Friday, August 25, 2017

Escaping the Crowds

August 16 - August 18
West Glacier, Montana

After fighting the crowds in Glacier National Park for two days, we decided to look for a less congested spot. We headed back up the Outer North Fork Road that we had followed up to Polebridge the day before and stopped at Glacier Rim, a public access area of the North Fork of the Flathead River. We lucked out and found a sandy beach area with a swimming hole on the river. Only a handful of people wandered in and out while we were there.

Love the mineral blue colors of the water!

Gabriella was finally able to get in the water, though she found out that it truly is a glacial river. BRRR!

Even Bernie got to enjoy our time in the river. We were outside the national park, so dogs were allowed.


Don couldn't resist dropping a line in the water.

Gabriella warming up in the sun and sand. But then she had to go back into the freezing water to rinse off!

On Thursday, we decided to try something we've never done before and go whitewater rafting. What a fantastic experience! It was a perfect weather day - not too hot, but warm enough for it to feel good when we got wet. The water is pretty low this time of year, so we only got up to Class III rapids, but it was so much fun! We will definitely do it again.


We shared a raft with a family from Pennsylvania and our guide, Russ (who had just turned 21 - way to make us feel old). Gabriella and their youngest son opted not to paddle and acted as our cheerleaders and commentators instead. Bella did jump in the water once (yes, on purpose!) when we passed a swimming hole area, but once she hit that deep, freezing cold water she was yelling to get pulled out pretty quickly!


Paddle high-five. They were all pretty big on those.

That night we drove down to Kalispell for dinner at Hop's Bar and Grill. They specialize in wild game burgers, so we shared wild boar, elk, and yak burgers. Gabriella is now a huge fan of yak. I had to break it to her that it might be a while before she has the chance to eat it again.

We also had to do some more research for Bella's ice cream blog, but pretty much everything closes early in Montana, so we had to drive to Bigfork to find an ice cream place that was still open! It was a cute tourist town



We spent our last evening in Montana at the Meadow Lake Bar and Grille. (Not sure why we always seem to be taking the kids to bars?) Don had huckleberry ribs - everything is huckleberry flavored around here. The kids and I all had gnocchi with bison ragout. Oh, yum! We sat outside on the patio and had a lovely sunset view. A great way to end our stay here.


America's Ice Cream

Welcome back to America's Ice Cream! 
Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, we've been busy!

In Grand Forks, North Dakota, we went to Culvers, where I had creamy vanilla custard. My brother had, as he says, a delicious mint/hot fudge milkshake. My parents both had coconut chocolate pecan, which they said was good. 

The place we went at Glacier, Montana, was the campground's Ice Cream shop, Scoops! My brother, my dad, and I had creamy, sweet Huckleberry Ice Cream, so did my dog! My mom had Moose Tracks, and said it was okay. 

In Bigfork, Montana, we went to a popular place called Sweet Peaks, where I had delicious Cupcake Ice Cream, my brother had Salted Caramel which he says was good. My mom had Going To The Sun Road, which she loved, it's kinda an upgraded Rocky Road I guess. My dad had excellent, creamy Huckleberry Ice Cream.

That was America's Ice Cream, Two Weeks In One!


See Ya Next time!

-Lone_Wolf_Bella

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Cruising at 8,000 Feet

Hey everyone! This is Gavin, and today I'm writing about our time at Glacier National Park! The day we got there, we basically just set up. We went to the campground restaurant the Lazy Bear Cafe for dinner that night. I had ribs and they were delicious! A little on the fatty side though. Afterward, we went to the campground ice cream place called Scoops. I had huckleberry ice cream, which was a first for me. It was pretty good, but they went a little overboard on the frozen berries. See Bella's post for her info on it. 

The next day, we drove into the park! We decided to drive the Going-To-The-Sun Road and do two hikes along it. We drove up, up, up, up, up, and up some more until we were higher then I had ever been before. The views were breathtaking, and the height was 8,000 feet (hence the name of the post). 


We drove for what felt like and was hours. We passed landmarks like the Weeping Wall, a rock wall that water always drips from, Jackson Glacier, one of the biggest glaciers in the park, and Lunch Creek. No seriously, that's its name. No joke. 


