"I Am 60" Tour-Day 9- Going Home- June 28, 2017

Unless I am trying to change my body clock to European time, I want no parts of getting up at 3:20 am. However, that's what we did today in order to make our first flight on our trip home. When we left the hotel at 4:03, we had not gotten the requested wake-up call. Good thing we had dependable alarms. There wa a hint of light off to the east.
We drove through mostly empty streets and arrived at Glacier International Airport at 4:18. The odometer read 2908- we'd put 1394 miles on the car since we'd gotten it in Rapid City, South Dakota. Not bad! I dropped my husband and younger daughter at the Delta entrance along with our luggage. My older daughter came with me to the lot at the other end of the terminal for the car rental return.
No one was there, of course. We just found a spot in the Hertz row. We had to write the spot number, the odometer reading and the tank reading on the rental folder. I took pictures as best as I could to have a record that it was returned in good shape. Then, we walked quickly to the terminal and the Hertz desk. I took a picture of the key on top of the folder and then of my daughter's hand putting the lot into the return slot. You cannot be too careful.
At 4:30, I got my suitcase from my husband and got in line to drop it off. I was finished in just 6 minutes. Then, it was time to eat the breakfast food that we'd brought, which we did on the one bench seat near Delta. We even ate up the last of the cream cheese before getting in the TSA line. We were really surprised to see that this little airport with its 5 gates had a Pre-Check line. My younger daughter is the only one of us who has not signed up, but it didn't take her long to get through her line.
We saw that gates 1a-c were assigned to United. Delta was at 2. Alaskan Air and something else were at 3, I believe. We had time to kill, so we looked in the shop before settling in to read. This photo was taken at 5 am and it was a big hit on Facebook:

Here's the sky at 5:28:

And, you know you are pretty far north when it is this light at 5:49:

By then, we were obviously settled into our seats on DL1616 to Salt Lake City. My husband, younger daughter and I were seated together and my older daughter had paid for a better seat farther up front again. The leg space was much better than my first American Airlines flight last week, but the overhead bins were still huge. The plane pushed back at 6:02 am and took off at 6:11. My husband soon had a great view out the window and took this gorgeous shot for me:

It's not a long trip to SLC and we landed at 7:28. We headed for our gate, looking at lunch possibilities along the way. My husband and I looked around in the Utah Market, which was Utah products, not food. I bought a small kachina and a lovely Indian vase, before we did pick up food for the plane. I got a chicken pesto panini and he got a turkey guacamole hand-held.

At 8:55, we had to say good-bye to my older daughter so that she could go to her gate for her plane to D.C. It was so hard to say good-bye; we'd had such a great time together! Plus, I don't get to see her again until Christmas.
Our boarding was delayed because we were waiting for our cabin crew to come from another gate. It turned out hers was delayed due to an equipment issue. Finally at 9:42 am MDT, we were seated on DL2624 to Orlando, in the same configuration as the previous flight. The plane had been scheduled to depart at 9:35, but didn't push back until 9:54. Take off was at 10:10.
During the flight, we ate and watched movies. I watched The Founder about Ray Kroc and was almost finished A Dog's Purpose, when we landed at 3:50 pm EDT. It didn't take very long to get our luggage, but we had to walk almost the entire length of the terminal to get to the shuttle to Fast Park, where my husband had left his car. We were on the shuttle at 4:38 and the guy dropped us right in front of his car at 4:51. They gave us free, cold water as we exited, which was very nice.
We dropped our daughter off at her apartment and went to get dinner for ourselves, because there had been a bad accident and back-up on the 417 and I 4 is awful at that hour. There was a Tijuana Flats nearby, which was fine because I hadn't had Mexican food the entire trip. We got a salad bowl and a quesadilla. They were okay, but not as good as the one near us.

After dinner, we drove the much calmer roads home.
It was absolutely the 60th birthday trip I'd hoped for. Everything had gone well; everybody had a great time. My family was able to be there for me. What more could I ask for?

