Update - July 29 - Aug. 5

July 29 - We had a great day going to Many Glacier. I will never visit the real Alps, but it really felt like I was there at Many Glacier Hotel. What a stunning view! The Lake McDonald Lodge was the more beautiful to me, but the view from Many Glacier Hotel was the best ever! I saw signs that said, “Do not feed the sheep,” so I was really looking for some bighorn sheep. I did not see any. I also saw a sign as we went into the Many Glacier area that said to report all bear and wolf sightings. I have not seen a wolf yet, so I was looking for those, too. Again, I was disappointed. I was totally delighted by the wildflowers. I have never seen so many varieties in such profusion anywhere - ever! I wish I had time to macro each different one I saw, but it would have taken all day. Also, the fragrance was heavenly! It was a great day. And we went back to the camper where I am trying to complete a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle before we leave. Next Wed. I am working it on the table extension, but it does not fit. I am working as much as I can before putting the extension in the table to have enough room. I guess I’ll learn to limit myself to 500 piece puzzles from now on. I have not worked a 1,000 piece puzzle in years. I am really enjoying it.
July 30 - We are following our tour guide‘s (Helen Gross) suggestions and going to Waterton National Park in Canada. It is only about 45 miles from us. Also we will go ahead and get our annual pass to the Canadian National Parks. Ouch! If you are in the parks more than six days, it pays to get the annual pass. We will be in them for two weeks.
Wow! Waterton Lakes National Park is truly beautiful. If you love wildflowers, definitely put East Glacier National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park on your bucket list. Crossing the border was very different than when we went to Vancouver. When we pulled up to the Canadian border, two RV’s in front of us were pulled over. They asked pretty much the same questions as they did when we went to Vancouver. It does make me wonder if we will be pulled over and have to pop the camper up when we cross next week. Of course, I have meat in the freezer and veggies that I hope to take with us, since I gave them away before we went to Vancouver and was never asked about them. THEN. When we came back to the USA. They opened our truck doors and examined everything in the truck and back of the truck. They did ask if we had any fruit or vegetables. Oh well, if they ask, I guess I’ll donate my food to the border patrol!
Now, back to Waterton Lakes. We went on the Red Rock Canyon Parkway and the Akamina Parkway roads. We were a little disappointed because they turn you around before you get to the Red Rock Canyon because they redoing the parking lot and rest rooms there. The drive was still gorgeous,. And I got to see my first wild tiger lilies, as well as tons and tons more wildflowers. Oh, we saw a big black bear on the side of the road before we got to the park. Cameron Lake at the end of the Akamina Parkway was very beautiful. We ate at Zums in downtown Waterton. What a quaint, waterside village! The Prince of Wales Hotel is quite striking sitting up on a hill overlooking Waterton. I took 168 photos today, and I cannot wait to post some. I will post four or five on here and lots more on FaceBook. I took my computer into Zum’s because they had a big Internet sign on their window, but you had to pay to use it. Forget that! Anyway, fabulous, awesome, worshipful day! Thank you, Heavenly Father!
July 31 - It rained and rained all morning and part of the afternoon. We read and I also worked on my 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. Helen had told us about the Cattle Baron’s Supper Club in Babb eight miles up the road. I had also read reviews about their steaks being the best in the world. The club itself is pretty neat. I did not take my camera, but I did take a few photos with my phone. The place is owned by Blackfeet Indians and it is like a museum. It looks like a dive from the road and the tables and chairs are not that fancy, but the steaks were awesome! On the menu, there is no mention of how many ounces the steaks are. Phil got a filet mignon, and I got a rib eye. His filet was huge and my rib eye looked like a roast! We could have halved that easily. I brought home half for lunch the next day.
Aug. 1 - We did not sleep well because we had mosquitos in the camper. We killed a couple, but eventually we would hear another one. Then about 5:15 I had to brave the mountain lions and bears to trudge to the restroom, compliments of the Cattle Baron’s Supper Club. We are just chillaxin’ today. Phil is reading a book about the Yankees, and I finished my puzzle. I was at the point in the puzzle where every time I got a piece in, I’d want to stand up and do the Macarena. We had to pulled the table out and put in the extension, so we both rejoiced when I finished, so we could shorten the table and make it easier to get in and out of our sofas. We will ride the free shuttle to Logan Pass on the Going-to-the-Sun Rd. one day and the other we hope to make it to East Glacier and check out Two Medicine area.
