Independence in Whitefish

It was perfect to arrive in Whitefish, Montana for the fourth of July, right after a big rain.  Everything was fresh and clean and there wasn’t the concern about having fireworks they had in the Southwest.

My fourth of July was a great day.  The weather cleared up overnight and we had a beautiful sunny day.  I drove along Lake Whitefish to explore and found myself at a trailhead towards the end of the lake.  Everyday is always a little bit better after having had a hike so I assembled my pack, grabbed my walking stick and headed out on the trail.  There were a group of three women hiking right n front of me at a good pace and I just followed along.  Soon they invited me to join them and we struck up a conversation, finding we had a lot in common in the area of exploring self love and spirituality.

We walked the two and a half miles to a beautiful little mountain lake and rested a while before making the trek back.  It was such a nice surprise to meet these beautiful women and spend this time with them.  Meeting new friends along the way is always a highlight of the journey

When I returned to camp, I cooked up some stir fry and quinoa for dinner and decided I would go to the City Park, on the lake, for the fireworks.  The City had closed down several roads leading to the park and encouraged people to bike or walk.  I got there early enough to find a place to park a few blocks away.  I grabbed my low rise folding chair and walked the half mile to the beach.  I positioned myself near the musician that was setting up to play and settled in for a long night of waiting for dark.

I realized this was probably the first time I have ever gone to a fireworks show alone.  Yet on my “flying solo” journey I am doing most everything alone, most the time.  I am always grateful for those moments where I connect with others, but the greatest goal is to connect with myself.

I reached out to a friend in Bellingham whom I spent the fourth of July with two years ago, and told her I was thinking about her.  She said she was thinking about me too.  She was my host for the airbnb I rented for five weeks a couple years back and we became great friends.  I told her I hoped to make it her way this summer and would love to see her.  It was nice to connect.

After the fireworks, everyone from the beach got up and headed out to find their vehicles.  It was good the roads were closed to traffic because the crowds took up the whole road moving out of there.  I knew it would be gridlock traffic trying to get out, so when I got to my van, I crawled into the back, fired up my hotspot and watched a Matt Kahn video.  It was a long video, over an hour, and by the time I was nearing the end, the traffic had completely cleared out.  I drove back to camp, ten minutes away with barely a soul on the road.  It was after midnight and I was grateful to crawl back in my cozy van bed and call it a night.

Quinoa Stir Fry

Another quick, easy, healthy Recipe by Kaleah

For this dish, I just cut up some sweet potatoes, red onions, and mini bell peppers.  I sauteed the sweet potatoes until soft and added in the onions and peppers.  Meanwhile I cooked up a batch of quinoa on the other burner.  I added tamari, turmeric, chipoltle seasoning, and pepper.  I added the cooked veggies over the quinoa and “dinner is served.”  Prep time, about twenty minutes, as the taters and quinoa both take about twenty minutes to cook.

Keep in mind that I use what I have.  If I had zucchini and mushrooms, I would have added them as well.  Any veggies you like can be added.  The next day I had some broccoli and mushrooms, so I used the leftover quinoa and cooked up red onions, peppers, broccoli and mushrooms.  Another awesome meal.