Polson, Montana...a huge letdown!

Headed towards Polson, MT today.  Stopped to see this roadside feature.  

 

 

 Not much else going on (rugged mountains, no vegetation but unique, subpar housing, curvy roads) in the Challis/Salmon, ID region. We had the impression that there might be a lot of people hiding from the government here.  Near the Montana border the vegetation/topography changes suddenly with large trees, beetle kill, and rain.  

Stopped in Polson, MT today.  We stayed at the Bayview Inn on Flathead Lake.  

 

Do yourself a favor and stay somewhere else.  The views from the Inn were nice 

 

even though we were looking across a loud highway, however, the rooms itself were not.  The mattress on the bed was curved, the bedspread had a burnt hole from a cigarette (non-smoking room), and everything in the place was dated from the late 70's or early 80's.  I will say the rooms were fairly clean but really they could have put a little bit of money in updating.  The 'continental' breakfast consisted of three cereals, and a couple of packages of donuts.  Again it seemed very budget oriented and not geared towards getting return customers.  On a bright note the flowers in front of the place were nice and eye catching but I would rather of had them spend the money on a new mattress.  Our experience here was a huge bummer since it was only the second hotel we had stayed in and our third shower overall.  I even mentioned that I would rather be camping than staying here.

I was hoping to make it out to Wild Horse Island State Park.  It is an island in the middle of Flathead Lake that has wild horses and big horn sheep.  I called the State Park as well as a couple of boat rental places to find a way to get out there.  Short of spending $320 (the only boats available were for tubing and water skiing, my guys are too young for that to be worthwhile) for the four of us it just wasn't going to happen. Everyone I talked to thought it was odd that I would just want to go out there and hike and come back to shore. I was very disappointed not to make it there!

Unfortunately, our experience with this town didn't get any better.  We were in search of a fish fry for dinner.  I figured if we were on a lake this size that it would be easy to find somewhere that had fish.  Nope, I don't believe that exists.  The front desk of the Bayview Inn recommended a 'family' restaurant in town.  I know there are lots of people out there that like 'family' style food but it makes my insides churn.  I'd been camping for two weeks...I wanted a tasty, real meal.  Our best bet seemed to be this:

 

 It was a cute place with a nice retro feel inside.  The breaded fish we got from them was pretty good (small portions) but what really set me off was the micro sized hamburger from the kid's menu.  It was downright tiny and cost $6.20!  Mind you, this was a diner!  My son even looked at it and asked me if that was it.  He's never done that before.  We stopped at A&W for dessert just to fill him up.   I just wanted to get out of town!

In the morning we headed out on the east side of Flathead Lake and stopped at Pilot Knob on Highway 35 for fresh cherries and raspberries.  It was a bright spot in my trip to Polson.  Nothing beats fresh fruit and a charismatic, knowledgeable owner.

Glacier National Park here we come!