Exploring the country a tad...

We woke up to a wet Spokane, but since the rain had stopped we ventured out in search of Frank's Diner. We googled, "best breakfast Spokane" and read over and over that we couldn't go wrong with Frank's. They were right. Frank's is in an old train car and was super quaint and cute. It was about a mile walk from our hotel through downtown Spokane so we got to see a little more of the city that way, too.

I think everyone should eat in an old train car at least once

It was SO cute inside! 

The people of Frank's were some of the nicest we've encountered. I'm tell you, people in this part of the country are just sweet as can be. We decided that the hospitality one used to find in the Midwest has moved up here. Jackson had their grilled biscuits and gravy and hasn't stopped talking about them revolutionizing the way he'll eat biscuits since. I had a fantastic vegetarian omelet with salsa and hashbrowns. You guys, the hashbrowns at this place were magnificent. We finished our lovely breakfast then headed back to the hotel to check out. I'd read about a park in the middle of Spokane that I wanted to visit so we headed that way. If a park is #1 on TripAdvisor I'm there. Manito Park didn't let us down! We stopped in the Japanese garden first and found our zen. ;) 

"DO I LOOK RELAXED?!"

"Babe, like this..."

"THAT KOI FISH COULD EAT MACKENZIE!"- Jackson

"OH THAT IS PRETTY!"- Jackson

I have all of Jackson's quotes in all caps because he missed the serenity part of the garden and was getting on my nerves  talking A LOT. We headed over to the garden that the park is known for and marveled at its beauty.

Such a gorgeous garden

I loved these arches

A little oasis in the middle of a city!

We hiked around the park and took in its loveliness before getting in the car for a long trip back to Montana. This time we'd be staying in the little town of Bigfork right on Flathead Lake.

Hooray! Hooray! 

You guys, the drive from Spokane (which takes you through Idaho, of course) to Bigfork was gorgeous.

I LOVE trees!

The view from the side of the road...seriously gorgeous!

I couldn't stop taking photos of the splendor. 

We read about the National Bison Range at a rest-stop (What? You don't get travel tips when you're stopping to pee? That's odd. HA!) and decided that it was worth a stop. We were probably a little wrong on that, though. Ha!

A stuffed Bison in the ranger's office. It was only mildly creepy.

A little background info...

They collect all of the shed antlers and put them here

Pretending one poked me. Don't worry, I think I'm funny and that's all that matters.

We started on the drive around the park and quickly got to a road up the side of a mountain WITHOUT GUARDRAILS. I hate when that happens. At one point I told Jackson that I'd rather be sitting in a cinnamon bath, drinking cinnamon tea, eating a cinnamon roll and listening to Eric Clapton songs than be where I was driving at that moment. He knew things were not going well at that point. Luckily, the climb ended and we were just on flat roads with steep drop-offs. What an upgrade. ;)

There are those bison we wanted to see!

Keep in mind that Jackson was terrified of bison as a young boy so I was not sure how he'd react to seeing them to close to the car. He was fine and kept trying to get out of the vehicle even though that is prohibited since bison are known to charge people.

The bison have a nice view

We enjoyed seeing the other animals, too, like this deer.

"I'm all ears. No really, I am!" HA! :)

When I was able to stop convulsing from going up and down the side of a mountain WITHOUT GUARDRAILS I was able to acknowledge how pretty it was up there.

Do you like my dirt/gravel road? I didn't either.

Doing his best Steve Irwin impression

We stopped at a designated spot to get out and snap some photos when I saw a pronghorn antelope behind a rock. I was on edge about rattlesnakes because they were supposedly especially prevalent this year so I had my eyes peeled. Jackson didn't see him until I pointed him out. I'm just a natural hunter who doesn't hunt I guess.

Jackson proving that he knows the touchdown sign even if this was the wrong venue

I keep thinking we were living in a screensaver because the scenery was just gorgeous

Our antelope friend again. He didn't seem to mind us. 

We think he was sick because he was all alone. Poor guy!

Elk cooling off in the river

If there weren't bears around I would have gotten in the river, too. It was blasted hot on that mountain!

"Oh what a nice road!"- said no one. Ever.

Signs said it should take 2 hours to get through the park. Always one for a challenge, I refused this time table. We were out on 1.25 hours. We enjoyed passing fellow park goers in our Buick. They probably thought Grandma and Grandpa were in an awfully big hurry. Nope. I just wanted off that mountain.

"The things I do for you..."- Jackson

We had ZERO cellphone reception so we had to stop at a little gift shop outside of the park for directions. We also got some huckleberry jam which is all the rage around here. I'm excited to try it when we get home. From there we finally hit the home stretch to get to our little cabin in the woods of Bigfork, MT.

Our Montana home for the next 3 days

A little 1 bed, 1 bath cabin in the woods

You cannot tell, but the kitchen area is actually quite nice

Montana at its most real

A panoramic view of our cabin

We found this place on a website called airbnb.com and were a little skeptical because it was only $75 a night. It turns out it was not too good to be true and we really do get an awesome place to stay for that price. I love when that happens! Once we were all settled into our temporary home, we headed down to Flathead Lake to watch the sunset.

Gosh, it is so ugly here. ;)

What a cute sunset gazing boy.

This is the life.

I told you I loved the panoramic function.

This will be us tomorrow- standup paddleboarding!

We loved the sunset over the lake and mountains. This is just the most gorgeous part of the country. We stopped in at a laundry place to wash our disgusting-from-hiking-so-much clothes and then grabbed a quick Mexican dinner before retiring to our cabin in the woods for the night. It was a busy day of driving, but we got to see a lot of the country to it was worth it. Today (Saturday) we intend to stay around the lake and out of the car as much as possible!