Eventually, we arrived at the parking lot for the two hikes. Then we realized it only held 16 cars and the spots were all full. A change of plans was necessary. So we drove further and stopped at a picnic spot to have lunch. We sat down, and a fat little chipmunk walked right up to us. We instantly called him Theodore. A few minutes later, as we started eating, it started pouring rain. We made a hasty retreat to the truck and ate in there. After that, we just decided to drive out. On the way out, a lot of people were looking at a hill. We weren't sure why until we looked too and saw a little grizzly bear up there! Our second bear sighting ever in the wild. We took the long way out so Dad wouldn't have to drive the road again. (He was a bit scared because of the height). 

So we drove, drove, and drove some more until we stopped at Bear Creek to dip our feet in. We didn't actually do that, however, and skipped rocks instead. Well, except me because I couldn't skip a rock if my life depended on it. Bella and Dad can, Mom and I can't. Not sure why. 

After that, we drove some more until we got back to the campground. The next day, we decided to go to Polebridge. After a short drive (well, short for us anyway) we arrived. By then it was time for lunch, so we ate at the 'saloon' there. I had a good bacon cheeseburger and house made chips so it was delicious. 

After that, we drove to the park to do a hike. We began to hike up a hill for a good while and then we realized.... the creek was WAY farther away from the trail then we thought. So we headed back to the truck and drove back to Polebridge. There we bought some pastries and drinks and headed back to the campground. 

The next day, we didn't really do much until the afternoon. Then, we went to Glacier Rim and swam in the Flathead River. 

At the campground, there was a Birds of Prey program! They had three owls and a peregrine falcon! It was a non profit organization so we donated some money to them.



The next day, we went whitewater rafting! REAL whitewater rafting in Class III rapids! Great day! 10 out of 10, would do again! We almost hit a rock a couple times but we did really good. Our raft guide Russell said we (and another family on the boat) were one of the best rafting crews he had ever had! (Still not sure if he says that to everyone or not). 

For dinner we went to Hop's Downtown Grill. I had a WILD BOAR BURGER. An actual WILD BOAR BURGER. It was AMAZING. Afterward, we went to an ice cream place called Sweet Peaks. I had Salted Caramel. It was delicious. See Bella's post for her info on Sweet Peaks. The next day, we set off for Newport KOA! Next week, I'll send a post about there! 

See you next time!


Signing off, 
             Gavin

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Enjoying the Solitude of Nature...With About a Bazillion Other People

August 14 - August 15
Glacier National Park

Glacier is one of the places that I have most looked forward to visiting. The scenery did not disappoint, but I was not expecting the massive crowds. The park has had record setting numbers of visitors this summer. With limited access points to the park and its trails, it was a challenge to find places to park, visit, or take day hikes.

We were staying at a campground not far from the West Glacier entrance, so we made a quick trip to the Apgar Visitor Center the night before we planned to explore the park to pick up maps and hiking guides so that I could make a plan. Since it was early evening, we were able to find a place to park, but the Center and bookstore were still super busy. We took a short drive to get our first glimpse of the park.

West end of Going-to-the-Sun Road
The next morning, we decided to drive a good portion of the Going-to-the-Sun Road that traverses the park, hike in a few miles, and have a picnic lunch. There is a shuttle that also makes several stops on this road, but we wanted to be able to come and go as we pleased and also leave extra water and gear in the truck. The Sun Road is rumored to be one of the most beautiful drives in the country. Not an exaggeration. It was spectacular. Unfortunately, some of the views were affected by the smoke from nearby wildfires and from clouds and rain moving in. It was still awesome.







You'll notice that Gavin is the only one in any of the pictures from Going-to-the-Sun Road. Don and Gabriella refused to get out of the truck because the drop-off is immediate and ridiculously extreme. It was a good thing that Gavin and I were the ones on the passenger side of the truck. The other two never would have survived being that close to the edge for miles on end! I do have to give props to Don for navigating the dually on that road. Talk about a tight squeeze! Throw in rock outcroppings and thousands of driving tourists and it was an experience.







