We drove all day from Yellowstone, westward into Montana, up to Whitefish, which lies just West of Glacier National Park in the upper left-hand corner of Montana.  Our dear friends Joseph, Monika and Max Puglielli (pronounced poo-yee-ell-ee) live there, up in the mountains of the wild West.  They have 5 wooded acres and a lovely home, pictured below.

Shortly after arriving the first order of business was for Monika and Jordan to make Max's birthday cake.  It was Max's birthday on the 27th, and he was going to get a Tigger cake.  They worked hard on the decorations that evening until late into the night, at which time we all enjoyed a campfire outside. 

The Birthday boy in his "fort" under the living room coffee table that Jordan made for him.

The Puglielli's first-born is this wondrous, patient, intelligent dog named Jasmine.  Below, she demonstrates one of her many tricks, which she allowed me to direct her in.  Here, she waits until commanded to eat the treat on her nose.

Joseph and Monika had rented a Forest Service cabin about an hour North of their home.  We departed for it around 2:00 PM the next day, not really knowing what to expect.

The cabin is located up 40 miles of dirt road, near the charming little settlement of Polebridge, only 30 miles from the Canadian border and immediately adjacent to Glacier National Park and the North fork of the Flathead river.  Polebridge consists of the Polebridge Mercantile, a venerable general store established in the early part of the 20th century, and the Northern Lights Cafe, an intimate restaurant serving up tasty mountain fare.  That's it, besides the local resident population inhabiting the surrounding hills.

Our cabin was a wonder to behold.  With 4 bedrooms, it slept 8 easily.  It was heated with a hefty wood burning stove situated in the living room, and lighting was provided by propane lamps mounted on the walls and ceiling -- no electricity or running water, although it had a complete kitchen.  We were smitten.  The ladies were not exactly pleased to find that the only toilet facility was a pit toilet located a short walk from the back door of the cabin, but we all made do.

Below is a shot of the exterior, taken from the river.

The living room, taken from the kitchen.  Note the lamps on the walls.

The opposite view, back towards the kitchen.  The decor was decidedly mountain-country-kitsch.  We loved it.

With no indoor plumbing, we had to pump water from the well by hand.  Below, I am pumping a pot full of dish water to be heated up on the propane stove.

Joseph and Max enjoying a spell in our hammock.  You can see the aspens in the background -- they were everywhere, turning colors of yellow and gold.

Max at his 3rd birthday party.  He is about to eat Tigger's foot there, on the right.

Joseph and I took a bike ride up to Bowman Lake, about 7 miles up an even more bumpy dirt road, straight East into Glacier Park.  We never made it all the way to the lake itself, but the ride was marvelous.  The young aspens were screaming out their colors from among the charred trunks of trees burned in a fire in 1988.

Clouds backlit by the sun.

On the left, Max in motion.  We were walking to 'downtown' Polebridge to dine one night at the Northern Lights Cafe.  We were surprised when we got there to find that it was packed -- all the tables were full, as was the bar.  It was a bit of a mystery where all the people came from, but this was Friday night, after all. We walked next door to check out the 'merc', as it is known locally, and waited until we saw some folks leave.

Here we are inside.  Electricity was scare here -- batteries or generators were required.

A group shot at dinner, taken by Jordan.  Those are my and Joseph's hats hanging from the antlers.  The meal was excellent -- they had 2 or 3 vegetarian entree options, and 2 excellent microbrews on draft.

The walk back to the cabin in the moonlight was enchanting, although we did have to keep our eyes peeled for grizzly.  Joseph and I both carried 'bear spray' with us, which is essentially tear gas that can be delivered in a stream.

The next day we all piled into Joseph's truck for the bumpy ride to Bowman lake, pictured below.  You can click on the photo to see a more detailed view of this shot, if you like.

After a short hike around the West side of the lake, Jordan and Max waded into the frosty, crystal clear water.

The full moon rising over the hills.

We spent 4 delightful neo-luddite days at the cabin with the Puglielli's.  Really fun.

We were reluctant to leave the Puglielli's, so we got an even later start on the next day's drive than normal: 2:30 or so.  That, coupled with an emergency run to Costco to purchase playing cards, meant that even getting out of Montana this day was not going to happen.

We drove until 6:30 or so, and stopped for the night in St. Regis en route to Seattle.