First the housing market: Jim Kelly of Kelly Appraisal recently said in the newspaper that our market appears to be stabilizing in the Flathead Valley. Foreclosures seem to have peaked in Jan/Feb. This matches my observations that we are seeing more bank owned listings than short sales, and April was a very good month for closings. Compared to last year, March closings were up significantly, approximately 60% higher than the previous year.

   We took a drive last Sunday up the Star Meadows Road between Kalispell and Whitefish. Round Meadows is an area for x-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter, horse back riding/hiking in the summer. Beyond that is a long very nice paved road that goes for miles. We didn't make it to the end - Lake Sylvia is 10 miles further off the pavement. On the way back, took the road over to Tally Lake, one of our favorite places in the valley. Tally Lake is 9 miles long, in a canyon.  A very deep lake with no residences on the land around it. There is a campground and boat launch at one end. Being from the Seattle area, it is awesome to us that you can drop a boat in the lake and never see a soul for miles. We learned the hard way that is not always a good thing, a few years ago. We had beached our boat to go for a walk and it wouldn't start when we returned. It is not easy to row a 19' cuddy cab boat. Finally someone came by and gave us a tow to the launch.

   Update on Pick's Bowling Alley in Bigfork. Elizabeth emailed me and wanted to spread the word about their Safe Kids - Free Bowling Club this summer. Please visit www.PicksBowl.com for more information.

Restaurant addition: Three Forks in Columbia Falls. We finally made it there for dinner tonight. Very good and interesting menu. Had halibut cheeks in corn fritters on a salad with aioli and orange vinaigrette, should have stopped there but had their classic burger (sans bun) with garlic mashed on top and mashed potatoes. We both ate and hubby had a glass of wine for under $50! Great atmosphere. Nice for C. Falls to have a classy place.