Big Sky

   We left our room around 9:00 and promptly went across the road to the gas station; I needed to fill up on windshield fluid, and I had a little extra I could pour on and wipe off if I needed it. Thankfully the bugs weren't as bad today. 

   We drove about an hour west on Rt 2, then Rt 89 to St Mary on the eastern side of the Glacier National Park. We drove passed the last campsite of the Lewis and Clark Expedition when they surveyed the Louisiana Purchase in the early 1800's. They named it Camp Disappointment because they were hoping it went further north into present day Canada, but turned out to be about 30 miles south of the 49th Parallel (the present border).

The main road in Glacier goes east to west through the park and it's called the Road to the Sun. We found out that the road is closed in the middle for seasonal repairs, but we could go half way through up to the highest point, Logan Pass. We knew we'd have to double back and then go around outside the park to continue our trip. Even though it would be an extra 3 hours, we knew it would be worth it.

   As we entered there was St Mary's Lake on our left, followed by mountain streams, glaciers and lots of mountain tops over 10,000 feet. We both loved Yellowstone and the Tetons but for mountain scenery, Glacier was the best by far.

   We stopped at the Logan Pass visitor's center and took some shots. We could see the snow poles all around the parking lot and it made me glad we were there in fall, not winter. Mary bought a few postcards at the center and while I was walking in the parking lot, they blew out of my hand. I chased them the whole length of the lot, almost catching up a couple of times to step on the bag. But they finally blew over the ledge way down the cliff and I didn't even want to look. I walked back up the steps and bought another set from the store.

   On the way out we stopped just outside the park for lunch, we both had Bison Chili and liked it. Our detour around the park turned out to be small mountain roads again with no guard rails on the cliff edges. The view must have been wonderful but I was too nervous to take my eyes off the road.

   On the way back to I-90 we passed through a town and saw a guy who probably needed a job really bad. I'll bet that standing on a street corner in a chicken suit isn't the highest paying job in town, but maybe it should be. We finished our day in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and discovered we were in the Pacific Time Zone, about 30 miles from Washington State. Tomorrow we make it to the Pacific Ocean, at a location to be announced later.

   Have a good weekend all, because we sure will too.