Glacier National Park

AUGUST 5th - Idaho?

We left Seattle right after waking up & headed towards Glacier National Park in Montana. It is quite a drive, so we stopped in Smelterville Idaho and stayed at the Sands Motel... a local joint that was interesting and possibly haunted.



AUGUST 6th - Glacier National Park

We left Smelterville & stopped in a different Idaho town for gas. This town claimed to have the "center of the universe". It was weird.

So we left Idaho and entered Montana. It was almost evening when we got settled at Fish Creek Camp Ground. So, we hiked a little around the creek and lake surrounding the camp site, and then sat around the fire until bed time.

AUGUST 7th - Going-to-the-sun Road

The Going-to-the-sun Road is the major road running through Glacier, it runs from the west side to the east side of the park. We wanted to stay at Many Glacier tonight so we spent most of today driving and taking scenic stops/mini-hikes from the road. Our stops included:

• McDonald Falls
• The Loop Overlook
• The Weeping Wall
• Jackson Glacier Overlook
• St. Mary's Visitor Center
• and finally Many Glacier Park Campgrounds

When we arrived we had enough time to go to the Ranger Station and look at some detailed hiking trails. We hiked around Swift Current Lake and then up to Red Rock Falls. We had time to make a little fire before bed. The night was FREEZING so it was harder to warm up and fall asleep.

AUGUST 8th - Climb to a Glacier

We headed out for an extreme adventure. We climbed 1,600 feet for 11 miles to see the Grinnell Glacier. It was rough but completely worth the hike. On the way we passed Swift Current Lake, Lake Josephine, and Grinnell Lake. When we got to the Glacier it was astounding. It sits into a little nook in the mountain and is surrounded by a beautiful lake that runs down to become a waterfall that feeds Grinnell Lake. The Rangers say that all the Glaciers will be gone by 2020 now, so it was really special that we got to see one.


After the hike we got dinner and then ate ice cream in the cold. We had another fire, this one more successful than any of our previous fires. I guess we are getting pretty good at this camping thing.

AUGUST 9th - Last day at GNP

We packed up and drove back to St. Mary's Visitor Center. From there you can take a shuttle along going-to-the-sun road, and we had a few more stops to check out. Our hot spots included:

• The Rising Sun Visitor Center
• The Sun Point Overlook - with views to the major mountains
• Sun Rift Gorge
• Siyah Bend
• and the Logan's Pass Visitor Center which is located on the continental divide

Glacier is beautiful and worth the trip. It is one of my favorite places in the world!

Trip to Canada

AUGUST 2nd - Crossing the Border

We finally got into Canada after waiting in line and being quizzed (I am pretty sure they though we wanted to get jobs in Canada). We do have a lot in the car and are currently unemployed... so I can see where the assumption came from. After we got in we hung out at Waves Coffee house to use the internet for free. My biggest problem was that in Canada I did not have cell service, so we spent the entire Canadian trip sans cell phones.

AUGUST 3rd - B.C. Day

We somehow arrived on the only summer holiday in British Columbia (B.C. Day)! We went to buy transit tickets its so nice to not have to drive all over city. They have a great system in Vancouver. We got to the Sky Train not really having a plan and ended up going to Science World. It was a really fun Science Museum that was very interactive. Then we took the Sea Bus to North Vancouver to hang out at the wharf. The city was pretty full of people because it was a "holiday" which was kind of fun, but a little crowded. Overall, it was a fun day with lots of random adventures.


AUGUST 4th - Last day in Vancouver

We woke up and went to a burrito place called Steamrollers. It was good, but no Freebirds... I miss Freebirds! (one of the few things I miss about College Station)

We went to the Vancouver Art Gallery. They had a special exhibit on Dutch Art that was nice, but their Emily Carr and Jack Shadbolt collection was my favorite.

We walked around downtown before heading back into the U.S. to stay one more night in Seattle. My friend Rae and her boyfriend went with us to get food at Duke's Chowder House.

Washington

JULY 29th - Portland to Kent Washington (heat wave number 2 - temp = 105)

We arrived around 1 pm to Kent thinking we might escape the heat. However we drove straight into the record high for the Seattle area! We stayed with my "cousin" Joe who lives in Kent, and he took us immediately out to the well air conditioned Experiance Music Project & Science Fiction Museum. It has recording studios, and wonderful exhibits for music and sci-fi. The summer exhibit was featuring Jim Hensen. The best piece in the entire museum was the tree of life by The Fountain which is Ryan's favorite movie! Sort of a dream come true.

After the museum we went to the top of the Space Needle for viewing deck fun.

JULY 30th - Hiking Shopping Touring

We went hiking in Snoqualmie to see the Snoqualmie Falls. It is a 1 mile hike that is super steep but worth the view. Then we went back into Seattle for the Underground tour of the city. It describes the history of Seattle by showing its cultural build up. Then we found Elliott Bay Cafe which was the cafe that inspired the frequented set cafe on the show Frasier.

After some shopping we went back to the house so that Ryan could get his guitar. Then we went out to Whiskey Bar & Ryan got to play 2 sets for their open mic night. It was really fun, and to add to the excitement one of my high school friends came to meet up with us.

JULY 31st - Day of Rest

We just relaxed and then saw Funny People. It was really good!

AUGUST 1st - Whale Day!

Today we saw over 30 whales. My cousin booked a boat trip that takes about 6 hours. So it was our plan for the majority of the day. It is not guaranteed that we would see any whales, but we got so lucky. It was a beautiful ride and a nice break from all the heat. After watching we had dinner and called it a night, being on a boat can be exhausting.