July 31 - Last day in Glacier

Even though it was cloudy and 30% chance of rain, we decided to try hiking just one more time in Glacier. We hiked the McDonald Creek Trail. It wound around the creek, saw more waterfalls and lots of rocks. It did rain but we had our rain jackets on and I didn’t melt. By noon, there was blue sky.

Packed our lunch again so we ate at the Lake McDonald Lodge. Then started off on Sperry Trail which went straight up the side of a mountain. It was a 5 mile hike which we only did 1.5. Decided that we had huffed and puffed enough so we came back down the mountain.

Jumped on the bikes and took off for Kalispell, a town about 35 south of Glacier. Here’s a picture of one of the building in historic downtown. It's the county seat and the largest city in Northwest Montana.

Took this picture for Shan and Linda. When we were in Seattle for a girl's trip, they had little coffee houses all over the place. Same here in the Glacier area. Is it a Northwest thing to do?

Called Andrea and she asked me to bring back some stones from Glacier. Peg had some for a project she wanted to do, but didn't have enough. So, we headed back to Glacier for one last time to get some stones from the shore of Lake McDonald. The lake was created by a glacier and is about 10 miles long and over 500 feet deep. Peg didn't have her camera so this is one I took from the lower end of McDonald Lake.

This is our last night in Hungry Horse so had some packing of clothes and bikes to do. Tomorrow we’re off for Yellowstone to see the sights there. Talk to you tomorrow night.

July 30 - Waterton International Peace Park, Alberta, CA

Got an early start today since we were going to Waterton International Peace Park in Canada (about 150 miles one way). Started out at 7:30 a.m. with lots of layers on because it was only 51 degrees here in Hungry Horse. You delicate people understand and know that when I say “many” layers, it’s at least 7. But it did warm up a little as we rode north.

We stopped in Browning, MT, at the Blackfeet Heritage Center in the Blackfeet Indiana Reservation. Chief Earl Old Person told us stories to help us understand the various ceremonies the Blackfeet had and why they were important. The Blackfeet Indian Reservation is 1.5 million acres of beautiful countryside. The reservation borders Glacier National Park and Canada.

After visiting the Blackfeet Heritage Center we continued north to Waterton International Peace Park. The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is the name of the union of the Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada and the Glacier National Park in the United States. In 1979, Waterton and bordering Glacier National park in the US were designated as World Biosphere reserves, preserving mountains, prairie, lakes and freshwater wetlands ecosystems. Habitats represented in the parks' range include: prairie grasslands, aspen grove forests, alpine tundra/high meadows, lower subalpine forests, deciduous and coniferous forests. The weather was cool and overcast.

We walked through the Prince of Wales Lodge at Waterton. The lodge opened in 1927. The hotel was named after Prince Edward and retains its British atomosphere even today. (We even saw a guy in a kilt when we walked through the lobby.) The lodge is on a bluff overlooking Waterton Lake.

The ride back was over some great riding roads, lots of curves and up and down the mountains.

July 29 - Riding to the Sun Road again & Avalanche Trail Hike

Today started out with Bill going to the auto parts store to get spark plugs for his bike. It was starting to miss a little yesterday and he wanted to make sure he had new plugs just in case.

Then we decided we wanted to hike Avalanche Trail off of Riding to the Sun Road. It was a 2.5-mile hike in among huge, tall red cedars to a gorge. Ice-age glacial melt water carved through bedrock sculpted the gorge. Then the trail headed up among western hemlock and overland until we reached Avalanche Lake. We continued walking along the lake's rocky shore.

As you see in the photos, the weather was gorgeous making the lake’s aquamarine shine. We hiked around the lake as far as the trail would let us, again taking our shoes and socks off to wade in the freezing glacier water.

Too beautiful to pass up, we sat for a spell looking at the water falls coming off the glacier on the continental divide. We took a break just listening to nothing and taking in all the beauty surrounding us.

Jumped on the bikes and decided to ride somewhere we hadn’t been yet. The road took us to another part of the park where there had been a fire at some point. Lodepole pine have started to grow in the ungrowth of the burned out trees.

On our way back, we stopped in Columbia Falls because they were having a Farmer’s Market with live music and crafts. Had a great time listening to some bluegrass music and shopping!! To end our night, we ate at a Mexican restaurant that was superb and then washed two loads of clothes so we’re ready for our next adventures.

