First, this is where I am blogging tonight

And looks who’s back!

Melanie drove a LONG way to get here, but she is finally camping with me again. Yay!

I’ll get to that, but I had a great journey getting here too and had a wonderful week with my sister and a=her family! This is my sister and neice

Beautiful, huh? I missed a pic of her husband and son. I thought for sure I had snapped them, but guess not. They live really close to Mr Ranier, and usually I can get a fantastic shot of the mountain, but it was so smokey! I’ve been dealing with that for a couple of weeks now, so you’ll see a bunch of hazy pictures – use your imagination and know it’s so beautiful.

We were goofy

Went to Point Defiance and had lunch at Anthonys – Thanks Randy!

I met the Fremont Troll

We saw salmon spawning – Sockeye, Chinook and Soho. Here’s a little education about why they do what they do. I would suggest stopping by if you are in Seattle. It is pretty interesting and it’s Free!

And it was cool watching the locks operate – also free entertainment

My time in Washington with sis was just some good ol’ family fun, and I needed it. They are a great family and I love them!

I was sad to leave, but onward! I finally made it to the one National Park that has eluded me all these years – Glacier National Park in Montana! I’ll give you an early tip: plan ahead! You need a park pass (or pay $35 for a week) AND a reservation for timed entry for Going-To-The-Sun Road. I didn’t think this was a big deal, but the road is the main part of the park and you don’t want to miss it! It was beautiful, and I already want to go back, but pictures will have to do the talking.

On my way there

Miscellaneous beauty

I did 5 hikes (well, 2 of them were really walks) in one day for a total of 11 miles. One hike had 3 waterfalls and on Huckleberry Lookout I ate huckleberries along the trail while I hiked. Yum!

I wish I could adequately describe the Going-To-The-Sun Road. I didn’t believe them when they said I couldn’t take my tiny camper on it. They have a strict ‘No longer than 21′ total’ rule and Sydney + Oggie = 28′. After I drove it, my opinion changed = very narrow, steep drop offs, and overhanging rocks .(for my Colorado folks, think the road out of Ouray) … not to mention the traffic, including Deer Jams

There was a Cowboy groom and a beautiful bride taking pictures along the road. I came across them 3 times. I almost felt sorry for the photographer having to maneuver this crazy road while trying to get romantic pictures.

One of my favorite hikes was Hidden Lake on Logan Pass even though it was very popular. Maybe because I love stairs so much.

Oh, and I finally saw a. bear! He’s in there somewhere

I also managed to make it to the East side of the park in St Mary. Don’t get any ideas of seeing Many Glacier. I tried. It was like getting a good seat on Southwest Airlines – I jumped on at exactly 7pm to get a ticket and before I could press ‘buy’ they were sold out. Good luck.

I had an iffy moment when I drove into my campsite in Babb, MT – think of Deliverance. A little creepy, I felt like I was the only one there, and Cliff thought I was in Canada! Now, I don’t like to knock a campground, but Duck Creek CG had no running water, the sites were tough to get into, a few sites had electrical at the road (get out your long cord), the ‘office had grandma and three little kids living in it, and I had to drive down the street for a shower, BUT there was this – the view of the east side of Glacier.

What else did I do here… Let’s see. I stayed in Kalispell at a fabulous Harvest Host and drove through Whitefish. In another life many years ago, I did a lighting job here. It’s good to see they are still using those lights and have added a bunch since I divorced that job. I also experienced a Winco – it’s kind of like a big Aldis, and they don’t take credit cards! I was stunned. Luckily I had a handy dandy debit card on hand.

I left Glacier a week ago, and I’ve been having a blast since then! You’ll definitely hear about it soon, for now, this is enough. Thanks for reading.

Tip of the day: Listen to people when they tell you NOT to take the road to Polebridge to get into Glacier, unless you like driving 60 miles of dusty bumpy washboard road just to get to an entrance to the park that doesn’t really take you anywhere, except to a couple of pretty lakes. Enter through Apgar or St Mary and grab a map! The signage in the park leaves a lot to be desired.