Real Estate Information

 Sitting at my table eating breakfast with the sun starting to rise over the Rockies, all the mountain peaks out including those in Glacier National Park. Does it get better than this?

  Skiing whenever my work allows and it has been great! Conditions were wonderful last Saturday but not the visibility. Made up for that Monday morning. Spring like conditions but the mornings are fine. Looking for some fresh snow to fall starting today.

  Whitefish ArtWalk is next Friday, January 29th. Also that night is one of 4 performances of South Pacific, a collaboration with Alpine Theater Project and the Glacier Symphony.  Whitefish Winter Carnival starting to pick up steam, lots of fun events on the schedule.

  Work continues to pickup with buyers making offers. Got one deal together this week and working on a second. A serious buyer considering one of my listings - feels busy, especially compared to last year.

  Might try to fit in a snowshoe trek in Glacier National Park tomorrow. It is free with a ranger along to educate the snowshoers.

I LOVE where I live! Last Thursday, the sun was out, skis were in the car, so after working all morning, ran up to ski a few runs. Rode up on the chair with a guy who had done the very same thing. Not many places where a person can be so close to the ski hill that they can do this.

On the weekend we had a family bowling competition at Pick's Bowling in Bigfork. A fairly new  bowling alley. Fun and frustration - not my favorite thing to do. Followed by dinner at Tamarack Creek Brewery in Lakeside. The most interesting menu and even though I don't drink beer, well worth the drive for an excellent buffalo burger and the best fries in the valley.

We are having a spring thaw the last 2 days, nice to be warm out but a little sloppy. I wondered why I bothered to get my car washed yesterday, hopefully it will stay clean until I show homes this afternoon.

Still sore from a killer workout during the noon hour at Flathead Fitness. The owner taught it and it was tough! Looking forward to the regularinstructor next week. There was a lot of moaning and groaning going on during class.

Foys to Blacktail trail had a meeting last night to strategize on further trail progress and land purchases to extend the system. This is a wonderful thing for the valley. Starting at Herron Park in Kalispell, you can ride horses, bikes, hike all the way to Blacktail Mountain in Lakeside. A great group of people working to increase the land available and set it aside for recreation that is easilyaccessible to all. I support this project and hope others will too.

Weather and skiing: Winter definitely arrived in the past week. Valley snow, wind, cold and awesome Rocky Mountain Views on the clear sunny days. Whitefish Mountain Resort received copious amounts of snow. Skiing was great this week with views for forever. See Video below taken from chair 2 of the Flathead Valley and Whitefish Lake - which is pretty much frozen across at this point. Free night skiing this Saturday night thanks to the Kalispell Ski Club. We are going up with the family.

Kalispell swore in the new mayor this week. She is a young attorney. I'll be watching to see how that works with the city manager and council.

Night life starting to pick up around the valley now that the new year is here. Many Canadians and other tourists in town for all the winter fun we have to enjoy. Cross country skiing at the Whitefish Golf Course is one of my favorites. Groomed runs and you can rent equipment right there.

Community Education catalog from Flathead Valley Community College arrived in the mail yesterday. An overwhelming array of choices from learning Korean to cooking to back country camping with horses!

Central School Museum in Kalispell is starting up the winter lecture series. Check out their web site for more information.

Tickets are on sale for Alpine Theater Project's collaboration with the Glacier Symphony in an abbreviated version of South Pacific the end of January. 3 performances, 2 in Whitefish and 1 in Kalispell.

   Christmas happenings: ice skating in Whitefish, Christmas Eve torch light parade on Big Mountain, nachos at Hellroaring Saloon on the mountain, my 4 horses escaping on Christmas morning and a made chase to catch them with much help from the neighbors. Christmas day movie and a big turkey dinner afterwards followed by a Rummicube tournament at our house.

   Thought about skiing this a.m. but with 14" of powder over night and still snowing heavily at Whitefish Mountain Resort, think we'll wait for it to be groomed and packed. Another big storm tonight, so maybe Saturday will be good skiing. Looks like snow for the next week in the mountains. Get kind of funny about holiday "crowds" on the mountain. So used to never standing in line that with kids out of school and holiday tourists, seems like long lines when compared to the norm at some resorts, are actually very short lines.

   A friend's goat had her kids yesterday so plan on running out to Kila to see the babies. My kids are due the beginning of May.

   Going to skip First Night Flathead this year. Maybe have a neighborhood bon fire instead. Never stay up till midnight anyway.

   Watch for a post of a video of the Christmas Eve torchlight parade. Should be on in a couple of days after my visiting son shows me how to do it. He is the family tech wiz and attorney all rolled into one.

This is starting to look like a ski report, but the conditions were awesome this morning. Sun, packed powder, a little icy at the bottom and no crowds until we left at lunch. Ah the luxury of a season's pass at Whitefish Mountain resort!

    Last night was the Gallery Opening in Whitefish for artist Sunti. Sunti is from Thailand and lives in Bigfork. He does amazing resin and bronze statues. Google him and check out his work.

    Monday night was the yearly Alpine Theater Project's Christmas show. Broadway stars fly in for a week or so and perform. Always entertaining and fun.