July 28 - Going to the Sun Road again

Decided to go back and ride the Going to the Sun Road again to do some hiking. I rode behind Bill so I could take some pictures while riding. Just as we were getting started on the road, we saw a Grizzly bear cub loping across the road. We drove toward the east end of the park to do some more hiking.

We hiked to the St. Mary Falls trail and saw Virginia and Barring falls as well. We met two guys on the trail who were from State College (can you believe that). They told us about a trail that most people don't travel that would lead to yet another fall so we took that trail as well. It was all so beautiful. Lots of water rushing and roaring down. The water was an aqua blue. Found out that whenever the water is that color it's because it came from a glacier. Wanted to see if the water really was as cold as I thought glacier water would be so we took our shoes and socks off and soaked our feet for a little bit .... AND only a little bit. It was FREEZING but refreshing!!

After that refreshing break, we took another hike to Sun Point. The view was another amazing one. Sun glistening on St. Mary Lake and mountains in the distance. The beauty just surrounded us.



It was time for lunch so we took our packed lunch to the bank of the St. Marys Lake and ate while the water lapped around our feet. Of course, I had to take off my shoes and socks and soak my feet. The water wasn't nearly as cold as the falls. I was actually able to keep my feet in the water for at least 5 minutes without them going numb. What a relaxing lunch.

Still wanting to keep riding, we decided to go on to Many Glacier. We had huckleberry ice cream at the general store that was delicious. Huckleberries are very plentiful here. They have stands that sell huckleberries and cherries all along the roads.

After that respite, what did we see but a HUGE bull moose taking a rest in a wooded area. Lots of people all around but the moose didn't care. He just laid their taking it easy.

Well, it was time to head back to Hungry Horse so we decided to take the Going to the Sun Road (instead of going the long way like we did last night). The construction on the road holds us up at least 30 minutes. They are fixing the boulder walls and getting the road ready to pave.

Finally made it back to the motel. Ate at the Nite Owl Back Room. Declicious baby back ribs and fry bread... glad we had all that hiking to use up some of the calories.

July 27 - Hungry Horse and Glacier National Park

Had a full day of riding. Decided that our first ride would be the “Road to the Sun.” Started out about 7:30. Road to the Logan Pass Visitor Center. Decided we needed to take a hike to Hidden Lake. Walked about 2 miles and saw mountain goats and Big Horn sheep very close to us.

We trekked through snow and water but the end result was absolutely gorgeous … Hidden Lake.

After getting back to the bikes at the Visitor Center, we took off again on the Road to the Sun.

They were working on the road so had to go through some road construction but finally made it to the end of the Road to the Sun. Peg doesn't like riding in gravel, so when we came upon a roadgrader spreading new gravel, Bill was looking for a place to pull his bike off the road so he could help Peg out. But she rode through the hazzard with out a glitch.

Rather than turn around and come back the way we had come, we decided to take the long way home but another beautiful ride through Glacier. Maybe the gravel on the "Riding to the Sun Road" had something to do wiith the decision to take a different route home!

Day 4 - July 26 - Forsythe, MT to Hungry Horse, MT

Montana is a pretty big state. Since we have about 8 or 9 hours, we left about 8 a.m. Drove across I90 til we got to Billings, then started north on two lane roads. Saw an antelope, 2 mule deer and a mountain lion (could the Nittany Lion have followed me??). It was a beautiful ride once we got off of i90. Saw rugged hillsides, beautiful lakes, and mountains in the distance. Don’t have many pictures because Bill wouldn’t stop. What you see are ones I took while he was driving.

Once we got to Hungry Horse, we checked into the Mini Golden Inn. We have a nice room with a kitchen. We unloaded the bikes and took off for dinner and to look for a grocery store. Have to get our food ready to take off tomorrow for the Road to the Sun.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Day 3, July 25 - Monticello, Minnesota to Forsythe, Montana

Stopped to get gas at Fergus Falls and found the Northern Continental Divide monument. A continental divide is a drainage divide where the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side feeds into a different ocean or sea. There are five divides in North America. The Northern Divide separates the watershed of the Atlantic Ocean from that of Hudson Bay.

Well, we are on our way across Minnesota and North Dakota and had a learning experience from a Metro police officer in Moorehead, ND!! Who really thinks that Moorehead, ND is metro … we sure didn’t. Anyway, Bill was tooling along about 65-70 and heard the music of the cop car. When he pulled over, the officer asked if we didn’t know we were in a metro area (they must count all the mosquitoes!!). You can tell you’re in a Metro area when there are buildings alongside the highway and are always 55 MPH. It was NOT the time to tell him that we didn’t think Moorhead was Metro. So Bill used his most convincing voice to tell the officer that he was sorry. Officer only gave us a warning and a handout to let us know just how much the fine would have been.

