I wanted to  try to visit the canoe shop,so we headed South along the east side of Flathead Lake toward Swan Lake and the Swan Valley. We didn’t know where we would stay, how far we would get, or what we would find when we got there. As it turned out, we did make it to the canoe shop. Greg’s son Steve was there and graciously showed us around. The canoes were beautiful! Each one takes about a month to build.

These are old-fashioned, pedal powered scroll saws. From the sawdust on them, I assume they are still in use.

 

 

 

Here are some of the canoes. All of the designs are inlayed wood.

Steve recommended a bed and breakfast, the Laughing Horse Lodge. There were other possibilities down the road, but we decided to say here. It was a great serendipitous experience.

 

First, the signs were inviting. This one didn’t say anything about real estate agents, but I figured that Jess was with me and so could probably fall under the lawyer category.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next the registration process–there was no one around! A white board on the front porch instructed us to look for the rooms that did not have peoples’ names next to them, and check them out. The unoccupied rooms were unlocked. Once we picked a room, we were to write our name next to it and that was our check-in.

As we walked to the back, we were greeted by a carved crow (always a good sign in my opinion).

 

 

 

Here is a look at the row of rooms behind the main building. It’s hard to describe the friendly environment with the friendly hostess, the animals, including birds, and the garden sitting area, where we enjoyed the warm evening drinking wine.

Shortly after we arrived, Kathleen arrived with her 3 golden retrievers. Oh boy! Dogs! Extremely friendly big dogs! Later on, we met Juliet, the 3-legged cat, also very friendly.

 

 

Before breakfast, I sat outside watching the multitude of birds at the feeder.

 

 

 

Breakfast was huckleberry cheese blintzes. Yum!

 

 

 

 

 

And why wouldn’t there be a parrot in the dining room at a place like this? Hate to leave this place, but we are on to another adventure.