Off We Go

This afternoon I told Dad I wanted to ride my bike. I haven't been brave enough to take it down the street in front of all the neighbors so we went over to the "trail". Dad ran while I rode. It was so fun to make good time and keep up with Dad. We make a good team.

Our Trip to Glacier Park

This was our first stop - the Apgar visitors center. By the West entrance to the park. Dad was very interested in these busses. They will take you through the park and back plus you can get off anywhere and catch a buss later if you prefer. They run on propane. Anyway, I loved the view of the mountains.

Red Bus by Lodge

Patio of Lodge

Inside the Lodge

There are two levels of rooms and on the main floor a huge fireplace. It felt so good to sit by the fireplace and get warm. I read that the artist Charles M. Russell actually drew the pictographs on the edges of the fireplace. The lodge is decorated like a hunting lodge sort of. It has 100 rooms in the main building. Also cabins and an adjacent motor inn. There is a gift shop, pizzeria, lounge and restaurant. We had lunch in the restaurant and it was buffalo burgers. The only buffalo we saw the whole trip. Darn. They were very good by the way.

Lake McDonald Lodge

Built in 1913. The interior was build to give the impression of a hunting lodge. The front of the lodge faces the lake because people travelled by boat to get there before roads were built. I think it would be fun to stay over night here. There is a gift shop and restaurant inside. The Red Bus stops here as well.

The Lonely Goat

I was really, really excited to finally see an animal. Here he is. a mountain goat just resting on the side of a cliff.

Small Glaciers

I was expecting to see really big glaciers on these mountains but not so. Here we were nearly at the top of the pass and from here it's only down. It is really cool to look way down at the bottom and see where you started from. Also, there weren't any bears, buffalo, elk or deer. Only chipmunks and a lonely mountain goat. oh well. What do you expect for free???

Going-to-the-Sun Road

It is very narrow but not as scary as people make it to be. There are turnouts every so often so you can stop and take in the majestic scenes. The road construction made travel a little slow but you can't really go fast anyway so it was okay with us.

Libby Dam Montana

We enjoyed our tour and visit at Libby Dam. It backs up the Koocanusa Lake. I asked about Koocanusa????no, it's not an Indian name. Koo (Kootenai) can (Canada) and usa is (U.S.A.) It is a beautiful large lake and it has great fishing. Thought I'd let Ben know that. We did the visitors center which is a great adventure for children. By the way, my new cart was a surprise from Dad for my birthday. (quite the surprise) He got it from craigslist at a very good price. I didn't think I was ready for this mode of travel yet, but after using it I feel it will be a great adventure for me. (Don't laugh, okay?)

Ross Creek Giant Cedars

Between Libby and Sandpoint there is a cedar grove that you can walk through. It is about 4 miles off the highway and deep into the forest. I was surprised by the amount of visitors that were there and even one car from Tennessee. The guy kind of looked like a hippy/backwoodsie person and fit the surroundings perfectly. The grove was cool (in scenery and temperature). You just walk down the trail and read the signs or stop and sit awhile to take in the beauty. The signs told how all areas of a forest have their purpose - even trees that have fallen in a creek. Dad's tree has a wart on it, my tree has one too and I think it was actually two trees in one. The pict. of us by the rock slide told about the lichens and moss on the rocks and their purpose in the forest.