Resident deer at Eagle bend

Eagle bend Golf Club

Our site at Ekstrom's Stage Station

An Osprey and a deer along the river

Stu and a 19.5" Brown Trout

Harvey watching his drive sail away

The Ranch Golf Club

Clark Fork River

Clark Fork River

First Rainbow of the float

Alex watching a Turkey

Okay, now where are we?

Wow, we had a great time in Clinton, MT, or just east of there, but we didn't have any Internet service and poor phone service. We had a lovely spot at Ekstrom's Stage Station RV Park and we were about 200 yards from the famous Rock Creek, which is a Blue Ribbon Trout Stream. As you can see from the pictures we had tall trees and big mountains and the pine smell was wonderful!

I did two half days of trout fishing with a float boat on the Clark Fork river. I caught lots of fish each day but my biggest was the 19.5" Brown Trout I caught on day two. It put up quite a battle but we finally got it landed, photographed, and released. Boy, was that fun!! I also caught a couple of Rainbows that approached 13" but nothing real big. I also missed a lot of hits the first day as I learned to read the water and keep a tight line. My catch ration was much better as the first day wore on and especially on the second day I hardly missed a hit.

My fishing days were Wednesday and Friday and on Thursday I went golfing with my friend Harvey Olson who is a retired Montana Highway Patrol Officer. We played a course called The Ranch Club and formerly called Phantom Hills. We had a great day on the course and then Harvey was nice enough to buy us lunch. The course was a links style, as you can tell from the pictures, and we found it pretty user friendly.

On Saturday Tippy and I took a drive up the Rock Creek Road to Phillipsburg, MT. Little did I know that we were in for 32 miles of gravel which made for slow going but we didn't care because the river was so pretty and the day was gorgeous! We had a picnic lunch at a fishing access point and enjoyed the river sounds as we ate our lunch. Phillipsburg was just okay for an old mining town. They still sell Sapphire's that are mined in the area but we weren't very interested in them so we had an ice cream cone instead. With our lunch stop and short visit we spent 3 hours and then only one hour going back on the main roads.

We enjoyed a couple of dinners at the restaurant at the park while we were there, as did many local folks. The restaurant was always busy and the food was delicious! We just kind of rested on Sunday and watched the conclusion of the British Open. It was great to see Greg in the mix, at least for a while. Padraig really played well the last few holes.

On Monday we drove the short 140 miles to Kalispell, MT where we will stay for a week. I played golf with my friend Carl Henry, Lon Hinkle, and Barry Johnson at Eagle Bend on Tuesday and I will play a couple of other courses on Friday and Saturday with Carl as well. Lon Hinkle is a former tour player that I met several years ago while I was running the nevada Open. barry is also a member at Eagle Bend and I had known him previously from the Black Mountain member guest where he played with Dale Radnauer. Carl, and his wife Barb, built a wonderful home on the Eagle Bend Golf Course. Tippy and I toured it a couple of years ago, maybe three, while it was still under construction and the Henry's were away in Great Falls. I got a tour of the completes home after golf and was very impressed with how it looked and how comfortable it felt. They stay there all year but don't seem to be bothered by the cold or snow. Carl said it hardly ever gets below zero and they don't get a lot of snow either. My opinion is you don't need a lot of snow to get stuck and whats so good about zero! (ha, ha)

Tippy and I took a drive yesterday, Wednesday, to Columbia Falls and Whitefish. We had lunch in Whitefish at the China Wall and it was just okay. Their egg drop soup was actually tomato based if you can imagine. I grilled steaks last evening and we enjoyed another wonderful cool night to sit out. It was 56 when I got up to walk Alex at 8:00 today which is a nice temperature to sit out with coffee.

Today, Thursday, Tippy and I will join Carl & Barb for dinner at the Showtime restaurant in Bigfork, MT and then we will see "Paint Your Wagon" at the Bigfork Summer Playhouse. We try to attend a production at this theatre every time we are in the area. Enjoy the pics above and we will give an update before we leave here on Monday for Helena, MT. Be safe.