Day 7

Today, we visited the Many Glacier part of Glacier National Park. It was about a 35 minute drive from our campground. The morning started out very foggy, but we could see through the fog that there were clear skies above. While we were driving along the access road to the park, we ran across this fellow and two of his companions, foraging for berries and such along side the road. Unfortunately, they were a bit camera shy and wouldn't come out from behind the bushes ... then again, maybe that was a good thing!

Our plan for today was to join a Ranger led hike to a place called Iceberg Lake. The hike was about 10 miles round trip, and had an elevation gain of about 1200', making a relatively easy hike. With clear blue skies today, despite forecasts of rain, the beauty of these mountains and valleys is simply indescribable.

As we approached Iceberg Lake, we spotted two elk high up on the slopes. The first one had just walked on the snow pack and the second one is visible a little behind the first. The Ranger who was leading our hike said that it was rather unusual to see elk in this area, particularly so high up on the slopes. Mountain goats are normally seen here, but today, there were none.

The flowers and plant life in this sub-alpine area were beautiful. This little meadow overlooked a smaller lake, seen in the background, just before we reached the overlook where we first saw Iceberg Lake. Unfortunately, some people just don't seem to pay any attention to the signs asking people to stay on the trails so that these delicate plants can survive, and be seen by other visitors.

Sadly, based on where we were, and the position of the sun in the sky at the time, the lighting at Iceberg Lake wasn't great, and my pictures didn't come out as well as I would have hoped. Next time I'll have to be a little more attentive to these things!

The hike back was much more difficult than the hike in, despite going downhill on the way back. The sun was high in the sky and was VERY strong, and the flies were absolutely merciless. I'll probably be waving my arms in front of my face for two more days!

As we were heading down, someone spotted a moose well off in the distance, beside a small river. Even with my 300 mm zoom lens, it's tough to make him out, but he's the brown spot in the center of the picture below.

Tomorrow, we're going on an all day whitewater rafting trip. The weather may not be too great, but since we'll be on the river anyway, it really shouldn't matter.

Time to make dinner, maybe play a game or two, and then call it a night. After today's hike, I'm not ashamed to say ... I'm REALLY tired!

Day 6

Today started out with a nice breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes and bacon, with coffee for me & hot chocolate for Josh. After breakfast, we headed into the park. We didn't really have any particular plan in mind for today, so we decided to stop at the Visitor's Center to see if they could make some recommendations for a mellow start to our visit here. Given that we're here for four days, we weren't too concerned about "getting it all done" in one day.

After speaking with one of the Rangers, we decided to drive up to Logan's Pass. It's the highest point on the Going To The Sun Road, which is the main road that cuts through the middle of the park, and the road that most visitors take. The weather was looking a little sketchy, and sure enough, when we reached Logan's Pass, it started to rain. The parking lot was full, and after quite a while of driving around trying to get a spot, we finally got lucky and were able to follow some people to their car and get their spot.

We went into the visitor's center there and spent a few minutes looking around. We weren't sure what we were going to do, when suddenly, the rain stopped, and the sun started to appear. So, we decided to take a hike to Hidden Lake. There were two options ... a three mile round trip and a six mile round trip. We decided to go for the three mile option. Along the way, we ran into this little one, and his/her parents. They were just walking along the trail with the rest of the tourists!

We got to the Hidden Lake overlook, and it was absolutely beautiful. The pictures simply cannot do it justice.

One the way back, we got some really nice views of the "Garden Wall". The hike I've been wanting to do, the Highline Trail, runs along the wall in the picture below. We may do that hike on Friday, but right now, we haven't decided for sure.

After the Hidden Lake hike, we drove to the West entrance to the park, and then turned around for the trip back to the East side. It started pouring, so we went back to the visitor's center at the Eastern entrance to the park. I spoke to one of the Rangers about a Ranger led hike tomorrow morning, and as of now, that's our plan. It's a 10 mile hike that should take about 6-7 hours. It will take us to see some of the few remaining glaciers in the park.

By the time we left the visitor's center, the rain had pretty much stopped. We went back to our campground and made a nice dinner of chicken parmigiana and spaghetti. After dinner, Josh kicked my butt in Risk. We're getting ready to go to sleep now, as tomorrow is going to be a long busy day.

