On the Road Again…..first leg to Glacier National Park…June 23, 2015
At last……….I must have had delusions of grandeur to think that we could get back to Redding on Sunday and, then, be ready to leave for Montana on Tuesday. Our brief trip to Long Beach was to celebrate MoMo’s promotion to high school, Bob Carter’s 70 th birthday, and a lovely evening Duffy cruise and dinner with Doug’s sister Patti and her husband Dick. We also wished Madi well as she departed for a week long mission trip to Guatemala. Family events finished and now onto Glacier and Canada!
We got on the road for the first leg of our journey to Glacier around 1 pm…only 3 hours later than planned…not bad. We are hoping to arrive in time to have dinner with Tammy & Joe Florio in Bend, Oregon. Looks like we are leaving Redding as temperatures soar to 114 degrees this week.
We got off with a BANG….literally. As we were loading the coach, we dropped and broke two bottles of wine…..not too sticky and fortunately ” white “. I do hope I am PC….. can I say white?
I will never get tired of the drive North out of Redding. It is so beautiful going through the mountains and the valleys. Shasta Lake, sadly, is very low due to the continued draught.
We entered Oregon on Hwy 97 in a lovely valley. It is haunting how suddenly Oregon is different. The road changes and landscape is so green. Suddenly there is water and green green fields. It is a palpable difference. Factoid – the entire state of Oregon’s population is about 1/3 the size of Los Angeles County alone.
We have kept moving despite many places we would like to explore….like the waterfalls at Post Falls, ID and the cities of Missoula, Kalispell, & Whitefish, Montana
Spent the last two nights in Elk’s Lodge parking lots ( RV ) with electrical hookups. Spokane & Kalispell……not beautiful, but the price was right.
The drive through Montana is breathtaking with mountains followed by vast valleys of cattle ranches and farm land and lots of green expanse. We drove most of the time up Montana along the edge of Flathead Lake. I didn’t know that it is the largest fresh water lake west of the Mississippi. 162 miles of shoreline. We did spend a considerable bit of time following a house that was being moved intact by a semi on a two lane highway – SLOW!!!. It was way too scary to pass, so we just plodded along.
After a quick dinner at the ELKS club of chicken and ribs ($8), we went into Whitefish. It was well worth it. Such a beautiful quaint city with Whitefish lake for boating and all water sports and just up the hill is Big Mountain for winter sports.
It is 1015. We are pooped and ready for bed and it is still light out. I love it! I’ll bet I would hate the winter. It is probably dark at 3:30 pm. I will have to confirm that.
We have been on and off the phone with Melanie tonight. Apparently she was bit by her dog Teddy today (accident) and has lymphangitis. She is currently in the ER getting IV antibiotics.
We have about a 150 mile drive tomorrow to reach our campsite at St. Mary on the East side of Glacier National Park. After 3 days on the road we are looking forward to staying put for 7 days and simply exploring. We heard the The Road to the Sun just opened last week. This traverses Glacier East to West and can only be done by car…I think the Jeep will come in handy.
Friday June 26, 2015
Arrived at our camp site at St. Mary and decided to do just a little exploring around 4 pm. We drove about 18 miles on the Going to the Sun Road and found ourselves at Logan Pass after several stops. Every turn seemed to get more beautiful. Even though the visitors lodge was closed for the day, we started on a hike filled with yellow wild flowers and patches of snow and multiple waterfalls.
The temperature dropped as the valley became shaded but the sun was still bright at 9:30. Back at camp with a wonderful fire ( thank you Doug) we finished dinner around 11 pm. An early start in the the morning is only wishful thinking for this old girl.