Part 2 – Portland to Glacier National Park (updated w/photos)

Note that clicking on any photo will bring up a larger version of the image

States & Provinces visited on this segment:

Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alberta

Dates: Sunday June 17th to Sunday June 24th

Miles driven: 1214


Summary: We finally got loaded up and left home around noon on the 17th. We spent the first night at Ritzville, WA (~1 hour SW of Spokane), and then made it to West Glacier, MT on the evening of the 18th. The only reservations we made for the entire trip were for 5 nights at Lake Five Resort in West Glacier, just a few miles outside of the park. We met Karen’s brother and his family along with Karen’s parents there. David and his family also have a trailer, and Karen’s parents rented a cabin so we were all close to each other. We explored the western half of Glacier National Park, but mostly spent time relaxing by the lake and visiting with family. The Going-To-The-Sun road was closed before Logan Pass due to a slide so we couldn’t go all the way through the park. This stopped us from doing some things as we had originally envisioned, but gave the kids and their cousins more time to relax by the lake. We went kayaking and swimming in the lake multiple days and also did some other fun activities around the area. On Saturday we packed up and said good bye to everyone. We went around the south edge of the park and set up camp at St. Mary on the east side of the park. On Saturday afternoon we visited the portion of the park that we were not able to see from West Glacier. On Sunday we took a day trip up north into Alberta Canada and went to Waterton Lakes National Park. So far we have had good weather. We were able to see everything we wanted to in the park except for bears. :-( We did see deer, coyotes, bison, assorted chipmunks/squirrels, a bald eagle, and even a moose.

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/bryan.vacation/Part2PortlandToGlacierNationalPark

Elizabeth’s Notes: My favorite part of week 1 was Lake Five. We did lots of fun things there. Some of my favorites were making ice cream, swimming in the lake, and going to Glacier National Park. At Glacier we went on Going-to-the-sun Road. I liked that a lot. It was very beautiful! I also liked when our car went under the weeping wall. We got all wet! We also spent two additional nights near Glacier but on the other side. On one day we actually went to Canada! We went up to Waterton National Park!!! Our first week was AWESOME! I’m so glad we’re going on this trip!

Matthew's Notes: Coming soon.

Other notes: The truck has worked great towing the trailer. Basically put it on cruise control at 60 or whatever the speed limit is and it pulls the trailer without any problem regardless of the terrain. Everything is also working fine on the trailer, although we are still getting settled in and finding the optimal spot for all the stuff that we loaded in on the final day before we left.

Next up: Great Falls, MT and then off to Medora, ND.