In the middle of nowhere, we saw this flying geese sculpture. Geese in Flight sculpture was begun in 1998 and completed in 2002. The artist chose to sculpt geese because the birds are significant to North Dakota. They fly through the state every spring and fall, migrating north or south. The geese are enjoyed by bird watchers and hunters alike.

The ride was becoming pretty boring and then we came to the Painted Canyon, part of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Known as the northern Badlands, the color was beautiful. The Badlands are located in the southwest portion of the state. The area is dry today, but in the past, rivers carved out stunning rock features that stand today.

Made it into Forsythe, Montana, a historic town about an hour and a half past the border. It's a quaint little town of about 2,000 people and the county seat for Rosebud County. Forsythe was established in 1876 as the first settlement on the Yellowstone River. The  Sundowner motel has wireless!! I'm in heaven.

We have about 9 hours til we reach Hungry Horse, Montana. We're hoping we get an early start. Talk to you tomorrow.

Day 2 - Indiana to Minnesota

Got on the road early. Spent a lot of time getting around Chicago. Doesn't seem to matter which route we take, it just takes a long time. Had to detour because of flooding. It was hard to believe they were routng cars through the water.

Finally made it around and through and made it to Monticello, MN. We had quite a lot of excitement (not the good kind). The ball broke off the trailer and the safety chains let loose. We actually watched the trailer (with our bikes) go across the median strip and over into the other lane and down in the ditch (east bound) and we were going west bound. So we drove across one of the access roads that you're not supposed to do and pulled up along side the road close to the trailer. Bill checked on the bikes and they were OK. The trailer has a few bumps and bruises but for the most part it was ok, too. Went up the road about 2 miles to an ACE Hardware store and picked up a new ball and some new safety chain links. Had to go down the road another 5 miles to get the piece to fix the wiring. Back up the Interstate to the trailer and fought the misquitos that were worse than in Geneva swamp!!! Bill worked on the wiring while Peg swatted misquitos for him. Once that was fixed to Bill's satisfaction, he had to maneuver the pickup and trailer around (the trailer was turned the wrong way) and up an enbankment to the Interstate. Made it without the trailer dragging (God was definitely with us!!). Found a room but still had to go to Walmart to get a light tester to test the wiring in the morning.

Day 1: Away we go

We're on our way. We're shooting for Toledo which means we'll have about 300 miles in and 1500 to go to get to Hungry Horse, MT.

We actually made it almost to the Illinois border. Went through a lot of rain. Stopped at the Smith's Family Restaurant and had Carrot Coin Salad. I asked for the recipe but they told me it was a secret. Found it on the Internet though. It would be a nice salad for summer get togethers.

Here's the recipe I found:


CARROT COIN SALAD
2 lb. carrots, sliced
1 can tomato soup
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. vinegar
1/2 c. salad oil
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. mustard
1/2 tsp. celery seed
Salt and pepper to taste
1 med. red onion, sliced in rings
1 green pepper, chopped coarsely
Cook carrots in water until tender, but firm. Boil soup, sugar, vinegar, salad oil, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, celery seed, salt and pepper for 15 minutes or until sauce thickens. Make layers of carrots with onion, green pepper. Pour sauce over each layer and chill for several hours. Can be refrigerated for several days.

Truck fixed, trailer hitched -- check off list

Well, can't believe it BUT the truck got fixed by the Ford garage yesterday. I picked it up and off we went to Spring Mills to pick up the traner from Nevin Stitzer. As we were getting closer to Spring Mills, the sky got darker and I thought, oh yeah, just one more thing on this wonderful day of mine. It did pour buckets for about 5-10 minutes but then sun came out and Nevin and I were able to hitch the trailer and off we went back to State College.

Picked up Shuffy from airport (yeah, remember, he was gone while all this was happening!!). -- check off list

So, two more things checked off list. Tonight will be packing clothes and getting bikes packed in trailer. We're getting closer to take off!

Snafu before we begin

When I went out to start the truck to get the trailer, the motor just kept cranking away without starting. What to do. Called Bill, who I might add is conveniently in Atlanta until late tonight. He said that it sounded like there was a wire cut (which happened in April). So, called our Ford garage to get it scheduled. Then had to call AAA to get it towed. All that is done right now. Just waiting to hear back from the garage. Crossing my fingers and praying it can bget fixed by tomorrow.