Florence Montana with Good Friends

ahschneid
1 day ago
4 min read

Beautiful home Darrell and Joanie have built

We arrived at Darrell and Joanie's house in Florence Montana on Sunday 18 May around 2ish. They've built a beautiful home with beautiful views of the Bitterroot and Sapphire mountains. We spent the week with them and they were the most gracious and hospitable hosts. The day we arrived, we went for a drive in hopes of seeing a herd of elk to no avail. It was still nice to see the area at dusk.

Anita had scheduled a hair appointment with Joanie's hair stylist on Monday the 19th. We went into to Missoula for the hair appointment then hooked up with the guys for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. That afternoon the guys went to Lolo Hot Springs to check it out and the girls went home. That night we watched Nomadland, a movie Steve and Anita have been wanting to see for months since reading the book. It turned out to be a very boring movie, so sad that poor Darrell and Joanie struggled to stay awake.

Lolo Hot Springs Lolo Montana 19 May 2025

Lolo Hot Springs Lolo Montana 19 May 2025

On Tuesday 20 May Darrell and Steve worked on projects in our camper and around Darrell's house. The girls hung around the house and went for a walk in neighborhood. That night we all went to play pickleball. They have nice indoor pickleball courts so they can play year round.

Pickleball - 20 May 2025

Pickleball - 20 May 2025

On Wednesday 21 May went for a drive on dirt roads in the Lolo mountains in Darrell's jeep. We stopped at a pull out and we did some target shooting. Anita hadn't fired a weapon since she was in the Army 30 years ago. When we got down the mountain we stopped at The Jack Saloon for lunch.

That night we had game night. We played a card game called Golf and then a round of the board game Catch Phrase. We had a lot of laughs including at all of our lack of ability to think and to see the later in the night it got.

Lolo Montana - Drive in the mountains - 21 May 2025

Lolo Montana - Drive in the mountains - 21 May 2025

Lolo Montana - Drive in the mountains - 21 May 2025

Lolo Montana - Drive in the mountains - 21 May 2025

Lolo Montana - Drive in the mountains - 21 May 2025

Lolo Montana - Drive in the mountains - 21 May 2025

Lolo Montana - Anita's shots - 21 May 2025

Lolo Montana - The Jack - 21 May 2025

Lolo Montana - All of us at The Jack - 21 May 2025

Thursday 22 May we went to a Brad Paisley concert. We met Darrell and Joanie's good friends Julie and Dwayne. We enjoyed getting to know Dwayne and Julie a bit at dinner before the concert. The venue for the concert was outdoors in beautiful scenery. It rained lightly as we arrived and were getting seated. We stuck it out and it stopped for quite a while. After dark it poured. We stayed a little while, but decided to leave. Many people left the concert at that point. Brad Paisley put on a good show. The young lady who opened for him, we didn't know.

Brad Paisley Concert KettleHouse Amphitheater - Bonner Montana - 22 May 2025

Brad Paisley Concert KettleHouse Amphitheater - Bonner Montana - 22 May 2025

Brad Paisley Concert KettleHouse Amphitheater - Bonner Montana - 22 May 2025

Light rain before the concert...

Brad Paisley Concert KettleHouse Amphitheater - Bonner Montana - 22 May 2025

Brad Paisley Concert KettleHouse Amphitheater - Bonner Montana - 22 May 2025

We were treated to a double rainbow...

Brad Paisley Concert KettleHouse Amphitheater - Bonner Montana - 22 May 2025

This is the young artist we didn't know...

Brad Paisley Concert KettleHouse Amphitheater - Bonner Montana - 22 May 2025

Brad Paisley Concert KettleHouse Amphitheater - Bonner Montana - 22 May 2025

Brad Paisley Concert KettleHouse Amphitheater - Bonner Montana - 22 May 2025

Brad Paisley Concert KettleHouse Amphitheater - Bonner Montana - 22 May 2025

Brad Paisley Concert KettleHouse Amphitheater - Bonner Montana - 22 May 2025

Friday 23 May we stayed around the house in the morning and did prep work to get ready to leave on Saturday. Our mail had come the day before and we had calls to make in response to some things. We did get more pictures of Darrell and Joanie's house. That afternoon we went to Missoula to see the St Francis Xavier Catholic Church which was opened in 1892. Julie and Dwayne had told us about it. They attend that church. While we were out, we fueled up for the start of our trip through Canada the next day.