Cary Jo Hofstad

When visiting NW Montana this summer or just looking for something to do:

Favorite restaurants: Kalispell - Capers on Main Street

Whitefish - Kandahar on Big Mountain

West Glacier - Belton Chalet

Favorite Glacier National Park location: Many Glacier

Favorite Summer Theater: Alpine Theater Project in Whitefish, Broadway caliber in the valley

Bigfork Theater - musicals nightly in the summer with college intern actors

Biking: Kalispell and Whitefish bike trails

Mountain Biking: Herron Park, Kuhn's wildlife area, Big Mountain

Hiking: close in Jewel Basin, Big Mountain, Herron Park (Foys to Blacktail)

Farmer's Markets: Kalispell - Sat. mornings, Whitefish - Tuesday evenings

Concert series: Kalispell Depot Park - Wednesdays at noon, Tuesday evenings

Rebecca Farms - Glacier Orchestra concert on the lawn - check either web site

Sailing: Flathead Lake either at the Northshore Yacht club or Dayton

Motor boating: Hungry Horse Reservoir, Flathead Lake, Whitefish Lake, Tally Lake - many more lakes, too many to mention

3 Day Horse Event: The Event at Rebecca Farms, late July

MANY more things to do - too many to mention!! Summer is short but very sweet.

Whitefish Farmer's Market: a not to be missed Tuesday night event in the summer! Live jazz, good food, vendors of everything to make the evening fun. A great atmosphere to shop in and just enjoy a warm summer eveing. Afterwards, we had dinner at Latitude 48 - wonderful.

2 not to be missed local products at the market: Flathead Valley grown hydroponic tomatoes and butterhead lettuce; The Back Home Bakery "just like France" bread products and the most awesome croissants this side of the Atlantic! The bakery is tucked away west of Kalispell in the hills of West Valley. An incredible one man bakery which supplies local shops and restaurants. Check out the web site: thebackhomebakery.com .

It was a lovely Memorial Day weekend in the Flathead. Sun, 75+ degrees. Many people headed to Glacier National Park - the road is not open all the way through the park yet, but still can bike in further than drive and enjoy seeing the spring time progress of the snow melt.

More and more buyers are starting to jump into this buyer's market. Still a great opportunity to grab a good deal in this wonderful valley.

City of Whitefish is debating where to put public parking lots. Alpine Theater Project has their summer season tickets on sale - we always subscribe. Broadway caliber in the valley.

After a weekend long horse clinic as an observer, I decided the weather was just too nice today so I "worked from home" today - didn't get here until after 10am from a double workout, but never the less, got to be in the sun gardening, riding horses, checking bees, swimming and just being in the awesome sun. Don't worry, with the phone and internet got the work that needed to be done taken care of. But you know, life and summer are to short to not seize the moment and live life. It isn't all about work after all!

City councils are meeting tonight. Whitefish is batting around ideas for downtown parking. By the way, Safeway is finally set to open in Whitefish after a yearlong remodel. City council news comes out in the Daily Interlake on Thursdays, so will know what Columbia Falls, Kalispell, and Whitefish come up with at that time.

Don't wait, it is time to make reservations for any lodging in Glacier National Park. The season is short, accommodations limited, and every year people miss out by trying to be last minute.

Long weekend coming up, planning some horse riding and bike riding on some of the new, extended bike trails.

An exciting horsey weekend starting on Friday in the Flathead Valley! Clinton Anderson is doing a horse clinic here for 3 days. I have tickets for all three days. I have utilized his videos and techniques for years so am very excited to watch him in person. Individuals will have their horses at $2000 a piece so we will watch them learn and progress through the 3 days. He is coming from Texas so this is very cool in our little valley.

I showed clients homes on small acreage for 2 days last week so have been exposed to a lot of properties in the $300k to $600k range on 5-10 acres. Some decent choices out there.

Been doning the bee suit and checking on the hives in our garden area. Feels like a steep learning curve, but pretty facinating all the same.

Dirt work is happening on Super WalMart near Target, etc. Will be nice to have a grocery store at this end of town.

Should be a good hay crop this year with all the snow we had and the rain is still off and on this spring.

Glacier National Park plowing is proceeding after a big dump of snow last week slowed progress in getting the Going to the Sun highway open. It is always fun to see r.v.s driving through Kalispell on the way to the park in May when the road is not open all the way through until sometime in June depending on the weather.

Whitefish Mountain Resort (Big Mountain to me) is selling next year season passes. The great news is that the price did not go up. Thos of us with season passes from this last winter are able to ride up the mountain for free this summer to take advantage of the zip lines, walk thru the tress and other summer activities.

A new hobby on our ranch: honey bees. We have installed the bees in 2 new hives in our back garden. Already having fun watching these busy bees carrying in pollen and working on establishing their new homes. Will get suited up this weekend to take an in depth peek into the hives to see what is going on and if all is well. Fortunately we have friends who are giving us lots of advice. There is a steep learning curve but what facinating creatures!!