I thought this blog would probably stay dormant until close to the time of the next Chilies and Happiness festival in 2010. Then again, I thought why not put up occasional updates and thoughts in case anybody is reading it.
Yesterday, I took Passang (Journalism MA student from Bhutan) to Flathead lake before highway I-93 gets all snowed in and not so pleasant to drive on. When my family was here we used to drive up several times, to visit Flathead lake and Polson, Glacier National Park, and for skiing in Big Mountains in Whitefish - and to visit friends who live around there. The Buddhist center in Arlee (EWAM) is a nice stop on the way. My wife and I love the drive past Arlee, especially by St. Ignatius, where you can get a beautiful view of the Mission Mountains.
We had lunch at EWAM and then proceeded to Polson, where we visited with an old friend and had some chai. Passang and I went by the lake and met with a group of very enthusiastic elderly folks fishing. They were very eager to show us their bounty of lake trout. It was fun chatting with them, and talking about Bhutan, and listening to their fishing stories - everybody has one, right? On the way back, this is what we saw (picture above) - the reason why this is indeed one of my favorite drives! It reminds me of the drive in Tibet, right after you cross the Everest region, and on the way towards Nepal. That is another scenic drive my wife and I were on a few years back.
