BE OUR GUEST (Part One)

One of the things I am anticipating most about being at the Mountainview Hideaway, is having visitors. We have a quiet retreat, tucked away in the beauty of Northwest Montana and we enjoy sharing it with others. A lot of thought and detail has gone into creating a guest bedroom where people can have every possible comfort as well as a peaceful place to just relax and recharge. I've also gathered recipes for hearty breakfasts to start them out for whatever adventure the day might hold.

This summer in particular, the Hideaway saw its most guests yet! In July, our daughter Laura and her boyfriend Jake used it for several days as part of a three week vacation out west.

They left the morning after we arrived but not until after having their photo taken and enjoying a breakfast at one of our favorite spots, Montana Coffee Traders.

Our oldest daughter Jennifer and her family came to Montana after hitting Mount Rushmore on their family vacation. Dave and I wanted them to experience all the reasons why we love this area, so we came up with some ideas to hopefully entice them to come back again. For the grand kids, we set up our 2 backpacking tents and a pup tent so they could "camp" in the safety and comfort of our house. I say safety because there are bears and wolves in the area and we didn't want them to be scared of what might be out there. Everyone SAYS they want to see a bear, it's just that they don't want to see one looking right at them! We also had personalized tee shirts made for them, got them each a stuffed animal "mascot" and little lanterns for them to use at night in their tents.

Dave and I purchased a fire pit from Cabela's which we initiated with hot dog roasting and making "camping cones".

We took them into Glacier National Park and shared one of our favorite hikes, Avalanche Lake.

This past summer saw numerous wildfires and unfortunately, Glacier had one along the Going To The Sun Road which prevented us from going up to Logan Pass where there are mountain goats all over the place. We still had lots of other activities available, one of which was to go to Big Mountain in Whitefish. We rode the chairlift and had lunch at the Summit House Restaurant and rode alpine slides afterwards.

There was swimming at the public beach at Whitefish Lake...

Playing Baggo and Ladderball at the house...

Dave and Corey hiked to the Ptarmigan Tunnel while Jennifer and I took the kids on a white water raft trip...

We enjoyed The Huckleberry Patch numerous times...

The kids earned their Jr Ranger Badges...

We went to the Montana Vortex...

And did family pictures...

Montana is waiting and we are glad to be your guides!

COUNTDOWN

I haven't blogged in quite a while when today I realized that, if all goes as planned, in exactly one year we will be on the road to Montana for our move to the Mountainview Hideaway! That's worth blogging about! The entire remodel on the house was completed last month. Our Contractor sealed up any exterior gaps, replaced bad boards and finished staining the upper level for us, all just in time because winter is coming to NW Montana. We had purchased some track lighting for him to install in the upstairs hallway and he will replace the storm door in the kitchen along with new wood door trim, since they had used the cheap alternative.

Springtime will see the detached garage being sealed up (like the house) and repainted plus we're having some work done on the stairs leading up to the room over the garage. This winter, Dave and I will start to research closet systems for the two master bedroom closets. I have begun my purging, beginning with my closet and now I am working on Fall and Christmas decorations. Dave wants to work up a plan of attack so we aren't overwhelmed as the day gets closer. We will probably take a smaller moving truck in April with a lot of stuff, mainly his very extensive Colorado dairy collection. Once we return, we can make repairs, paint ceilings and walls, etc. Inn September 2016, we will make another trip with everything else that we can spare. The plan is to live bare bones those last two months, sleeping on an air mattress, eating off paper plates, wearing a limited wardrobe and so on since we will be taking the car when we say goodbye to Texas that November.

During our last trip to the house this past September, we decided to apply polyurethane to the new posts and railings on the stairway. After sanding, and applying 3 coats, we were pleased with the outcome. Smooth AND a little bit shiny!

Out with the old....

In with the new!

The upstairs hallway turned out nicely too; add some of Dave's photography work and VOILA! Can't wait to see how this looks with the track lighting replacing what's there right now!

Before:

After!