The Middle Trip Page Two
The early part of the trip can be found on Page one
July 11, 2010
Old Faithful
Today we drove over to Old Faithful. It's about 40 miles from here. This park is huge! We had a wonderful time, but, if we ever come this way again it won't be in July. Too many people.
July 13, 2010
Fishing Bridge
Today we drove down to Cody to check on the Jeep, but they haven't got the part yet to fix it, so Jim had to beg another night here. Lucky for us, there was a camper decided to leave early, so we got their spot. We'll call in the morning to see if the part is in and they can fix it. On the way home we had to stop for a Buffalo in the road. He walked right by the side of the truck. We could have almost reached right out and touched him. That wouldn't have been a good idea, they can be very dangerous. After all, they are a wild animal.
July 14, 2010
Fishing Bridge
10:30 Am. There is a place here where we can leave the trailer temporarily while we go back to Cody to check on the Jeep. It is a 2 hour drive each way, and they said the part should be there by 11 AM. I am staying with the trailer and the dog today. The rest have left to go to Cody. It will give them more room in the truck and I can catch up on this blog.
4:30 Pm. The Jeep is fixed and runs great. We are heading out of the park to a campground in Idaho. There was a mile long backup because of some Moose alongside the road.
6:51 we entered Montana and crossed the Continental Divide. Then soon after we are in Idaho at the Targhee National Forest, Buffalo campground. It's a pretty place, but lots of mosquitos.
July 15, 2010
Buffalo campground to Lost Creek State Park
There was frost on the picnic table this morning when we got up. After breakfast we loaded up and took a drive up to Sawtell Peak elevation over 10,000 ft. There's an FAA radar nav station there. It's above the tree line. The temp was 53 Deg. We can see 3 states from up there, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Awesome! On the way down we saw a mule deer that actually came out and posed for Deb to get a picture. From there we went to the Madison River Earthquake site. In 1959 there was a 7.8 magnetude quake that caused half a mountain to slide down into a river and halfway up the other side. Many people lost their lives.
Then we hit the road again and visited Virginia City, an old gold mining town turned tourist destination. it's a very neat place, and could have spent a day and well over $100 to see and do everything.
I finally got to visit a real Ghost Town. "Granite" was an old mining town that boomed when gold was discovered around there. They mined other things also over the years, but when the mines gave out, the town went bust also. We must have spent a couple hours walking around the old town.
Lost Creek is just West of Anaconda, Montana. In Anaconda we came past what looked like a mountain of coal. However, it looked too fine to be coal. Jim says it might have been powdered coal, which is used for something. I must find out, as the name Anaconda sounds very familiar.
July 16, 2010
Lost Creek SP to Bigfork, Mt.
We are camped for the night at Outback Montana RV Park in BigFork, Mt. Tomorrow we'll move the camper into Glacier National Park. At the first opportunity I'll post the pictures from Silver City and the Granite Mining Ghost town we visited. We are doing well and having a great time.
July 17, 2010
Bigfork to Glacier National Park
We are going to have a short drive today, so we didn't get on the road until after 11 Am. By 1:20 Pm. we are set up at "Apgar Center" in Glacier National Park. It's really nice here. Not many mosqitoes, but lots of flys.
They have free shuttles here that make runs up into the park daily. We are tired so we are going to just hang around camp and rest up some. Tomorrow we'll do some siteseeing. We had steaks and corn and potatos roasted on the campfire. Umm!
July 18, 2010
Polebridge, Mt.
It was very cool this morning, but, not the coldest we've seen at higher elevations. Today is Sunday, so after breakfast we went over to some church services they have here at the park. Some of the people there had guitars, and Deb mentioned that I play, so I did a couple songs for them after the service.
After church we dropped Jim off at the trailer and the rest of us went out to a little town called "Polebridge". The town has 2 buildings. A bar and a store/bakery. The store/bakery has some of the best and most expensive pastries I've ever seen. They also have WiFi, so I got to upload some of the trip blog.
We got lost on the way out there and took a dirt road that went over the hills instead of around them. A 1/2 hour trip took us 2 hrs. We found the right road on the way back, so "all is well that ends well". On the way back another deer posed for Deb's camera.
July 19, 2010
A trip through Glacier National Park
7:00 Am. Breakfast and then get ready for our trip into the park via shuttle bus. It's not as cold this morning as it was yesterday. We drove down to the bus terminal and boarded a shuttle for "Logan's Pass". From there we boarded a bigger bus and rode the rest of the way into St. Mary's on the other side of the park.
It was foggy and rainy at Logan's Pass. It rolled in in a space of about 5 minutes. Going from sunshine to fog. On the other side of the mountains it was sunny, but there was a cool breeze blowing.
What a beautiful place!! Really awe inspiring. The wonders our God has wrought! There is no way without walking long hard trails to get close to a glacier. Where there used to be over 100, there now are only about 25, and they are shrinking every year.
The shuttle buses don't stop but just at select locations, so tomorrow we will drive up the mountain to the places we didn't get to see today. Deb took many pictures, some I've posted on the Glacier page.
July 20, 2010
Glacier Park to Holland Lake
9:30 Am. We hooked up the trailer and took it to a parking area to stay while we took the Jeep up the mountain to the other side of the park.
We had a great day sightseeing, and took many more pictures. We went back and rescued the truck and trailer, and headed back to Flathead Lake to the great burger place we ate at on the way into the park. We had rain last night, but today has been clear and warm. We love this country.
7:42 pm. we're camped at Holland Lake RV area. It's a pretty little lake fed by a waterfall. The campground is quite busy and there are some of the biggest mosquitos I've ever seen! Two deer walked through camp shortly after we got here. The dog let us know they were there. We had a campfire, but when it burned down, we had to retreat inside because of the mosquitos.
July 21, 2010
At Holland Lake
We must have been tired, as we all slept in, even Bobbie, who is usually up by 6 Am. or so. The mosquitos seem to be less in the mornings. It's a beautiful sunny day. Me and the dog took a walk along the shore of the lake. She loves water and jumped right in. There's lots of driftwood for a fire tonight. This afternoon we were going to Seeley Lake for steaks, but, no-place opens up until after 5 Pm. Oh well, we had really good steaks here the other night.
I hope tomorrow we will just rest here to get ready for our long drive home. I'm growing a beard, and need a haircut badly. Deb is looking at me strangely.
July 22, 2010
Holland Lake to Salmon Lake
We went over to the Holland Lake Lodge for breakfast. Nice place, good food, and good prices and service.
We moved down the road about 30 miles to Salmon Lake State Park. It's beautiful here, and not many mosquitos. It's a pretty little lake and the park roads are paved. We have electricity and Showers. I almost hate to leave tomorrow. Jim and Brenda have been very generous hosts. We'll truly miss Jim's great breakfasts, and Brenda's super dinners. But, it will be good to get home too. The GPS says we have 2500 miles to go to get home to Middleburg. It's probably 2000 to Bobbies in Robbinsville, NC.
Tonight Deb made chili. Umm! very good.
Please go to Page Three