Day Six

After a short devotional by Mose Yoder we pulled out of the hotel parking lot and headed for Kalispell, Montana.  The weather was perfection, blue skies and just a little brisk.    

Since we're doing a bit of driving today it was a good time to tell stories.  Different people went to the mic at the front of the bus to share and reminisce.  Most of the time, peels of laughter mingled with the tales, and most of the time, those tales involved Dave.  

Like the time in Europe when he catapulted down an airport escalator along with numerous pieces of luggage only to find, after the dust settled, that his pants were ripped in several places.  To further add to his consternation, when he opened a suitcase to retrieve a new pair, he yanked out his replacement trousers and colorful underwear went sailing across the open space among the travelers scurrying by.  

Then there was the time on a snowmobiling trip when he was sporting a shiny, scratch-free shield on his helmet.  You know, the flip up kind you can open as you drive.  Cruising up the trail in the cold, clear air he did what men are prone to do and spit enthusiastically only to realize too late that his shield was still down.  This didn't happen once or twice, but THREE times.  Much to his disgust and to all of our amusement.

Early afternoon found us at the Missoula Smokejumpers Visitor Center. An interesting tour followed with information about the brave men and women who parachute in to the sites of forest fires in a five hundred mile radius.  Other Smokejumper sites are scattered around the northwest, as far  away as Alaska.  When training, applicants must be able to carry 110 pounds for at least three miles, within ninety minutes.  As it should be, the physical requirements are the same for both men and women.  Our guide told us that some fairly petite women have passed the test.  Without doubt they are in somewhat better condition than yours truly.

Just after 4PM we drove into an idyllic setting that would be hard to beat, anywhere.  Simon Ray and Esta Miller from St Ignatius, Montana have a home surrounded by lush green grass bordered with a perfusion of beautiful and colorful flowers. The backdrop of mountains feels like it’s just across the field, although they are surely much further.  Tables were set up on the patio and a home-cooked Amish-style meal was ready for us.  How could this get any better?  Well, it did.

My cousin, Rudy Byler, and his lovely wife Esther, live in Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho.  On the map it looked like barely a stone’s throw away, as they say.  So I called them yesterday to see if they’d want to pop in and favor us with a visit since we were passing through.  Always up for an adventure they said, “Sure!”  So they were there waiting for us. 

After hugs and greetings all around someone asked them how long it had taken to get there from Bonner’s Ferry.  “Four hours,” they said.  FOUR HOURS?! We exclaimed.  “Oh that’s not far when you live out west,” they laughed. I’m thinking this is the same pioneer spirit that the originals had when this land was settled in the first place.

Having them there made an already special evening all the more so.  And, as it turned out, there were others on the bus besides me and my siblings that they knew.  Some of them had not seen each other in forty or fifty years!  How fun to reconnect after all that time.  

We decided this was a perfect setting for a group photo.  Anyone who has ever tried to get forty-three people to cooperate for a picture will appreciate the chaos that ensued.  But we managed it somehow. And then it was back on the bus once again.

It was after 8 by the time we arrived at our hotel in Kalispell.  Rejuvinated from our fun time in St. Ignatious a party was in full swing at the back of the bus.  (Edna and Marge are instigators in case anyone is interested in knowing where the blame lies.)  And who should be waiting to greet us when we got there?  Christ's sister and her husband from, you guessed it: Bonner's Ferry!  So, another family reunion, introductions, and more happy times.

And now, a card game awaits.  This is fun.