954 June 12, 2023 Glacier Decision

My walk this morning began with the Lewis and Clark Overlook.  In this place in the early 1800’s Lewis and Clark met with the local Native Americans.  They were the first white men that the tribe had encountered.  The pair was warmly greeted and showered with gifts of berries and animal furs and horses.

I continued my walk along the river.  It was cloudy and cool and a cold drizzle fell. 

I walked back to the campground and the rain had stopped.  I just did loops to get some steps in.

We left before 9am.  The road to Missoula continued to twist and turn with the path of the river.

We saw a bald eagle soaring overhead.  There were also lots of magpies flitting about.

We passed by western towns and ranches and rodeos and casinos.  We passed a custom cowboy hat shop.  There were lots of lambs and foals and calves.  There were tractors and old pickup trucks and farm equipment.  There were small country churches with signs for vacation bible school and Glory Days Tent Revivals.  There were many timber related businesses; log cabins, chainsaw carving, and firewood for sale.  There was plenty of big open sky and lots of green rolling hills and toweing mountains.

30 miles along Flathed Lake.

We drove a long way today.  We had originally talked about stopping in Columbia Falls.  We changed our plan and decided to continue to Route 2 around Glacier National Park.  This scenic route ran along a deep gorge.  The views were amazing but too hard to capture as we made our way on the steep and winding road.

We were going to stop in Pinnacle but then we went even further.  We were hoping for a campsite in Browning but the campground there was full.  Finally, we settled in St. Mary.  The campground here is directly across from the East Entrance to Glacier National Park.  Although stopping at Glacier was not part of our “plan”, it seemed a shame to drive past.  Going To The Sun Road is not completely open.  We can enter on the east side tomorrow without a reservation and drive until the road is blocked.  We are excited to spend the day exploring.  Many people would have planned this excursion long in advance.  We decided it today!  The way we travel allows us to choose where we spend each day.

As we drove through the countryside today, I began to think that it would be nice to have a log cabin with a green metal roof tucked into the hillside.  Then, I thought I might also like to live in a cottage by the sea but I also love the desert and it would be so nice to have an adobe house in Borrego Springs.  Maybe we should just keep our wheels and keep on moving; taking turns living in each of those places!