Catching up

HELENA, MT:
I was fortunate to be able to connect with old friends Sandie & Jim Dixon in Helena. They came and picked me up at the motel and drove me around to show me the sights of Helena, which is a beautiful little city - the kind that seems to be so liveable. I had always heard that the state capital is one of the prettiest in the country, and I believe it.


We drove up to the street called "Last Chance Gulch" from back when gold was found there in the mid 1800's, in sort of a last chance attempt. The street is closed to vehicular traffic and is lined with shops, restaurants and bars. We ate at the Windbag Saloon, and all agreed the food was excellent. On the way back to the truck we stopped for ice cream, the end of a perfect evening with a couple of fine folks I visit with almost daily via the blogging world.


KALISPELL, MT:
From the time I arrived at the motel in Helena I noticed a definite problem with Lady and hesitated to even leave her for a couple of hours. I had in mind to drive up to Glacier NP, which I have wanted to see for so long. In the morning I decided to go for it, but even though it wasn't a long drive I tried to stop often for Lady, who refused to get out of the car. By the time I was a few miles from my destination of Kalispell I knew I should take her to a vet. The GPS wasn't showing veterinarians at all, but don't you know when I turned on a road nearing the town a sign on the right pointed to a veterinary clinic. I decided to take her immediately, but had to return later in the afternoon when the doctor could see her. They did blood work to make sure her kidney and liver function was normal, and gave her a double dose of a painkiller. I called today to find out the results of the blood test, and since it was normal they called in a prescription to a local Walgreens for the medicine in tablet form.

Only a few minutes after they administered the medicine at the vet's office I could see an improvement in the way she stood up, walked, and even climbed into the car. Her condition continued to improve overnight and well into today, when I picked up her tablets. I stopped at a local grocery and bought a package of sliced turkey, and wrapped a slice around a tablet. She gobbled it up, so I'm hoping things will go much better for her the remainder of the trip.

I think I mentioned in my update that I was looking forward to meeting Carolyn who had been in Kalispell for nearly 3 weeks. I emailed her my problem with having to take the dog back to the vet in the afternoon, which meant I couldn't drive into the Park yesterday. Carolyn met me at the vet and helped me with the dog, then after Lady was comfortable, I left her in the motel room and Carolyn and I drove around in her van and saw some of Kalispell, which is such a wonderful little town.

This morning we finally got on the road to Glacier NP. The Road to the Sun is open for about 30 miles at the east and west ends of the Park, but the middle is still under snow from an avalanche. It is expected to be open all the way through by the middle of next week: Carolyn will probably stay for that but of course I want to get the dog home soon.

I loved what I saw of Glacier. Carolyn is worried that I am disappointed in how little I was able to see, but I think everything has worked out perfectly - finding the vet on my way into town and getting that problem taken care of was a godsend to me. What if I had been on the road to someplace else and had to drive for miles, or go out of my way to find help for Lady. To me, the trip here has evolved as if it had all been part of a perfect plan. I'm satisfied with that, for sure.

These are some scenes taken on the way from Helena to Kalispell:






GLACIER NATIONAL PARK:











Knowing how Lady likes to drink from moving water, I found a small embankment where we scrambled down so she could enjoy the creek water, and carefully made our way back up. She was surprisingly agile today.

I took pictures with three cameras - my digital, a color film camera, and a black & white film camera - and will have lots more photos when I get the film developed after I get back to CA.

I'm leaving in the morning and still up in the air as to which route I'll take - down through Idaho, across Nevada, and into CA along US 50 around Lake Tahoe, or across Idaho nearly at the border with Canada and then down through Washington, Oregon, and into CA. I need to make up my mind soon, but it could be when I get into the car and program an address into the GPS.