Glacier National Park Trip of a Lifetime

All of my life I have dreamed of coming to Glacier National Park and now I am here. After all this time I want to remember everything I can about this place. Lynette is taking pictures and I need to help remember exact details of each.

1st day

First of all, I didn’t know I was even coming to Glacier National Park. It was a complete surprise for my birthday dreamed up by my wonderful life long roommate, Lynette.
I thought I was going to drive to Colorado and then I thought we were going to fly to Denver and get a rental car and see the Rockies.

But, we boarded another plane for Spokane, Washington. I was a bit disappointed at first because I had my heart set on the big mountains of Colorado and I was thinking about all I wanted to see there.
When we boarded the plane to Spokane, my poor little brain tried attacking my memory cells to recall all I knew about Spokane, Washington.
Sorry to say it wasn’t much. I was disappointed in myself as I have pride in my geographical knowledge.

I thought it was along the southern coast of Washington for a few minutes and then I remembered that it was the Northwest corner of the state. I am disappointed to say that I didn’t remember too many details about that section of Washington.

I found out soon enough that Spokane is beautiful. That might be a trip of it's own some day.

I was still in the dark about her plans for me until she needed my help with navigation. Then, she spilled the beans.
By then, I kind of had an idea of what was in store for me but wasn't totally sure. I was in heaven.

Spokane is near the Washington state line, so we were soon in Idaho heading east on Interstate 90. That part of Idaho is stunningly beautiful. I hope I can spell it right but Lake Coeur D’Alene is incredible. She snapped off a few pictures that really didn’t do the lake justice really because of it’s awesomeness.
She got a rental car that was a convertible mustang which helped in our sightseeing immensely. I wouldn't go back to the mountains without one if I have any say in the matter.

Nothing to constrain the views.

Can the word stunning be used too much? How about the word awesome? Or Incredible, or even beautiful?
No words can really explain thoroughly the beautiful scenery of some parts of the great American West.
Yes, I love the East Coast and want to live there mostly because of family and it has it's own share of beauty, but nothing can replace the great American West in my heart. Ever.

We have not even gone into Glacier yet because we left the Dallas, Texas airport at 9 AM and got to Spokane at 1:20 Pacific time.
We rented a car and started driving. Lynette was told that it took 4 hours from Spokane to Glacier but it was upwards of 5. So, we didn’t get here until almost dark.
Some more scenery along the way that took the breath away was Flathead Lake. It wasn’t too impressive coming in from the West. Pretty, yes, but you couldn’t get a real feel for how great it was until you started to drive around it.
The lake is huge and the waters so blue and beautiful.

Again, even though my sweet one took lots of pictures, none can
really do the justice of the greatness of the rugged mountains in the background. There were nice homes and marinas containing nice boats.
Overall, just an really beautiful area.

Kallispell, Montana is a very scenic little city which most Americans have never heard of. It lies at the base of the mountains containing Glacier National Park.
It has all the chain restaurants and stores including the Walmart’s and Target’s and 5 Guy burgers. What more do you need?

I would live there.

We ate in a little dive by the gate of the park. Probably a bit too pricey on their food, but that’s the nature of the beast. Burgers were good, the beer was cold and the pie was excellent. What more do you want other than cheap prices?
The pie was Huckleberry crème and it was incredible. It had a lot of extras on it besides huckleberry and was kind of rich for some but we had no problem finishing ours off.
The beer was from Canada and I probably will never see it again, but it was really good and I was thirsty after a long day of travel. I can’t even recall the name of it right now, but it was a pale ale.

It was called the West Glacier Cafe so if you are ever in the area drop in.

She found a cabin that is really nice called the Glacier Raft Company. It had everything but no internet access. Ha, are we spoiled!
But, a day off the internet never really killed anyone yet, has it? We aren’t at home are we?

Montana is really huge. Not as big as Texas, but a big ole state and needs my attention badly. I always joke around about wanting to live here, and when all is said and done I probably don’t have the gall to just take off and come here. But, this part of the state is really incredibly scenic.
I have not experienced the winter here, but the summer is hard to beat.

More on another day.