The Great West, day 14 (MT)

Jan was off to work in her own car this morning.  Nathan was off to Larry’s shop.  The boys and I were off on a 2 block adventure.  We headed down the road until we came to a Conoco and grabbed some breakfast and coffees/hot chocolate.  It was good to get out this morning.  The skies were so blue and the weather so much nicer than yesterday!  We lounged a bit more this morning and then decided it was time for another walk.  We checked out an antique and 2^nd hand tool shop not far from Jan’s and then began to hike down Main.  I considered taking them about a mile down Main to a toy store but thought perhaps I should check with Nathan first to see what his progress was.  He said he was about 30 minutes away, so we only walked a bit further, let boys check out some antique cars and then turned back for the apartment.  We had considered leaving out today, and by 2 p.m. Nathan was back with the van in working, NONCHIRPING order!  He said that the van has been put through so many miles this trip considering that it is usually a "couch potato" kind of vehicle that usually is not driven more than 3 hours a week.  It's no wonder things began to malfunction.  I had spoken with Jan earlier and she said that if we were still around when she got off work, she would show us around Lakeside and Whitefish.  Nathan and I talked it over and decided that we could stay, get up rested and leave early in the morning.  While we waited for Jan, we toured around Kalispell on our own and checked out an antique store and old fashioned soda fountain.

When Jan arrived we headed for Lakeside, where she lived when she was working with YWAM (Youth With A Mission).  She showed us the YWAM campus and then took us to HER lake.  More beautiful views of rippling clear waters and serene sailboats with snowcapped mountains gracing the background.  We played on HER dock for awhile and took pictures before heading to Homestead for Nathan’s awesome prime rib (The rest of us enjoyed our dinner as well.) AND more huckleberry shakes.  We may be purple by the time we get home!!  As we drove back up into Kalispell we were able to watch as the sun made its slow descent and transformed our view to purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain!  Such gorgeous views – 360 degrees of mountains!! LOVE IT!  In Whitefish we saw some really neat homes, the train station, the theater Jan is involved with, and the lake.  Our timing was perfect to catch the sun as it set over this lake! J

So very grateful today for all the ways the Lord has provided for us while we were here.  Nathan said that the van breaking down was such a good thing.  He so enjoyed his time with Larry, which helped me feel better about him not being with us at Glacier.  He has made a new friend.  We were provided a van to use on Sunday.  We have our own working van again, and we were able to see all that Jan had wanted to share with us while we were here.  I felt bad that we turned Jan into an Extended Stay, but she was so gracious and understanding.   And we were able to glean a couple of extra days of visit out of it.