The Fun Has Just Begun!

Friday, June 12

Sitting in Auto Haus again after spending  the night in Glacier. We are getting to know a mile long stretch of industrial Kalispell pretty well. Walking to the hotel two days ago, walking to lunch and the grocery store today. And walking back to the grocery store for coffee. Auto shops just aren't that stimulating. 

When we drove up to McDonald lodge this morning for breakfast the van didn't start. Again. We got a jump and headed back to Kalispell all sorts of plans swirling in our heads. Staying at a KOA with miniature golf and a swimming pool, waiting it out in town, or staying at the McDonald lodge while Rich deals with the van. The princess in me voted for a lodge stay but the loyal Taurus stays true to her family unit. So here we are. 

A loose screw on the starter was the unreliable connection.  The battery we bought in CdA was the wrong battery that could have potentially started a fire. So much for their wit--no indication of their knowledge.  

We will eventually head back to the park and do a bit more camping. 

Saturday, June 13

'What's today, Friday?' I ask. 'No idea' replies Rich. How quickly we cease to care.  We just have to be in Fernie on 15th for a camping reservation, whatever day that is. We spent the night at Two Medicine Lake instead of 'Driving to the Sun' and back. It was beautiful and windy, enough to keep the bugs at bay.  Amazing mountains, green glacial lakes. Rich invited over a solitary neighbor for coffee, an older gentleman camping without a car. It may have been prompted by curiosity but I was grateful as echoes of Jesus and Buddha were bouncing around in my heart.  He was a slightly querulous old guy with chosen stories to share including living with Alice from 'Alice's Restaurant'. He ignored questions he didn't want to answer and tested my knowledge of southwestern foliage (my memory failed me). It made the morning interesting. 

We walked up to Running Eagle Falls on the way out, a beautiful legend of a warrior woman of the Blackfeet tribe before the 1700s. It is impossible to impart the importance of this on a five or seven year old. Now we're are headed for St Mary's, the western side of the park,  talking about glaciers and moraines. Ruby doesn't believe our geological accounts as her volcanic version was resoundedly rejected by all of us. 'I don't believe anything you say' she says. 

June 14. The past two days have been bearalicious!  A grizzly and her cubs yesterday in Glacier at Many Glaciers and four in Waterton International Peace Park. Many Glaciers was gorgeous, and our first taste of weather to come. Wetter, cooler when the sun hides in the clouds.  We hiked to Grinnell Lake, below a disappearing glacier. It was a personal best for the kids, seven miles round trip.  The views were amazing, including the moose and Grizzlies. 

We spent enough time in Waterton to get a hike in and for the kids to earn their Explorer tag. They have been wearing their Junior Ranger badges non stop for days. Waterton is more wild than our national parks. Not sure if it is because there are fewer visitors or they are more concentrated in fewer areas. Bear were everywhere, and we spotted a coyote and fox as well. It is here we traded our shorts and t shirts for polypropylene and pants. 

And the van!  It starts every time!  Talk about being grateful for the little things. Not to mention staying on track!  Not having to set up a tent every night no matter the weather. After a week my nails and feet cracking, we are running out of clean underwear and our daily schedule has completely changed. We all sleep in and stay up late. It is difficult to create alone adult time unless I am reading a book which doesn't happen often either. It frays our nerves a bit, the relentless kid time. They get sick of us too.