Swan Valley, MT

Thursday, September 19

I woke up extra early to squeeze in a workout before the rest of the family woke up, and guess what? Rain again! I expected it to be wet when we traveled through the northwest USA this fall, but I didn’t quite think through how it’d feel to be living in / relying on the outdoors for so many parts of our day-to-day.

Since I’d already dragged my weights and yoga mat to the open campsite next to ours, I exercised anyway with rain spitting in my face. It wasn’t fun, but I checked it off my to-do list. 

Aden greeted me when I returned to the RV after my workout. Tory and Aden were still asleep. I hooked Aden up with an iPad to watch cartoons while I blogged for a while. When the whole family woke up, we ate breakfast and prepared to hit the road again.

Meanwhile, a deer wandered into our campsite to eat its own breakfast of tree leaves. It felt like we were watching a movie outside our window — nature literally happening before 5 feet away from us. Seeing deer isn’t anything new to us, but they’re usually in our backyard at the cabin instead of us being in their backyard at a state park!

Before we left Wayfarer State Park, we drove down to the water to check out Flathead Lake. Flathead Lake is the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi with over 200 square miles of water and 185 miles of lakeshore. It’s a huge lake! Unfortunately, the sky was cloudy this morning between rain showers so visibility wasn’t great. Andi pulled out his drone to take a picture of the massive lake, but a park ranger seemingly appeared out of nowhere to let Andi know that drones aren’t allowed in Montana State Parks.

We weren’t aware of that rule, so we headed back to the RV and drove further south to check out Holland Lake Recreation Area about 25 miles from the town of Seeley Lake. Andi read raving reviews about Holland Lake, but the area had zero cell service. We thought we’d go there to see it for ourselves and if we weren’t feeling it, we’d move along to another spot closer to Seeley Lake. 

Well, the reviews were true — there was zero cell phone reception anywhere near Holland Lake — but the lake and the campground were absolutely gorgeous! It didn’t take us long to decide that we wanted to stay at Holland Lake for the night. Being surrounded by beautiful nature was worth the absence of connectivity.

Andi drove our RV through the Larch Loop at Holland Lake Recreation Site and found us an available campsite. The campground was practically empty, so we had our pick. Campsite #1 was a huge space nestled into the trees with a fire pit, picnic table and a gorgeous view of the lake.

Once we selected and paid for our campsite, we ate leftovers in the RV for lunch. We didn’t waste any time setting anything else up because we then drove our RV to the Holland Lake trailhead on the other side of recreation area. We planned to hike the 1 1/2 mile trail that follows the shoreline of Holland Lake and then climbs to the base of Holland Falls waterfall.  

The colors of this lake and its surroundings were unbelievable. I asked Andi how much editing he’d been doing to our photos of Montana because the variation of blues and greens is remarkable, and he said hardly anything touch-ups at all. It’s that beautiful!

Unfortunately, the kids aren’t always as WOW’d by our surroundings as Andi and I are. Fifteen minutes into our hike at Holland Lake, Tory complained that her legs were tired. We’d barely walked any distance at all! After she finished pouting, we had a long talk about pushing through obstacles in life. Sometimes things feel hard, but it’s important not to give up and to prove to yourself that you can do it. The ups and downs of hiking are a great metaphor for life’s many challenges.

Once she got going, Tory started to have a great time walking along the trail. I stopped and let her take a break as many times as she wanted while Andi and Aden blazed ahead. We made it all the way to the falls, a 750 feet climb in elevation, and the views were worth every step.

What a feeling of accomplishment to make it to the top. We sat by the falls for a while, taking in the view. Andi flew his drone over the lake and snapped a photo of the four of us. The kids each took turns splashing in the waterfall. Tory said it felt like sticking her hand in an ice cube.

Just as we were about to leave, Tory accidentally stepped on Aden’s hand and Aden immediately pushed her with anger. Tory wobbled on the rock she was perched on and luckily didn’t fall off the side of the mountain! The space we were standing on at the top of the trail was narrow.

All good moments must come to an end … Aden spent the next 10 minutes sitting on time-out on the trail for pushing Tory and then for throwing a rock at Andi. I stayed back with Aden while Tory and Andi walked ahead.

Traveling with kids isn’t all sunshine and butterflies. We have parenting ups and downs on the road, just like we do at home.

Eventually, we all joined together on the trail and hiked back to our RV. All was well and everyone made up by the end.

The four of us returned to our campsite on Holland Lake. Andi started a fire and we sat outside reading books. The kids roasted hot dogs for dinner and Andi and I ate leftover pork chops and salad.

A great ending to a fun day by the water.