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Montana: The Sacred (Virtual) Tour

The only tradition my family ever really kept was the Sacred Tour. I don't know what it was but we all grow too attached to past dwellings and tend to idealize them and grow nostalgic for them. So the first thing we would do when visiting Whitefish was take the Sacred Tour of all our old haunts. When I was able to visit my grandparents in Whitefish while serving on my mission, I forced poor Sister Stewart to endure the Sacred Tour. And it's not just Whitefish. Luckily, I lived in three houses in Lafayette, so when my mom and brother came to visit, they also got the Sacred Tour. And every visit to my Grandma Erickson's in Smithfield, UT also consisted of the Sacred Tour of my mother's childhood. So now, dear readers, you get a virtual Sacred Tour of the Whitefish of my youth. My family lived there from 1981 to 1985.

Also, maybe you should know how much the kids in my family loved Whitefish. It was A LOT! When we moved back to Utah, I was only seven years old, but I, along with all my siblings, was mad. We used to joke about the guards at the borders of Utah that would keep us inside so we couldn't get back to Whitefish. Also, I can't tell you how many dreams I had as a child about finding a secret door that would take me back to Whitefish. We totally romanticized it, and even as adults now, it keeps its rosy sheen.

Ok, on with the tour.

The first thing we look for when coming into Whitefish is the Mormon Church. Seems strange, I know, but it's right there on the outskirts of town and we have lots of memories of going to church there and afterwards, we would use the classroom dividers to make mazes and turn out the lights and fumble through them in the dark. I also remember picking raspberries in the church farm that no longer exists. We stopped by the church and reminisced about how dad would let us drive the car in the parking lot, but we forgot to take a picture. So the virtual tour actually begins with Safeway.

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Safeways in other parts of the country, merely because there was one in Whitefish. Also, that was where I bought my one and only Nancy Drew book on a summer trip to Whitefish.

Next door is the bowling alley, the Pin & Cue. We went there once for Mikey's birthday. I think it might've been the same birthday when we went to see the movie Speed.

And we noticed that Dos Amigos, which used to be over by grandpa's, has moved into town. Actually, I think it moved into town years ago, but we still just always remember it being by grandpa's house.

Ok, now I have to switch things up a bit. When Mikey and I took the Sacred Tour, we didn't do it chronologically. We went to our last house first because my camera battery was threatening to run out ever since we started our journey and Mikey wanted to make sure we got pictures of the Red House, since that's the one he remembered most. But, I'm going to rearrange things so that the tour follows chronologically the time we lived in Whitefish, rather than our trip to visit it.

First up, the White House:

I know what you're thinking. It's blue. That happened about 10 years ago. They also added the porch. It's ok blue, but I wish someone would come to their senses and paint it white again. There used to be a huge apple tree in the backyard and I remember how lovely it was when it would blossom.

Here's the view of Whitefish Lake from the White House:

We could walk there and on the fourth of July, everyone in the church came and set their blankets out on our yard because we had an awesome view of the fireworks. I wish I were there today.

The Bartlett's used to live next door, but apparently their old house has been torn down to make way for the new.

Whitefish is becoming quite the tourist destination/resort town. Still, I would totally summer there. In fact, one day I hope to own a little house there.

These apartments are really close to the beach. Matt used to throw kittens off them. When I came back to visit once right after my mission, I found out the elders serving in the area lived there. I was totally jealous.

Next up, the Gray House (we were so creative with our names). The Gray House was designed by a famous architect, or so we have been told. It is made up of four cubes. I just remember locking myself in the bathroom, falling down the hard, shiny red stairs, and my mom doing shadow puppets on the wall before turning out the lights. Also, there was a huge St. Bernard dog that lived next door.

The house was really small. It only had 2 bedrooms. I guess that's why the current owners (or someone in the past) had to build this hideous add-on.

They could've at least painted it the right color. Geesh. Have a little respect for my past, please.

I always thought this round house next door was the coolest house in the world.

Just down the hill lived the Hudsons. Amy Hudson was Amanda's best friend. I had a crush on one of her older brothers and Mikey had a crush on her younger sister, Becca. We were there a lot. I got my first bee sting there. Their house used to be yellow.

And not too far away was what we called Rocket Park, but its real name is Soroptimist Park.

The merri-go-round still works. Really well. I got totally dizzy.

We took a break from visiting our old houses to stop by grandpa's old house. About three years ago, he and Grandma Barbara moved to a new house in Kalispell. I was a little bit sad because I loved visiting grandpa's house in the mountains. Each curve and stretch of the road had its own name, like Candy Cane Lane (where the red tags for cutting timber were tied on the trees), Mexican Hat Trick, Lemondrop Hill, etc. But we knew where to turn based on this restaurant, which used to be Dos Amigos.

You go up and up and up until you get to grandpa's. He had the best view from one of the three decks. We caught a glimpse of it in between other houses.

Mike and I were hoping that no one would be home so that we could maybe sneak a peek through the windows. Unfortunately, everyone was at home and they were all outside. They looked at us each time we drove by. We just sneaked a picture from up the hill instead.

We used to race each other down the gravel driveway in our Big Wheels and dance on the porch after slathering ourselves in bug spray.

At some point during all this we had lunch at Dos Amigos. Mmm... tasty.

Finally, the Red House. This is the house that Mikey and I probably remember the most since we were still pretty young in the other houses. (Mikey is 2.5 years my junior.) It changed colors, too.

I won't bore you with all my memories, but let me just point out that I used to play Barbies behind this lilac bush and used switches from the Birch tree to make bows and arrows.

Mike and I decided to go for a walk in the old neighborhood. We found the house that used to have the tire swing.

And walked on the bridge across Whitefish River.

A lady was out walking and saw us taking pictures, so she stopped and offered to take a picture of the two of us. We told her all about how we had grown up there and were just visiting our old house. She told us about how she had moved there from Somers and taught school in Columbia Falls. Then she went to take our picture and as Mike put his arm around me in typical picture-taking fashion, she said, "Act like you're in lust, er... in love." The true awkwardness was hidden by my sunglasses, but I think you can also tell in my smile.

We stopped by Muldown Elementary, too, and played on the playground for a bit.

What about the rest of the town? Here are some pictures of downtown Whitefish.

My favorite Barbie, Crystal Barbie, was bought at Crystal Winters. She had the most awesome shoes... that my little brother threw into the woods surrounding grandpa's house not even one day after I got her.

Here's the Fire Station and City Hall:

And the Bull Dog Saloon:

Mikey and I totally planned on having lunch there since we were now old enough, but as we were headed towards it, some people came out the door and it seemed way too dark and smokey inside. Thus we opted for Dos Amigos.

The train depot.

I remember being stuck in traffic as the train went by and counting the number of cars. One of the saddest things for us kids was visiting Whitefish one year and finding that they old, steel viaduct had been replaced with a boring one.

I always thought this First Presbyterian Church was pretty. According to Matt, that's where all his friends went.

And when this building with the etched glass waterfall window was built, I thought it was the height of elegance.

My education began in the basement of this old high school, currently under renovation.

We don't remember this twisty slide, but we should have. It's awesomely scary. And sharp.

After a long afternoon of exploring and reminiscing, we headed back towards Kalispell, using the backroads and coming across the Blue Moon. It used to seem out in the middle of nowhere, but now it's in a thriving junction.

This virtual tour is missing an important part of Whitefish, City Beach. I figured this entry was already too long, though, so I'm going to save the pictures from the beach for another one. However, that'll have to wait for another day because I'm going to head over to Matt and Izzy's and start my patriotic celebrating.