day in Columbia Falls, and today’s the day we’re doing Glacier National Park. And if you’re not into hiking, biking, or rowing, the main thing to do in Glacier is to make the 50 mile ‘Going to the Sun’ Highway drive.

So after coffee at 9:30 we headed out about noon, first for some errands and then out into the Park.

And after getting gas and dropping off some mail at the Post Office, our first stop was at The Huckleberry Patch in Hungry Horse.

Huckleberry Patch Sign

Around since 1949, it’s supposed to the be the best place in the area to get Huckleberry Pie. And after really good sandwiches, we decided ‘they’ were right. The pie was delicious . . .  ala mode, of course.

After lunch we drove the 10 miles to the entrance to the park at West Glacier.

GNP Sign

And after getting our National Park Passports stamped at the Visitors Center, we started our drive.

Most of the trip was along the shores of one of the several large lakes in the area.

This is the boat launch area on Lake McDonald at Apgar Village.

Apgar Village Boat Launch

More Lake McDonald.

Lake McDonald 1

These next shots are of the rapids along McDonald Creek.

GNP 1

GNP Rapids

GNP Rapids 2

GNP Rapids 3

What about bears?

GNP Rapids Sign

More beautiful scenery.

GNP 2

These next two shots are of Heaven’s Peak at almost 8900 feet.

GNP Heaven's Peak

GNP Heaven's Peak 2

Needless to say, there are glaciers everywhere you look.

GNP 3

GNP 4

GNP 5

We saw a number of these neat old tour buses around the park. Note the ‘natural’ air conditioning.  Also fun when passing by the many waterfalls along the side of the road.

GNP Tour Bus

GNP Tour Bus 2

More glaciers.

GNP 6

GNP 7

GNP 8

GNP 9

GNP 10

GNP 11

Coming over the top of Logan Pass, at 6664 feet, the high point of our drive, we came across our first wildlife, these two mountain goats, and

GNP Mountain Goat

GNP Mountain Goat 2

this Big Horn Sheep.

GNP Big Horn Sheep

And then of course, more glaciers.

GNP 12

GNP 13

Nearing the end of our 50 mile journey, we passed St. Mary Lake. Very blue.

GNP Lake St Mary

Leaving the park, and rather than just turn around and come back the same way, we decided to take the long way home by taking US-89 south to MT 49 to US-2. And although it’s the long way back at 100 miles, it’s also a little faster because it’s not bumper to bumper through mountain passes like the Sun Highway.

And we got to see new scenery, like these high rolling plains at almost 5500 feet.

GNP High Plains

And Lower Two Medicine Lake.

GNP Lower Two Medicine Lake

About 45 miles from home, we saw this sign and had to stop. I mean, do they lick us, or do we lick them, like toad licking. Enquiring minds, and all that.

Goat Lick Sign

Turns out there was no licking, but we did see a lot of goats.

Goat Lick Goats 1

This guy’s losing his coat. Wonder if he’s cashmere?

Goat Lick Goats 2

Among a lot of others, saw this mother with two kids.

Goat Lick Goats 3

Getting back into Columbia Falls about 8 pm we decided to try The Nite Owl once more, since they should have their Broasted Chicken this time of night. And they did. And it was really good.

Tomorrow we head out for Garrison, MT for one night, and then on to Billings for one night, and then to Cody for 5 nights or more.

And once again, Jan has gone mooseless.


Thought for the Day:

“Success without honor is an unseasoned dish; it will satisfy your hunger, but it won’t taste good”