We stopped at Pure Country in The Crowsnest Pass for supper. Nicole and I were both so full from our meal of chicken on a stick and potato wedges we both got salads. But the boys were hungry, and got hamburgers.
We crossed the border with no issues, stopped at Eureka for some drinks and a couple of Justin's favorite Salted Nut Roll at the gas station, then were back on the road again. We got to Whitefish pretty late, and there was a bit of confusion as to which condo was the one we were staying in; but with a couple phone calls, and a phone number written in the snow - we figured it out. We went to bed pretty much right after we were settled, then woke up at about 8:30 and started getting ready for the day. The condo is just a staircase down from Whitefish Lake and when we left the condo, we saw fisherman ice fishing. Justin and I still have yet to do this, and I can't wait until the weather is good, but the ice is solid enough for us to give it a try.
We enjoyed breakfast at the Buffalo Cafe. And made plans to head into Kalispell to do some shopping, get some clothes for Mexico and look at some of the outdoor sports stores.
At Murdoch's Ranch & Homes I found a nice tuque with the ear flaps on it, I didn't find a teal one, but decided that since this light pink one was less than ten dollars I could settle for it! Corey and Nicole had talked about huge camping chairs that could potentially hold three people. Then they spotted them in the store, although you can't really see quite how big they are in the first picture, the other ones sure explain it! I really wanted on of them, but knew it wasn't really a necessary purchase for about $120. But with three drink holders in each of the arms, and a set of Depends, I wouldn't need to get up from the campfire until bedtime!
At Snappy Sport Senter there were some really great animal mounts to look at: elk, big horn sheep, mountain goat and a brown bear. 
After all that walking around, we were ready for lunch. We went to The Sizzler for their salad bar. Everything was really tasty, and I loved that they had a taco station and the meatballs were really yummy. When it came time for dessert, it was ice cream to the rescue! I think this was the first time of having any since before January - it was SO amazingly good!
We walked to Sportsman & Ski Haus and saw some more taxidermy. This time a cougar, non-typical white tail deer and a albino caraboo.
After shopping at Ross, and TJ Maxx, we headed back to the condo to get ready for supper. This time on the lake were four deer trying to have a meal.
We went to Mambo Italiano, put our name down on the list and since it was a 45 minute wait for a table, we headed to Safeway to by some snacks for later that night (which we were all too full from supper to even think about). We also planned on just hanging out at the condo Saturday night and just eating snackies (crackers with meat, cheese and pickles and a platter of nachos) which we shopped for too. I can never get over the wine, coolers and beer that is sold at gas stations and grocery stores in the States!
When we got back to Mambo's after waiting a couple minutes, it was our turn to get seated. We sat down, decided on some appitizers and a bottle of wine (calimari, bruchetta and a bottle of Firestone Vineyard red wine from California) . Then it was our meal desisions, which everyone had pasta. I had thought since we planned this trip that I was going to order ravioli, but after the meatballs from lunchtime, I didn't want another tomato based sauce. I settled on this AMAZING fetticini with chicken, shrimp and peas in a really creamy sauce (Justin kept reminding me that they probably made it with a full carton of cream!). There was these little crunchy bits on top, I'm thinking they are bits of pancetta, whatever they were - they were awesome. Basically I wanted to marry my pasta!
After we finished our meals (I had to get some of mine packed up), Corey ordered dessert, not that we needed it at all, which was little bits of doughnut batter deep-fried, and covered in icing sugar with warm chcolate, caramel and raspberry sauces to dip them it. Seriously, if I loved doughnuts, this would have been the ultimate thing ever; I really liked them dipped in the raspberry sauce, it counteracted some of the sweetness. Everyone else really liked the caramel sauce, and the chocoalte was just too sweet. When we got back to the condo, Corey laid down on the floor, Justin on the chair, and Nicole and I were on the couch. Very shortly Corey and I fell asleep. The next thing I knew Justin was waking me up telling me it was bedtime!
Nicole had mentioned this Cowgirl Coffee hut that her and Corey really liked. She thought it was only open during the summer months, but aftter a couple minutes of searching, we drove up to it. I wanted a hot chocolate, but when Corey suggested "white chocolate latte" I couldn't refuse. And it was AMAZING! Next time we're there - I'm making sure to get another one!
We drove back to Kalispell and headed to the Costco. We walked around for a bit, then ended up in the electronics section. Nicole and I were separated from the boys (we were looking at jewlery which was right beside audio units), then Corey came up to us and said Justin was looking for me. I found him, and this is what I saw (he was looking through 3D glasses at a 3D TV - which looked so funny. Then everyone had a try, and it was really life-like: I thought a volleyball was going to hit me in the head!).
After some more shopping at Walmart and Target, we headed back to Whitefish. This Cowboy Church had amuzed me for a while, and I wanted to get a picture.
Justin picked out the Bulldog Saloon for us to eat at for lunch, he had heard from his boss that it had good food. The food was really good, I'd say really close to how Wendy's burgers are. But the french fries were awesome! You could get sour cream and chives added to them, which was a coating of the chives with sour cream to dip into. So good!
We stopped at The Toggery, to have a look at their clothing, Nicole said they sell Mavis - which are the only jeans Justin (other than his work jeans from Costco). Justin bought a pair, and I got a pair of sandles with a teal flower on them for Mexico. We went to look at some houses on the other side of the lake, and almost got stuck leaving one of the areas. We had to attempt a slippery, snow covered hill four times to make it up. Then we headed up to the top of Big Mountain to the ski hill for a look around.
When we arrived back at the condo, we noticed this little black and white thing bounding around out on the frozen lake. We realized when she came up to us, that it was a little dog. She was the cutest little dog, and I scooped her up for some pictures. I figured Lowie could handle a dog about this size, and really wanted to keep her! We ate our snackies, watched some TV, had some drinks, watched American History X, then headed to bed.
After a load of laundry, some lint roller as a vacuum action to pick up the salt we had drug in on our shoes, and some dishes we were on the road heading home. We stopped at Eureka to eat at The Cutting Board, but after driving around and asking, found out it was closed for the winter. So we ate at the Crossroads/4 Corners Restaraunt which had AMAZING hamburger macaroni soup and Justin said that might be the best burger he's ever eaten!
I knew what this trip was going to be like before we left home: lots of eating good meals, shopping until our legs hurt, enjoying a few drinks and spending time together with Corey and Nicole before Mexico - and it certainly didn't disappoint!