Aug. 2 - We got up with the plan to ride up to Logan’s Pass. Phil decided to drive instead of taking the free shuttle because I like to stop so often to take photos. With the road construction going on, we got stopped going and coming. We were going to hike to Hidden Lake, but they closed the parking lot at Logan’s Pass because it was full. Cars were backed up both directions because of road construction stops. It was a mess! We decided to go back to the camper, eat lunch, and take the shuttle back to Logan’s Pass for our hike. When we got to the turn-off for the campground, we were met with a guy in a truck who told us they were putting down tar and gravel on top of that. It would be hours before we could get back in the campground. Change of plans! We decided to go to Two Medicine and East Glacier. We see many signs about watching for cattle, and finally we saw cattle right by the road. There was a whole herd, and it looked like they were licking the gravel/dirt in the right-of-way. Helen, we hiked! All of .3 mile to Running Eagle Falls at Two Medicine. That was .6 total. There was the warning of grizzlies in the area, and we had no bear spray, so we walked and talked loudly the whole way there and back. We did meet some people on the trail, so that was comforting. We were going into the general store at Two Medicine, but someone had “accidentally) released some bear spray in there just before we were to go in. We did a loop going Hwy 49 to East Glacier where I got some photos of the lodge there, and then to Browning and then back to St. Mary. As we neared St. Mary, the storm clouds were gathering. We had left our bedroom windows open. Just as we reached the campground in heavy rain and wind, the hail started….. The pillows and sheet were wet. I had a spare set of sheets, but I propped up the sheet and took off the pillow cases. The pillow cases did not dry, but the sheet did by the time we went to bed. Another good day! Tomorrow is our last full day here. We have the best view from our campsite from any place we have stayed. We will miss the view! Also, we are charging the cell phone once or twice a day in the 12 v. outlet in the camper, and it has not effected the battery. Thank you, solar panel!
Aug. 3 - We had hoped to ride the shuttle to Logan’s Pass and hike to Hidden Lake today, but it was rainy again. We could not even see the mountains, so we went to the Visitors’ Center and watched the video they had on Glacier National Park. It was nice. I got some more photos of the osprey nest.
Aug. 4 - We road about four hours to Calgary. We are on the west side and right off of Canada Hwy. 1. It will be easy to get back on and head up the Ice Fields Highway to Hinton, where we will be three days. We will have wifi there. Hooray! Crossing the border was a piece of cake, just like when we went to Vancouver. We expected a more difficult time. Also, there was no line at all where we crossed. We waited in line about ten or fifteen minutes when we went to Waterton Lakes N.P. I was so thankful they did not ask about fruits, vegetables, and meat! The US border does ask that every time. I’ll be sure to have none by the time we cross back to the US.
Aug. 5 - After a six and a half hour drive to Hinton through the Icefields Parkway through Banff and Jasper National Parks, we have finally gotten online. The glitch is that they have Internet through satellite, and it is extremely slow. They say uploading photos takes forever and slows the Internet down for everyone. I have taken hundreds of photos today, and I want to post them so badly…. I am so disappointed that I cannot upload some. I guess they will wait. The Canadian Rockies are amazing. Like ours, the looks change every curve or two. When we leave here in three days, we will go to a campground in Banff National Park. I hope the McDonalds or someone in Banff has free wifi, but I have no clue. We saw a huge elk on the way between Jasper and Hinton. I got photos. We also saw a bear. The color of the streams, rivers, and lakes are amazing. The Columbia Icefield is also amazing. That ice is THICK!!! It looks like the way back will be a LOT of climbing. We got 17 miles per gallon from Calgary to here (which is pretty good), so we will probably drop drastically going back to Banff. That is it for today. It was an awesome drive, just full of God’s beautiful creation.