    The weather is turning colder which is good for the snow conditions. Sun is also in the Christmas forecast. Planning on snowshoeing in Glacier National Park tomorrow with the family. Should be beautiful. Will post a photo of our adventures next week.

    A blessed Christmas to all from Kalispell Montana and Cary Jo!

    Skiing: Went up yesterday, NO ONE else was up on the slopes. It was fun to read the lifties name tags to see where in the world they were from. Saw one from London, England all the way to Whitefish Montana! Conditions were a littlesprink like but went up and down chair 2 the most. Fog drifted in and out but had a great view of the valley and Whitefish Lake. Had our grown kids with us and had the traditional lunch at Hell Roaring - always great. Sat by the giant fire place in the day lodge on the leather sofas andvisted. A stop at Montana Coffee Traders on the way home topped off the day. Feeling the quad muscles this morning!

     Looking forward to Alpine Theater Project's annual holiday play on Monday night. It has been sold out for weeks. We go every year and it is always outstanding. Broadway actors and musicians are brought in with a huge variety of talents for our enjoyment.

     Christmas week talks of snowshoeing in Glacier National Park, ice skating and other winter fun.

     I have 2 new listings on my web site; www.kalispellcary.com - check them out!

It is snowing finally! Not a lot, but this weekend expect a quite a bit more. Big Mtn opened last weekend but opted not to ski since only a few runs were open and it was bitterly cold. This last week we had some frigid days but boy were the Rocky Mountains our shining against the clear blue skies. I overheard someone say yesterday those mountains are "food for the soul".

Whitefish Christimas Stroll is tonight, Friday. Always fun. Galleries and shops open and a Christmas parade. Snow will be falling, very Christmas like.

Bigfork is open late on the Saturdays before Christmas. Another charming village at Christmas in our valley.

Having dinner tomorrow night at Kandahar at the Whitefish Mountain Resort - favorite restaurant in the valley!

Get those skis ready - it is going to be a great season.

   For the last 5+ years, I have watched the former hospital, then Flathead County building on the eastside of Kalispell be transformed. The building is now called Eastside Brick. The owners have done a fabulous job turning this unique building into residential condos as well as work/live studios. There are business located on the main level and residents own condos above. The basement is where the studios or work/live condos are located. There are still some of these available for sale at what I see as a real opportunity to own a property in the desireable east side of Kalispell. Maple trees line the streets, plenty of parking in the lot, walking distance to downtown and Woodland Park.

   NOW, The Boiler Room has opened in the parking lot where the former heating plant was for the hospital. I just returned to my office from checking it out. Very urban and cool. Lots of metal, wood and style. 2 moms came in while I was there with their wee ones all bundled from walking to the coffee shop. The Boiler Room offers breakfast and even some staple items in the form of groceries for those who live nearby. The fire place is the coolest - if a fire place can be cool :) It has the metal that looks like an old boiler with what looks like the old boiler hatch on the front.

http://www.boilerroombrew.com/ here is the web site for the Boiler Room

http://www.eastsidebrick.com/ here is the web site for the building.

Now, back to work sending out my monthly seller reports!!

      I saw an interesting commercial on t.v. yesterday; "Bigfork, Open All Year". Bigfork is one of 4 towns in our valley. Situated on the NE corner of Flathead Lake, it is a hopping place in the summer. Very picturesque sitting on the canal leading to the lake. The "elves" decorate Bigfork for the holidays. I most like Bigfork in the winter when it is quiet and not crowded. Galleries, great restaurants, and just wandering through town is relaxing and scenic. In the summer you can drive your boat to the public dock and then walk around from there. Summer also offers Bigfork Playhouse's musical productions utilizing actors and college students from around the country.

     Woke up to rain - a rather rare occurrence in this valley which only gets on average 16" a year. Hopefully this translates to snow in the mountains. Snow is forecast in the valley tomorrow.

     Headlines in this morning's Daily Interlake indicate that Tele Tech will be adding 100 new jobs this spring. There is the feeling in the Flathead Valley that spring will bring a pick up in everything from construction to real estate creating a come back in the economy. While it is still a buyer's market, I feel this might slowly start to change in the spring.

  What's new in the valley? The biggest news this week is the selling of Semi-Tool, one of the valley's largest employers. Semi-tool was started in California and moved to Kalispell by a local man. The company makes the equipment to manufacture wafers for semi-condutors. The deal is set to close before the end of the year. No word yet if the local plant and employees will be effected.

   The Kalispell truck alternate route (aka bypass) contract has been awarded. Construction to start depending on weather.

    Waiting for......... SNOW! The slopes on Big Mountain - Whitefish Moutain Resort - open in early December. Snow is forecast for this weekend, let's hope it starts piling up on the mountain. It was downright balmy a couple of days this week, I would have riden a horse if I didn't have to be in the office working. Got the shoes pulled for the winter. Don't miss my favorite coffee spot in Kalispell, Colter Coffee on Main Street. Great place to visit, wifi, and the best coffee in town.

   Can you believe Thanksgiving is next week!!