I knew that parking would be limited at the trailheads for all of the day hikes, so I had a couple of options picked out. My first two choices were mobbed with no place to park the truck, which was probably just as well, because hiking on a super crowded trail isn't much fun anyway. We finally found a place to land and decided to eat lunch at a picnic area there before hiking in. About five minutes into our picnic, the wind picked up and it started to rain. We decided that it just wasn't meant to be that day and packed up and moved on.

The remainder of Going-to-the-Sun Road was just as impressive and crowded. The kids did get a treat - we came around a bend and saw a load of cars pulled over to the side of the road and people pointing. There was a young grizzly up the hill not too far from the road! It was on the driver's side, so I wasn't able to get a picture, but it was exciting none the less. I was just happy that we were in the truck when the bear made its appearance so we didn't have a reenactment of our hike in the Grand Tetons in 2012. Back then, when the rest of us were carefully trying to back away from the bear and reach safety, a young Gabriella was rushing toward the bear to get a better look!

Ready to escape the crowds, we made our way out of the east side of the park and decided to skirt around the south side and hopefully circumvent the rain storm at the same time. This ride had some beautiful views as well.



We stopped at Bear Creek to stretch our legs and play in the water a little bit. What a gorgeous spot!




Gabriella "improving" a tiny waterfall - she takes her work very seriously
When we had our fill, we headed back to the campground to eat at the cafe there. It's pretty much just one guy on the grill seven days a week, but that Gene could make a mean steak. The next morning, I thought I was being smart and pointed us to the North Fork area of the park, which should have been much less crowded. We were hoping to do a nice hike around Bowman Lake and be able to stop and wade or swim along the way. Gabriella never passed up a chance to get wet!

We headed up Outer North Fork Road, which is just outside the western border of the park. The majority of the road is unpaved. It was pretty dusty, but not too bad. We made a stop in Polebridge, which is a tiny, off-the-grid "town" that has a long history and now offers a saloon/cafe and a general store/bakery that operate on solar and generators. We had lunch at the Northern Lights Saloon before venturing into the park.



Once arriving at the ranger station, we were told that they weren't allowing any more vehicles on the road to Bowman Lake or the farther north Kintla Lake because there were already too many people. We were just not having any luck. The ranger recommended we go down the "road" to Logging Creek and mentioned that we should be okay because we have a truck. We probably would have been okay despite the rough, uneven, hilly, winding rocky path - not really a road. The problem arose whenever a vehicle came in the opposite direction, which did happen three or so times. There was no room for more than one vehicle, so someone had to find a way to pull into the woods and let the other truck go past. In doing so, our truck ended up kind of scratched up and Don will have to try to buff out all of the marks and hope they aren't too deep.

After almost an hour of driving on this road (only about seven miles!) we were able to park at the Logging Creek trailhead. I was hoping that we could still get our feet wet in the creek, but the trail doesn't go anywhere near the actual water. We could have hiked another four miles in to get to a lake, but by this point it was getting late in the day and I think we had lost our enthusiasm, so we shortened the hike, turned around, and walked back to the truck for the trek back out to the main (but still unpaved) road.

The dusty, worn-out hikers

The creek was down at the bottom of that ravine somewhere
We stopped back in Polebridge to the Mercantile to pick up drinks and baked goodies for later - they are known for their huckleberry bearclaws.


The drive back was nice. The unpaved road seemed pretty good now compared to that park "road" we traveled on.


Please pardon the bug-splattered windshield!

We were ready to call it quits for the day - all in all it was about a seven-hour adventure. We headed back to camp and threw some chicken sausage on the grill to kick back and relax for the night. The rest of the week was spent seeking out less-crowded locales, which I'll tell you about in my next post.

Friday, August 18, 2017

Minnesota / North Dakota Line

Saturday, August 5 - Friday, August 11

The weekend's rides were thankfully uneventful. We hauled the camper across the Mackinac Bridge (the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere) under high wind warnings and made it to the other side unscathed.


We had beautiful views of Lake Superior for the majority of Saturday's drive. Route 2 is also part of the "Lake Superior Circle Tour" and the scenery made the ride go by relatively quickly even though it took almost nine hours with stops.

