We made it! This was a primary goal for this year – coming back to Polson. Last year we had plans on going to Alaska, but as we got up to this area they closed the border down due to Covid. We got to Polson and just stayed here, thinking they would open the border at any time (it is still closed as of today). We fell in love with it, to a point we actually bought a lot here last year.
So we were excited to get back and see how we felt about this lot. Of course, we may not be able to afford to ever build on it, but I think it will be a good investment at least. We can get very excited about the idea of building and living here part time, but with Covid people have been moving here in droves and the cost of housing has skyrocketed. When Marsha can’t sleep (most nights), she’s looking at her news feeds, and then forwards me many articles about the increasing costs of lumber and construction. But since we got here and saw our lot again , we can both get excited about the concept of building a home here.
So we met with the builder, and decided to proceed to see what this would actually cost. So for the next couple of days we were jumping through all kinds of hoops. We sent our “plans” to the architect, met with a mortgage company and sent in all the financial info they need. We heard from the architect that he has 4 people in front of us, so we do not know how long it will be until we hear from him. Of course, once we decided to proceed down this road, we want answers NOW, but we must be patient. It’s truly in God’s hand and we know this door may very well be closed to us. But it’s great fun to fantasize about it. We go up to the lot almost everyday and still love it.
Granted, we spent the better part of a week getting info to various parties about our potential build, but we also had time to do what we do best – enjoy our morning coffee outside starring at the lake, and exploring the area. This day we went to the National Buffalo Refuge south of us. It was taken over by the local Indian tribes (on their land) and was closed last year due to Covid. This year the visitor center was still closed, but the gates were open for us to drive through. It’s a huge area with roaming buffalo, antelopes (it’s where they play after all), many birds, geese and ducks, rivers and beautiful rolling hills. Not as many buffalo as Yellowstone, but to me it’s so cool just seeing these huge animals that I get excited at seeing one. And even if we didn’t see anything (we did see many animals) it’s a new area for us to explore.
One of the areas we went to was Northwest of us – the Kootenai Falls just outside Libby, MT (about 2.5 hrs away). It was a fabulous day for a hike. Fairly flat and wide, we were able to hike out to the the river, see the falls (more wide than high) and then hike out to the swinging bridge. Unfortunately, still needed my oxygen, but that’s what necessary now. It was a bit overcast so perfect for our hike.
We also are trying to get to know the local community. Last year we found a take out burger place (one of the few places that remained open). Our routine was to get our burgers and go down to the Lake to eat. I’d guess we had more than a few burgers last year. This year, the local movie theater (open now) was playing a movie called “Burgers, Fries and Family Ties.” And it was about our local Richwine Burgerville. We loved learning about our burger place opening in 1962, how the family grinds their own bull meat, and how the daughter is running it now. They have been a big part of this town, supporting many kids and sports.
Normally I do one blog post for each destination, but being we are here until June 12, I thought I would break this up. So this was our first 15 days in Polson, Montana.