Day 5

So day 5 was pretty uneventful. We drove from Billings, MT to St. Mary, MT, which is situated at the Eastern entrance to Glacier National Park. It was a fairly short drive, by our standards, just under 400 miles. There really isn't much of anything to see in Montana. The scenery along the roads we drove was pretty much the same the entire way ... VAST tracts of land, with cattle and hay bales scattered about everywhere. It's amazing how similar the scene was, over the course of the entire drive, with the exception of the last 20 miles. That's when we started to encounter mountains and trees.

We arrived at our campground, which unfortunately, left a little to be desired, but it will be fine. We've set up "for the long haul", as we'll be here for five nights. The weather forecast is not looking too great this week ... a little colder and rainier than usual. We've set up our extra canopy over the tent, to provide greater protection from the rain. 

Tomorrow, we'll head into the park, though we have no particular plan as of yet. After five days of driving, I think we'll probably take things a little on the easy side tomorrow. Maybe a short hike, and some time spent getting some info together for the days to come.

That's about it for tonight, we'll check back in tomorrow.

Day 4

Today, we traveled from Bismarck, ND to Billings, MT, stopping at Theodore Roosevelt National Park along the way. Today's drive was a lot shorter in total mileage than the previous days, which was a nice  change. We also "picked up" an hour, as we moved from the central time zone into the mountain time zone.

Along the way, we some interesting things, like the giant dream-catcher below, and a giant cow on the top of a mountain. Unfortunately, the picture of the cow didn't come out too good!

Theodore Roosevelt National Park was a lot like Badlands National Park in South Dakota, which we had visited a number of years ago. Of course, we have the requisite picture of Josh in front of the park entrance sign, and along the way, we ran into these guys:

We continued on into Montana, to our campground in Billings. 

When we got there, it looked like it was going to rain, so we waited for a while until the weather passed and then we set up camp. A few rounds of miniature golf, and then it was time to call it a day. Unfortunately, it rained during the night, but not too heavily and we stayed dry in the tent. 

We're on our way this morning to Glacier National Park. It should be about a 6 - 7 hour drive, and the good news, is that once we get there, we're staying for five nights, so we won't have to break down our camp for a while ... it will be nice to be in one place.

Not sure what kind of connectivity we're going to have once we get there, but hopefully I'll be able to keep the blog updated and to stay in touch back home.

Day 3

Fortunately, day 3 went MUCH better than day 2. We left Wisconsin bright and early, and arrived at the Mall of America about 10 minutes before it opened ... perfect timing!!!

We went inside, and of course, we had to ride the roller coaster ... not the one in the picture below, but rather a tamer one. 

After that, we walked around for a little while, and then Josh went on the climbing course they had.

We spent about 90 minutes in the mall, and then we hit the road and continued on into North Dakota. We ran into a little traffic right after we left the mall, but after that, it was clear sailing all the way. This was a welcome change from yesterday's drive!

To repeat a sentiment I used two years ago in describing Nebraska, North Dakota is flat!!! We're spending the night in Bismarck, ND. It's an absolutely beautiful night, though it's starting to get a little cool. It doesn't feel like it's going to be as cold as last night was in Wisconsin, but it's certainly not going to be warm.

Tomorrow, we continue on into Montana, stopping at Theodore Roosevelt National Park along the way. I'm not expecting any major problems along the way, and hopefully that will be the case. We'll be spending the night in Billings, MT, and then, on Monday morning, we hit the road again to finally reach our first destination ... Glacier National Park.

More tomorrow night from Billings, MT!

Day 2

So, as well as Day 1 went, day 2 ... didn't!!!

It started off this morning, when I realized that I hadn't packed a coffee cup, so I had to stop on the road to get coffee. Of course, just getting a silly cup of coffee took about 10 minutes.

Anyway, we continue along, taking our "detour" into Michigan so that Josh can now add Michigan to the list of states he's been in.

After returning to Indiana, we stopped at a Wal-Mart to pick up a couple of things, including a coffee cup for me, and then we stopped at a place to pick up a block of dry ice, which we're using to keep our frozen foods ... frozen. These stops had all been planned in advance. After filling the gas tank, we continued into Illinois and through Chicago ... that's when the trouble started!

First, we hit some pretty major traffic as we passed by the downtown area. Then, it started to rain a little. We had planned to make a stop for some deep-dish Chicago style pizza, so I called my friend Dominick and asked him to find us a good place to go. He called me back and suggested Lou Mahlnatti 's <sp> pizzeria. We found the place, but it took a while to get to on the local streets. We actually found a parking spot only to find out ... they're closed for vacation!!! Oh well ... so, we decided to get back on the highway and find lunch later on once we got further away from the city.

