We planned to begin our day by having a look at the Farmers Market in Historic Downtown Missoula and it was good to see the sun shining as we left the Best Western.
We parked at a neat little park by the river and found a parking slot without a hitch...when we returned there wasn't a space to be found! The market was a real find and its size and the variety of flowers, plants (very 'English' species!), and vegetables on offer were amazing. (The hanging baskets were fabulous!)
We spoke with Ka, a second generation immigrant from Laos who together with the rest of her family ran a market garden on a part-time basis, taking turns to run a stall on the Market every Saturday. Her family had moved to Montana from Michigan and as she said "There's money out there, if you are prepared to work for it!"
Leaving Missoula we discovered that the next leg of our trip, to McCall (Idaho), would take around five hours!! The journey took us along Highways 12(E) and 95(S) through (literally) hundreds of miles of river valley country......the River Columbus being a fast flowing white body of water accommodating many white-water rafters and salmon fishermen. The surrounding hills are home of the Nez Perce and Payette National Forest areas.
We stopped-off for lunch at a small town on the river and saw that 'Marionberry Pie' was 'off the menu', as the cafe owner had run-out of this precious pie filling! She was amazed to find that we'd previously visited the epicentre of this fruit (in Oregon) and met the guy who first bred it! She confided that 'Huckleberries' are 'the thing' in Montana, but its too early in the season for them at present.
We pressed on, arriving in McCall at four-thirty. We were soon heading for Main Street in this charming lake-side resort, which is also home to an abundance of snow sports in winter.
We had dinner on the terrace of a small hotel overlooking the lake......with no-one else around. This part of America is awesome!
Before closing today's posting, I can't sign-off with mentioning that when we visited Lakeside (Montana) yesterday, we were told that as this little community does not have a resident police presence, the residents clubbed together to buy an old 'black & white' squad car which is parked just off the main road with a dummy policeman ('Lucky') behind the wheel....this appears to deters passing motorists from speeding!! My musical choice today was made easy by hearing this track as we meandered through the winding riverside highway........
We parked at a neat little park by the river and found a parking slot without a hitch...when we returned there wasn't a space to be found! The market was a real find and its size and the variety of flowers, plants (very 'English' species!), and vegetables on offer were amazing. (The hanging baskets were fabulous!)
We spoke with Ka, a second generation immigrant from Laos who together with the rest of her family ran a market garden on a part-time basis, taking turns to run a stall on the Market every Saturday. Her family had moved to Montana from Michigan and as she said "There's money out there, if you are prepared to work for it!"
Leaving Missoula we discovered that the next leg of our trip, to McCall (Idaho), would take around five hours!! The journey took us along Highways 12(E) and 95(S) through (literally) hundreds of miles of river valley country......the River Columbus being a fast flowing white body of water accommodating many white-water rafters and salmon fishermen. The surrounding hills are home of the Nez Perce and Payette National Forest areas.
We stopped-off for lunch at a small town on the river and saw that 'Marionberry Pie' was 'off the menu', as the cafe owner had run-out of this precious pie filling! She was amazed to find that we'd previously visited the epicentre of this fruit (in Oregon) and met the guy who first bred it! She confided that 'Huckleberries' are 'the thing' in Montana, but its too early in the season for them at present.
We pressed on, arriving in McCall at four-thirty. We were soon heading for Main Street in this charming lake-side resort, which is also home to an abundance of snow sports in winter. 
We had dinner on the terrace of a small hotel overlooking the lake......with no-one else around. This part of America is awesome!
Before closing today's posting, I can't sign-off with mentioning that when we visited Lakeside (Montana) yesterday, we were told that as this little community does not have a resident police presence, the residents clubbed together to buy an old 'black & white' squad car which is parked just off the main road with a dummy policeman ('Lucky') behind the wheel....this appears to deters passing motorists from speeding!! My musical choice today was made easy by hearing this track as we meandered through the winding riverside highway........
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