"I Am 60" Tour- Day 8- Glacier National Park to Kalispell, Montana-June 27,2017

Our last day in Glacier meant packing everything up. We got up at 7:29 and everyone gathered for breakfast at 8:30. Our daughters even brought their luggage with them and put it in the car right away. We had some food left for tomorrow, so we needed to keep it cold again. After our luggage was in the car, we all went down to the lake to take some rather atmospheric photos. The rain clouds from last night seemed to have gotten caught in the mountains at the other end of the lake. There was some nice mist at our end, due, no doubt, to the chilly temperature (61).

At 9:50, we checked out and we were on the road in three minutes with the odometer reading 2837.
In less than ten minutes, I parked at a photo stop on Going-to-the Sun Road. The descent and climb were tricky, but it yielded great photos.

By 10:28, I dropped the family off at Lake McDonald Lodge (2846), while I tried to find a parking spot. They went down to the dock to see if we could get on a boat tour. They were put on a waiting list. Meanwhile, I was wending my way through the prairie dog town and snapping photos.

While we waited, we took more photos of the lake and each other.

As the 11:00 tour filed onto the boat, it seemed obvious that we wouldn't get on. Sure enough, we were soon told that it wasn't happening. We had a back-up plan, so we used the restroom and left at 11:15.
I drove over the same bridge we'd ridden over yesterday and managed to find a parking spot on the other side at 11:23 (2846). Some folks were just getting back to their car and recommended that we cross Going-to-the-Sun Road to reach the trail that Ed had recommended yesterday. That way, the loop would bring us back to the car here and the falls would be more impressive. By 11:30, we were ready and headed off on the Johns Lake Loop, pausing to take photos on the bridge, as we crossed.

I wisely took my cane with me for added stability. The trail could be relatively steep at times. We passed some folks going in the opposite direction at times and there were a few people that we passed and vice versa going our way. We did not try to stay quiet to soak in the ambience, because we wanted to make sure that any bears heard us and stayed away. It had warmed up and we were in short sleeves now.
The woods were just lovely. "The woods are lovely, dark and deep." Well, not that dark, but still... There were some wildflowers, but mostly tall trees and random rocks left behind by the glacier. Sometimes, we caught the scent of Christmas trees, which was a treat. Johns Lake was visible through the trees, but there was no path to it.

The other family, which had some elderly members, said they'd gotten done in 2 hours, even while taking lots of pictures. We didn't want to be beaten out by then, so we did not dilly-dally. We did take lots of photos. I even had to change the memory chip in my camera.
When we crossed the Going-to-the-Sun Road again, we could easily hear the water of McDonald Creek. It was indeed impressive, when we saw the creek. There was a bridge that afforded good views and good selfies.

There were a lot of folks at the bridge and the path beyond was more crowded, as well. Generally, these people were considerate. There was one family that stupidly let their dog run around off the leash. On the other side, we had to really watch our step to avoid what the horses that had passed through earlier had left behind. We were following along the creek most of the way now. There were plenty of spots to get close and take dramatic photos. Any time you stood above the water, you could feel the cold wafting up, just as it had at Running Eagle Waterfall yesterday. The rocks that lined the banks were really cool, showing the erosion by the glacier and the creek. There was another waterfall further downstream, too.

As we realized that we were coming up on the two hour mark, we picked up the pace. We managed to get to the car at 1:28- 2 minutes short of two hours. We decided that the other family had rounded their time down. It was now a warm-feeling 77 degrees. Five minutes later, I had us on the road.
When we got back to Lake McDonald Lodge at 1:42 (2850), it was really tough finding a parking spot. I got lucky and found one on the exit road, when someone else pulled out. We headed for Jammer Joe's, which is in a separate building on the opposite side of the prairie dog town from the lodge. Outside, there was some nice landscaping, including short pines that looked like mountains from a distance, snapdragons and geraniums.

