Jackie, Garreth, and zen stoves

About the time Dan was leaving Wednesday after dropping off his four new steers, Jackie arrived with Garreth. At least that is what I remember his name as. As you all know I am terrible with remembering names and have to hear it a million times before I remember it. And I am guessing as to the spelling of his name. Garreth was born in Wales and moved to Florida when he was 10 years old. That accounts for his British Isle sounding name.

Garreth is bicycling from Florida to the Pacific Ocean in Washington State. He just arrived in the Flathead Valley a few days ago. By coincidence Garreth met Lewis who is still renting an apartment from Jackie. If you remember Lewis is the fellow I met on my train trip the end of February.

It seems as if I have had an impact on three people's lives. Jackie got new renters. Lewis found a place to stay through me, and with a good place to stay and help from Jackie has decided to quit his North Dakota job, get a job here, go to school for more education and job training, and stay in the Valley. Now Garreth has found a place to stay for a month and is taking a break from his bicycling adventure.

Garreth had bicycled up along the Mississippi River through Minnesota and Wisconsin to the Mississippi's headwaters in Itasca, Minnesota. Then through North Dakota via Fargo, Minot (my home town), and then along Hwy 2 out here to Montana. So we had plenty to talk about on his journey as I was familiar with many of the places he visited.

Garreth showed me his "zen" stove that he used for cooking. He made it out of a Pepsi aluminum can and uses Heet for fuel. As Heet is a gas line cold weather anti-freeze, I forgot to ask him where he could buy it in Florida and much of the South. Up here, no problem to find another bottle to buy. His stove is extremely light weight - perfect for hiking and backpacking.

After talking cattle and bicycling I joined Garreth and Jackie as they drove along the west side of Flathead Lake down to Lakeside, MT. We stopped several times along the lake and Jackie took some photos of the lake and mountains. At one point Jackie saw a sign that said "Spectacular Views Boat Docks" and thought it may be what the sign said. Garreth and I missed seeing the sign and we ended up driving around what appeared to be a gated community (without the gates). Jackie stopped to ask a man walking where the Spectacular Views Boat Docks were located. There wasn't any and he seemed slightly put off that we were driving around the streets there. So we left. On the drive out Garreth and I saw a real estate sign that said "Spectacular Views. Boat Docks". Ahhh...

A number of restaurants were not open yet for the season. We found the Somers Bay Cafe located near Tiebuckers (where I ate with my relatives a few weeks ago). This cafe had several people recommending it. It was located in an old bank building and the old brick walled interior was charming. The food was presented well on the plates, as Garreth had noted. I enjoyed the soup, even if the bowl was small. The bread was not to my liking as it was harder than I like.

Jackie didn't seem too enthused with her dish of mahi mahi. I forgot Garreth's opinion of his pasta dish, and I had meatloaf.

I figured I couldn't go wrong with meatloaf. I have always enjoyed it, especially when my mother and and then a former girlfriend made it. I didn't like this meatloaf. It was too dry and the sauce was not to my liking. I even asked for ketchup towards the end when the server asked how the meal was. She brought out the ketchup in a little bowl and not a bottle. I wonder if I hurt the chef's feelings by asking for ketchup?