Lake Superior
Instead of the campground, our GPS decided to route us to a dead-end on a gravel road that stopped in the middle of a huge stone quarry. Luckily, there was enough room for us to turn around and get back on track, so we only lost about a half an hour. The Delta Lake State Park in Wisconsin is in the middle of nowhere. We weren't even sure we were in the right place when we got there, but the camp host happened to pull in next to us and reassured us that we were where we were supposed to be. We pulled into the only campsite (water & electric hook-ups) that could possible accommodate our trailer and ended up with a beautiful view for the evening. After take-out from the A & W in the nearest town, we all hit the hay.

Delta Lake
We were pretty much on Route 2 all day again on Sunday. The most interesting thing we saw was a Shriner motorcycle gang.


We arrived at the Sherlock Campground in the Red River State Recreation Area in East Grand Forks, Minnesota. They built the park after a huge flood in 1997 that basically wiped out everything along the banks of the river. It is a beautiful campground and will be even better when the trees on the sites mature and provide some shade. We had a whole week of hot temperatures and no shade. We were also facing due south, so the awnings on the camper were no help there, either. There happened to be a Cabela's a block away from the park and Don happened to have a gift card, so we stopped in to get a screen room so that we could have a place to sit under cover.

Our site was beautiful! We had a huge lawn area in front of us, then a multi-use path that follows along the river beyond. We were a stone's throw from the the border of North Dakota. In fact, I'm sure that the people over in North Dakota could hear Bernie barking at the joggers going by on the path. People walking or biking are fine, but those joggers - Bernie just doesn't trust them. Not sure if he thinks that are acting suspiciously or if he is afraid that they are running away from something scary, but he has no tolerance for them.

First night campfire
In case anyone was wondering, the pets have adjusted to the mobile life pretty quickly, though they do spend some time jockeying for position for the most desirable spots in the camper. Here is Bernie waiting patiently for his turn on the dog bed. He wouldn't actually try to make the cat move, but he just stood there staring at him and trying to will him to get up. It doesn't look to me that Pumpkin is going anywhere anytime soon.


There was a beautiful moonrise one evening when we sat outside enjoying Don's homemade pizza from his campstove pizza oven. My phone camera just didn't do it justice.


It was a low-key week. We made a couple of trips to laundromats (woo hoo!) and to grocery stores. At least the second laundromat visit ended on a positive - the new owner of the place came out and introduced himself. In an effort to drum up some positive publicity, he refunded the money I spent on four washing machines. So, it only cost $3.25 to wash and dry four loads - total score! I was more than happy to give him a good review.

Don worked during the day, and the kids and I tried to avoid the worst of the heat by walking the dog in the mornings and playing under the bigger trees in the park to escape the sun.

Proper bocce form?
We finally had a family game night at home. We used to do it regularly, but haven't found the time in a while. Another night was for dinner and a movie in the plaza right next door to the campground. My pick was Little Bangkok. We have even converted Gavin to be a fan of Thai food! I had some sparkling peach sake, which seems to just be the Japanese version of a wine cooler, but it was still good.


The movie Valerian was better than I had anticipated (my expectations were not very high) and it turns out that Tuesday night is discount night at the theater, so it was even better!

Gavin and "The Punisher" made from car parts
Bernie enjoyed this campground with all of its open spaces, lawns, and trails to walk on. Gabriella and I ran into one of the rangers on a walk, and she said it was okay with her if I let the dog off-leash while on the trails. I declined, because if he caught one whiff of a squirrel, he would be headed for the Canadian border trying to track it down. He checked out the river a couple of times, but wasn't that impressed. I wasn't that impressed with the river, either. It was muddy and brown and the water level was too low to fish from the fishing spots.


Sadly, I finished my last souvenir from Michigan. Vernon's Ginger Soda was a very tasty beverage.


We ended our stay in Minnesota with dinner at the Blue Moose Bar & Grill. The best parts were the nachos and the wire sculpture out front.




We left Minnesota feeling a little more rested and anxious to get to Montana!