My husband got us a table, while the rest of us ducked into the restroom. None of us were in the mood for the pizza bar, so we looked over the menu. I ordered Diet Cokes for my husband and myself and the waiter kept them filled the whole time we were there, as well as my older daughter's Coke. My younger daughter opted for water. She also ordered the Chicken Cobb Wrap with a side salad ($9.50), because she really likes Cobb salad. My older daughter opted for a Lamb Burger with chips for $11.95. I chose the Double Wagyu Blend Burger, since we'd seen so much cattle on this trip ($10.25). My husband chose Tomato Penne ($12.75), which just seemed odd to the rest of us. They were all delicious.

When we left at 3:10, the parking lot was a lot less crowded. It took only 23 minutes to get back to Apgar Village (2859), which I wanted to return to in order to go to Montana House to check out their merchandise, since it was made in Montana. Naturally, all three women found at least one thing to buy. I was particularly taken with a paperweight containing wildflowers.

Luckily, there was a park service restroom nearby, so we didn't need to go to the visitors center. When we left at 4:12, it was a very warm 81 degrees. Fifteen minutes and nine miles later, I pulled into Glacier Distilling, whose ad my husband and younger daughter had seen in the airport. My older daughter and I stayed in the car, while they went in and had a whiskey tasting flight for $4. We left at 4:58.
Due to the hour, we headed for Kalispell, rather than the planned stop in Whitefish. Outside of town, we saw a sign that three of us liked: Apple Barrel- Glacier Sun Winery. While my older daughter checked out the produce area and the flea market area, my younger daughter and I spent $5 each to have a glass of Huckleberry Peach Wine. Delicious! My husband decided he didn't need more alcohol today.

In the grocery area, I got a spice mix and coffee. My younger daughter decided she needed to buy rhubarb to take back to Florida to make pie. The owner told her how to transport it. Then, we roamed the flea market area and I chose some small minerals that would be good for use in my miniature scenes. When we finally left at 6:09, they locked the doors behind us.
Twelve minutes later (2894), we arrived at the Hampton again and checked back in. I asked for a wake-up call at 4 am to be our absolute, drop-dead, get out call. We took all our luggage up to our rooms. At 7:14, we left with the idea that we should eat. None of us really wanted dinner, but we'd seen an ice cream shop on Sunday called Sweet Peaks and that sounded perfect. First, though, I wanted to drive down the main drag, having someone take pictures of the interesting wall sculptures we'd seen. There was a mountaineer on an appropriate store, a cowboy, and then a bank robber on a bank! The flowers hanging from lampposts were too photogenic to ignore.

I parked at 7:26 (2896) and almost immediately, we saw a sign we loved:

At the cleverly-named Sweet Peaks, which is a Montana chain, my husband chose a single cup of honey cinnamon ice cream for $3, while the rest of us each bought the $5 Black Bear Sundae. It was supposed to have huckleberry ice cream along with chocolate ice cream, hot fudge, chocolate chips and whipped cream. However, they were out of huckleberry. They let us substitute the honey cinnamon. The sundae was good, but the hard chocolate chips really weren't needed.

When we left at 8:02, we went to the Exxon we'd been to before. En route, we saw a country concert at the town park was ending. We arrived at 8:09 (2898). We'd gone 128.3 miles on this tank and got 4.243 gallons at $2.359 each. By 8:15, we were back at the hotel.
I went to the shop in the lobby to get some Kalispell postcards before going upstairs to do the dread re-packing job. Needing a shower, it was just not possible for me to get to bed as early as I should of, but I couldn't have slept that early, in any case.

