GNP

Gross National Product?. . .NO. . .Glacier National Park!


Logan's Pass. Gorgeous yes, but a bugger to get up there. We had been in the car way too long and I was hungry. Let's just say I would have appreciated the view and hikes up here a bit more if someone had a nice bowl of cream of asparagus soup for me up there. Is that too much to ask? With bread and butter please.

We went on a great hike in Glacier. Lily hated the backpack and spent much of the time whining and crying on the way up there. Then, just before we got up to the lake she fell asleep. She was asleep the whole time we were at the lake and then woke up just in time for. . .

. . .BEARS! We saw a mother bear and a baby black bear. I guess that they are rarely seen on this hike because it is a heavily used trail. We ran into a couple from Germany on the trail who said that they had been told there were bears coming up so we kept a sharp eye out and low and behold. . .BEARS. It was so cool. Mostly because the German couple had bear spray and the other couple that caught up to us had a gun so I felt 100% safe. We stopped and watched them for a while and then they slowly crossed RIGHT OVER THE TRAIL! We kept waiting for the screams of people coming up the trail but miraculously no one came up at that time. There was a steady stream of people the whole day, I just couldn't believe that no one came during the bear crossing. All I can say is that I am so fulfilled by seeing a bear in the wild in Montana.

Whitefish

We finally made it to Whitefish and boy were we glad to be out of that car!

So what did we do in Whitefish?

Bozeman

The second night of our trip, we camped just outside of Bozeman. (Yes, we camped in Yellowstone, just for one night).

Bozeman is a cool, little college town with an awesome, funky downtown. We dropped Lily off at a drop in day care that we stumbled upon. I know, I couldn't believe that I did it either, I surprised myself but she was BEGGING to go in and lets face it, after 10 hours in the car in two days I was ready for a break. It was really fun to walk around downtown, sans toddler, and have an adult conversation, browse the many antique stores and not hear "My Little Pony" theme song in the background (although it was still in our heads).

We picked Lily up an hour later because it was starting to rain and we had to get back on the road.

The "wildlife" in front of the Bozeman library. I loved the Bozeman library. They had an amazing kids section. Lily could have spent all day there. She loved all of the activities, puzzles, games and puppets they had for the kids to explore. There were a lot of kids there, I could tell it was a pride of the town.

Our campsite in Bozeman. We camped at this little campground just outside of town. It had a pool and a playground. Lily loved it. It wasn't really back woods camping, but it was nice to get a warm shower and to have a place for Lily to climb around. She even loved the pool even though that day was freezing!

Chris worked at this guest ranch the summer after high school. We had to have a picture of his old 'stomping grounds'. Seriously, he said 'stompin' grounds' when we passed it. Sigh. I guess we are getting old. We decided not to drive up the canyon to the ranch for lunch. We told ourselves it was a time issue. Really, it was a 5-star-resort-food-not-being-in-our-budget-so-lets-not-tempt-meg issue.

Whitefish Ho!

Montana. . .

. . .where the men are men and the women are too. At least that is what I had been told. I didn't find that to be the case, but the least populated state (by area) did live up to every rumor of beauty, splendor, and scenic magnificence that I had heard.




All packed up and ready to go!



Potty break in the woods.



Buffalo!


Our first stop was Yellowstone. I had never been there before and decided that I could not, in good conscience, go another year without seeing it. I loved everything about it. The wildlife, the incredible views, the geysers. I think my favorite part was just how diverse it is. Around every corner was a completely new scene. It was wonderful. I can't wait to go back.
I love this sign at the entrance (that we went out of) that reads "For the benefit and enjoyment of the people".

This is Yellowstone falls. It was so magnificent, it looked fake. Really, it was amazing. They call this the grand canyon of Yellowstone. No wonder!



We brought our bikes along and were able to do a nice little ride in the park to a natural rock bridge. It was a perfect little bike ride, not too long, not too steep, not crowded, and of course, gorgeous!




I have almost a hundred pictures of these pools. There are millions of them, in all colors, sizes and temperature. The really blue one is 700 degrees. Yikes! They were so captivating and beautiful in that dangerous sort of way. Like a black widow. It was amazing to see our earth moving and changing right before our eyes! It made me feel very close to the planet and very aware at how minimal I am in comparison to the whole power of the earth. It was surprisingly humbling.


Stay tuned for Bozeman, bears, glacier, Whitefish and more!

We're back.

More to come. . .