Banjo Man and I left the lake last Sunday afternoon.

For the first time in six years I did not cry all the way to Thompson Falls.  Why, you ask?

Because I was eating ice cream.   Not just any ice cream, but soft-serve vanilla ice cream from The Pantry.  I’ll let you in on a little tip:  if you buy a large cup of The Pantry’s soft serve vanilla ice cream and take it home and freeze it, you will have something that tastes like homemade, right-from-the-crank-machine, ice cream.

It’s pretty wonderful.

I buy mini chocolate chips from The Pantry and add them to the ice cream to make….TA DAH!!!–chocolate chip ice cream.

And because I was eating this from the time we left the lake until somewhere deep into Montana, I was too busy to cry.

Banjo Man was so happy.  He now knows The Secret to Leaving Idaho Without Tears.

After I finished my ice cream–and believe me, I made it last a long time–I took some pictures.

Because Montana is photogenic.