"I Am 60" Tour- Day 7-Glacier National Park, Montana - June 26, 2017

Back in February, I received an email about the Red Bus tours that Xanterra operates in Glacier. As I read over them, I realized that the "Crown of the Continent" tour did exactly what I wanted to do-cross the park on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Looking at the road on the map, I saw that there were a lot of twists and climbs involved. The tour would save me from driving and provide info from someone who knew the park. I booked 4 tickets at $96 each and told everyone it was my birthday present to myself. To say I was looking forward to it is an understatement.
However, as of last night, the road was closed in the middle. My husband had talked to an information woman at Lake McDonald Lodge and she said that there had been late avalanches and they were having to replace guardrails. One could hike, but no cars past a certain point coming from the west or east.  So, the tour would go on, it would just be different. It would go around the bottom of the park and visit some of the eastern side from there. Disappointing, yes, but it would still be an all-day tour.
We got up at 6:30 and our daughters arrived at 7:21 for breakfast. The room had implements and dishes for just two people, of course. We ate sort of in shifts and improvised by using a cutting board as a plate. Someone set off the smoke alarm by using the toaster to toast their bagel. Since we all have toaster ovens, no one was used to an actual toaster.
It was cool and was to warm up, so my daughters and I had on shorts and sweatshirts or jackets over t-shirts. My husband wore long pants and a jacket. We left at 8:06 and I parked at 8:11 at Apgar Visitor Center with the odometer at 2836 and the car saying it was 52 degrees.
People were gathering for tours on the far side of the visitor center. Our tour guide/ bus driver Ed from Georgia checked us in and made sure we knew the road was closed. That was probably smart to make sure people couldn't complain.

The bus is equipped with bench seats that seat 4 each. One passenger sat in the seat next to Ed and it turned out he was a German travel writer doing a piece for online that will appear next year. At various times during the day, he set up special pictures for the piece.
We set off at 8:25. Ed wore a microphone and talked to us about the park for 20 minutes on our way to Lake McDonald Lodge, where we had a 20 minute restroom break and photo stop. The lake was misty and had a different look than last night, so we took more photos. This first one shows McDonald Creek dumping into the lake.

 

At 9:08, when we set off again, the top of the bus was off. It was so cold!!My younger daughter was sitting next to me and we just sort of huddled together. Ed told us, that this was a 500-year old temperate rainforest. The eastern side of the park is high and dry.
Our next stop was the Sacred Dancing Cascade on McDonald Creek at 9:20. This was where I'd been unwilling to go down the steps to the platform last night, so I had to go down now. It was totally worth it.

The water is that beautiful glacial green. Ed grabbed two rocks and rubbed them together so that we could see the flour that was created and turned the water green. And, because you can't take anything out of the park, he tossed the rocks back again. We soon headed back down the road.
At 9:37, we were crossing the bridge that you can just make out up above. The park service doesn't like people standing up in the buses, however, we were stopped on the bridge and Ed told us we could play prairie dogs and pop up for photos.

On the other side of the bridge, he pointed out where we could park at the end of a family-friendly loop trail, if we wanted a hike. There was a drive with several names on it-folks still own property in the park boundaries.
At 10:05, Ed parked in the Apgar Village camping area for restroom and photos. I can't run, but the cabin was near the entrance to the cabins-close enough for me to walk extremely quickly. I saw another passenger doing the same. I could use my own bathroom and then peeled off the jacket, dug out my sweatshirt and put it on and the jacket back over it. I grabbed the blanket I'd bought last night and hurried back.
Ed had put the top back on for the ride down route 2, but my daughter and I still appreciated the blanket. I tried, but I still dozed off, but then again, so did others from what I heard.
About 11:03, Ed pulled into a spot at Goat Lick.  It took some work, but we managed to spy a couple on the far ridge. Then, further down the path, someone spotted one through the trees, that I also managed to photograph.

 

11:32 found us at the Silver Stairstep. Not only did the water cascading down the "steps" look cool, but the spot smelled like Christmas trees!

At 11:50, we were at Marias Pass, elevation 5216, the Continental Divide. The green in the rocks is limestone. There is an obelisk here for the Flathead National Forest memorial to Teddy Roosevelt. we left at 12:02.

Our next stop was not in the park, but in the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. We arrived at 12:15 at the Glacier Park Lodge and were given an hour and twenty minutes for lunch and exploring.  The lodge was really impressive inside with giant poles supporting the roof, a table made from an incredibly large tree and buffalo on the upholstery.

