It’s been a while so  lots to say.  My feelings won’t be hurt if you decide “enough already” and bail out.  Decided this blog will also serve as my notes, so when my mind clouds, I’ll have a record of the adventure. 

 Left Utah and headed north.  Decided to take the quickie (interstate) route as I’m spending a few days in Glacier before picking up Janey for our wander thru Yellowstone.  Stayed overnight in Idaho Falls and headed on to Great Falls MT.

Ran into my first unpleasant motel neighbor in Idaho Falls – he left the TV on all night so I woke up at 3 am and decided to begin my trip a bit earlier.  Left a note on his door, requesting he be more considerate of future travelers.

Very smoky just outside of Idaho Falls until Dillon, MT.  Turned my lights on bright at one point and then had to turn them down as it was like driving thru thick fog.  

 Saw I was driving by Helena so since it was before noon, decided to take a tour of the capital.  It looks a lot like the one in Pierre and turns out the SD folks copied the MT plans.  Lovely statues of Jeannette Rankin and Mike Mansfield.  Jeannette was quite a determined woman.  First female elected to Congress (before women could vote), a suffragette and voted against both WW1 and 2.  There was a niche in the lower lobby for Senator Mansfield but he refused to stand alone; insisted his wife Maureen is at his side so the couple is in the upper lobby together.  Quite romantic, don’t you think?

There are beautiful paintings in the chambers so, unlike the SD capital, doors are locked.  One of the more interesting stories is the artist who painted scenes of Montana life had never been west of the Mississippi so was a little confused about what people actually looked like.  One was of an Indian in a Plains headdress and an Asian-style wrap placed in the midst of an AZ style desert.  But the most amusing was the representative cowboy.  The painter was Italian so he had his brother pose as the model, looked a lot like a cross between Yosemite Sam and a comical Sonny Bono with a large mustache.   

Overnight in Great Falls and then on to Glacier.  My biker friends suggested the Big Red Bus at Glacier so that was my first tour.  They said if I drove the Road to the Sun, I’d spend so much time watching the road, I’d miss the sights.  They’re the original 1930s buses, retrofitted and reinforced to run on propane. The canvas top can be retracted leaving us with a chrome grid to see through to the sky. Left at 10:00 and with lots of stops along the way, we were back by 5. Our driver and guide, Parker, dropped out of grad school to see the world so when Glacier closes, he’s off to New Zealand. Told a harrowing story about being caught in a rainstorm with rocks and boulders being hurled down the mountain.  The passengers had to leave the bus and crouch under a rocky ledge.  Bet he reserves that story for sunny days. Also talked about the need to set off avalanches in the winter so there would be fewer surprises in the spring.  One year someone had the bright idea of having 3 fighter jets go thru at 900 mph.  Worked great – 25 avalanches but scared the hell out of the animals. Back to targeted explosives.  Met couples from Michigan and Australia.  The Aussies had stopped off on their way back from the Olympic Games in London.  Makes it sound like “as long as we’re in the neighborhood, let’s drop in”. 

First close encounter with wildlife!  Some bighorn sheep were grazing about 50’ from the bus.  It was fun to see how excited everyone got at seeing them.  We did a “prairie dog pop-up”, poking our heads through the gratings to take pictures. 

Waterton Falls, Canada

Went to the Canadian side of Glacier the following day.  Patience missed the turn so we got to go thru Canadian customs and then back again thru USA then back to Canadian at the park entrance.  Was glad the only things they were interested in were fruit and weapons.  It would have been quite a production to go thru the contents of the car.  Did own up to a steak knife, tho.  More cows in the middle of the road so had to drive carefully unless I wanted a passenger.

Waterton Lake is part of the Canadian side of the Peace Park with Glacier.  The agreement was made in the 30s that the countries would never go to war with each other. Perhaps we could think about doing that with the rest of the world

My search for bears in Waterton proved fruitless.  A couple I met from Calgary had a grizzly cross the road in front of them, saw a black bear eating berries at a wayside and ran into a mom and 2 cubs on the trail.  They even agreed to email the pictures to me so I could claim them as my own. My conscience got the best of me tho. The fellow at the gas station told me they were playing with the flags at the golf course so I went chasing out there.  No bears – he opined that I might be a bear repellant.  There should be lots around as they’re getting ready for the winter so they’re out and about gorging themselves on berries.  Finally, with the help of Laurie (a fellow traveler with a camper named Turtle from Ogden UT) saw a speck of a mom and a cub (thru binoculars) on a mountainside back in Glacier.

The beauty of Glacier was everything I’d hoped for.  Went thru every entrance so I could see it from every angle. The mountains were formed by 600 million year old mountains from the East thrust on top of 100 million year old mountains and according to the geologists, they’re still moving. Again, most of my exercise (except for hiking to Lost Horse Creek Falls in Waterton and Running Eagle Falls in Two Medicine) was getting out of the car at the scenic overlooks.

Stopped for breakfast at the Two Medicine Café and noticed an older fellow sitting alone at a table.  Asked if I could join him and it turned out to be one of the best things I’ve ever done.  He was a Blackfoot Cultural Storyteller and I spent almost 2 hours listening him talk about being raised by his medicine woman grandmother in the house behind their family ranch.  Told me about the Native American religion and the spiritual connection to the earth, the healing powers of the roots and herbs, learning from the animals and the weather patterns and described step by step, the vision quest undertaken by the younger members.  Also talked about the lack of credit given to the women of the tribe.  I suggested he write that book and dedicate it to his grandmother.  I could have spent the entire day with him. 

Decided to end this novel here and write more later on the trip to Yellowstone with Janey and meeting the family in Portland for Jay’s triathlon and the celebration of Jay and Chandra’s engagement.  Lots of lovely things happening.