That's when the next problem hit ... I misread my own driving directions and merged onto the wrong highway ... technically, it was the right highway, but I was supposed to merge onto it when we got into Wisconsin, not Illinois. We stopped to figure out what to do and grabbed lunch at the same time. The route correction took us through some more local streets, so lots more time lost. At this point, the rain was really starting to come down too.

We got back on track, and I was starting to feel better when BAMMMM ... we hit a 40 MILE ... yes ... 40 MILE construction project. It was awful!!!

We finally made it to Wisconsin, after which there was one more major downpour, but then, at least the weather started to clear up. We hit lots of traffic in Wisconsin (who would have thought), but finally made it to our campground.

The whole day took just short of 12 hours in the car, including the stops ... It was supposed to be about 9 hours!!!

It's pretty cold here tonight ... it's supposed to go down into the low to mid 40's, but fortunately, we're prepared for it.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. 

Day 1

Well ... Day 1 couldn't have gone any better. The ride was a piece of cake, and with the exception of the airborne office chair ... WHAT???? ... Yes ... the airborne office chair ...

So, we're driving along on I-80 in Pennsylvania, and I'm about 5 or 6 car lengths behind a pick-up truck. I notice an office chair in the bed of the pick-up, and I see that it's starting to move. I immediately slow down to put some distance between us and suddenly ... the chair goes airborne out of the bed of the pick-up. Fortunately, I was able to move to the right lane to avoid the chair as it bounced along the highway, several times, before it finally rolled off the highway and down an embankment. That was certainly exciting!

Anyway, the weather could not possibly be any better ... if you were to request weather for a camping trip, today would be it.

I've got some pictures of the car, as I know from two years ago, everyone wanted to see that. If you'll notice, it's MUCH better than last time ... nothing on the roof and I can actually see out the back window ... a little.

Anyway, we made to our first destination, just outside of Toledo, Ohio and made a dutch oven pizza for dinner. It was pretty good, though I didn't think to pre-heat the oven before putting the pizza in ... I won't make that mistake again!

After dinner, we just hung out for a little while, and now it's time to get to bed for a good night's rest. Tomorrow, our destination is central Wisconsin. Hopefully the day will go as well as today did!

The Night Before We Leave

So, it's Wednesday night ... Josh got home from the Boy Scouts National Jamboree about 2 hours ago. The car is loaded, except for the cooler and a few last minute items, and we're pretty much ready to go.

It's funny, but I just looked back at "the Night Before" post from our trip two years ago, and I said pretty much the same thing then. I guess the good news, is that trip turned out to be an amazing experience, and since this one seems to be getting off to a similar start, hopefully it will be great too.

I've got a few more things to do tonight, but soon, I'll be heading to bed to get a good night's sleep for our first drive. Josh is winding down and settling in after the excitement of 10 days at the Boy Scout National Jamboree, but he's going to go to bed soon as well. He's taken a hot shower, his first HOT shower in 10 days, and his laundry is done.

The next post should be coming from Perrysburg, Ohio.

Good Night All!

Itinerary - The Rest of the Trip

So, cutting right to the chase, here's the rest of our itinerary in a nutshell:

Day 11 - Spend the day in North Cascades National Park, Washington

Day 12 - Travel from North Cascades National Park to Olympic National Park, Washington

Day 13 - Spend the day in Olympic National Park

Day 14 - Spend the day in Olympic National Park

Day 15 - Travel from Olympic National Park to Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington

Day 16 - Spend the day in Mt. Rainier National Park

Day 17 - Travel from Mt. Rainier National Park to Crater Lake National Park, Oregon, stopping at Mt. St. Helens along the way

Day 18 - Spend the day in Crater Lake National Park

Day 19 - Travel from Crater Lake National Park to Redwood National Park, California

Day 20 - Spend the day in Redwood National Park

Day 21 - Travel from Redwood National Park to Lassen Volcanic National Park, California

Day 22 - Spend the day in Lassen Volcanic National Park

Day 23 - Begin the journey home. Travel from Lassen Volcanic National Park to Rawlins, Wyoming

Day 24 - Travel from Rawlins, Wyoming to Annawan, Illinois

Day 25 - Travel from Annawan, Illinois to New City, New York ... HOME!!!