The lodge was not as busy as Lake McDonald. There were two places to eat, but they served the same thing. We chose the Great Northern Dining Room, named for the railroad that built the place. (Folks still arrive at the Amtrak station nearby.) There seemed to be only two servers and the food was not cheap and slow in coming. I ordered the Chicken Salad Wrap for $14. My husband and younger daughter both ordered the $14 Apple Bourbon Elk Brat. My older daughter got the Chicken Burger, also for $14. All four meals tasted good.

I ducked into the gift shop to get 4 postcards for $2 before heading out front with my younger daughter to take photos of the gorgeous flowers.

 

Everyone got back to the bus on time and we set off at 1:35. The roof was back off, but it was warmer now. The forest here was younger than on the other side of the park.
In one half hour, we arrived at Two Medicine Lake. It was really beautiful with the mountains behind it. Even though it felt cool, there were a few kids wading.

The line for the restroom had sucked up a lot of my time. Ed said that with the road closed, this stop was busier than usual. We did have time for him to take our family photo in front of the bus. I went in the shop/ snack bar to buy a pin and was delayed by the clerk swiping my AARP card for the discount and the register counting it as a credit card. He needed all kinds of help to fix it. Luckily, I was not late to the bus. We were back on the road at 2:32.
Five minutes later we stopped for a pleasant walk through the woods to the incredibly photogenic trick waterfall, Running Eagle. The water comes from Two Medicine. The walk also provided shots of Bear Grass and other wildflowers, as well as an arty shot with a dead tree and the stream.

  

We left at 3:05 and had a beautiful view of a lake at 3:23.

When Ed stopped about 20 minutes later outside of the park to put the roof back on, I took this shot of this cool Indian sculpture.

I dozed off again and suddenly found it was 4:17 and we were pulling in to the Izaak Walton Inn for photos and a pit stop. My husband paid $2 for a Diet Coke to help me come to.

Besides the inn, there were also railroad cars in the woods that one could stay in. (The railroad tracks are right at the end of the flower path.) I don't know how they are, but we heard a couple complaining about ants in their room. Like the Lake McDonald Lodge, there was no cell service.
We left at 4:31 and Ed had us back at the visitors' center by 5:10. He'd been terrific and my husband gave him a $10 tip. After using the restroom, we debated a bit about what we wanted to do, but opted for going back to the cabins and going to eat dinner. Two minutes later (2837), I had us parked in front of our cabin at 5:21.
Less than a half hour later, we'd gotten rid of the blanket and jackets and had strolled up to Eddie's Cafe. It was still warm enough, that we chose to eat inside, rather than on the porch. My husband and older daughter each ordered the Western Legend Fried Chicken ($16), but they maybe should have split an order. There was so much chicken! My husband also felt there was too much breading and took off most of his skin. They did like the flavor. I thought it was good, but not as good as I remember Albertson's used to be. My younger daughter ordered the cleverly named Where the Buffalo Roam Loaf for $19. It was denser than a meatloaf made with beef and tasted good. I ordered the Polebridge Pulled Pork Sandwich for $13 and it was pretty good. We were way too full for dessert.

 We walked down to the Cedar Tree, where I found pins and other souvenirs. My older daughter had a headache and headed back to her cabin. My back was screaming and I needed to lie down with my knees up. My husband and younger daughter headed for the talk that a Native American was to do at the nearby pavilion. They really enjoyed it. They saw someone wearing a Chuluota shirt and talked to her, because that is near our town. Amazingly enough, it turned out I had taught her son German - until it became obvious he wasn't succeeding, evidently. Unfortunately, they failed to get her name.
When they came back, the three of us went down to the lake to take photos in the fading light. I also realized, that I had failed to take a photo of the village and that it was quiet enough now to easily do so.

About 11:30, it started to rain. The heavy downpour sounded really neat on the roof of the cabin.