Cold and Hot!

Amye & Joan's Arrival at West Glacier KOA

Friday's departure from Post Falls, ID was uneventful until later in the day. On our way to West Glacier, we stopped in a Visitor's Information Center in St. Regis, MT. We got lots of information about Glacier National Park as well as a free sample sample of Wild Huckleberry Coffee. Since Amye doesn't drink coffee, she received a package of hot chocolate. Around one o'clock, Joan said her muffler had come loose. She had it installed in Pennsylvania just before she left her daughter's. Joan checked her GPS and found a Midas Muffler shop in Kalispell, not far from where we were. They could not help her, but gave her the name and address of a shop nearby that could. We had to leave her rig for a short spell and went to find some lunch. On Joan's suggestion, I left them behind and headed for the campground to check us in. They didn't expect to be out of the shop for a couple of hours and being Friday, with heavy traffic in the area, we figured they would be in by 6 P.M. I set up the Road Runner and when Amye called to say they were almost there, I went to the gate to greet them. Joan was extremely pleased with the muffler service! It's early to bed tonight as we have signed up for "The Red Bus Tour" of Glacier National Park.

Approaching one of two tunnels in Glacier N.P.

It's a chilly morning! We aren't used to this! Our "Red Bus" arrives and we board it. The KOA campground is the first pick-up of the morning, so we chose seats close to windows. One has to sit four across in the tour bus. Let me tell you a little bit about the buses that are used. They date back to the 1930's, they have a canvas roof that can be rolled back so one can stand up and take pictures (when the bus is stopped, of course) and the drivers are called "Gear Jammers". One can understand the terminology after seeing them drive up and down the mountains. Thanks to the Ford Motor Company, in 2002 they completely overhauled each of the 33 buses so they are much improved. Now back to today's adventure.

We pick up our remaining passengers at two more stops before our trek up the mountain. Only the driver's portion of the roof is opened at this point. It is a good thing as we are all cold. But not to worry, the driver offers blankets to help keep us warm. As we start around Lake MacDonald, the driver stops and with the help of a male passenger, the roof is rolled back. Now it really is cold! Not to worry! As we start to climb the mountains on "GO TO THE SUN ROAD" and we come into clearings, the sun is out and it begins to warm us. Off with the blankets! The road is narrow and very winding, but the scenery is beyond words. Wild flowers are blooming, some snow on some mountains, waterfalls, place where an avalanche happened over the winter can be seen, and believe it or not, ROAD WORK! I cannot look down at times as we are right on the edge of the road with a very little low stone wall as a guard rail. At the top of Logan Pass, we stop at an interpretive center for about twenty minutes. It is beautiful here.

Lake St. Mary's

We continue our journey down the east side of Logan's pass to St. Mary's where we enjoy lunch in the Two Dogs Restaurant. Climbing back aboard the Red Bus, we are now ready for our return trip back across Logan's Pass. This gives us a different view of the mountains. At the Wailing Wall our driver steers a little to the right almost under the water falling from the rocks. It sure was cooling, even though some of us got slightly wet. Coming off the summit a mountain several mountain goats come into view. Our driver accommodates us by finding a place to pull over so we can get pictures. My battery has just died on my camera. Joan emailed me a picture of the goat, but I haven't found out how to get it from my email to my picture file. I will tonight though. There are so many things to see here in the park I just can't describe them all, from the rapids in some creeks, the numerous waterfalls,etc., etc. One must plan to put this on their "Bucket List"! Our tour lasted about 7.5 hours. Well worth the money and I would recommend it to everyone. As Greyhound Bus Line would say: "Leave the driving to us". This way Amye, Joan and I got to see everything without worries.

Glacier in Glacier N.P.

I wish I could post all the pictures we took. It was a rewarding day! After dinner our Chef Joan cooked, we planned our travel for tomorrow. We decided several days ago to not do the 400+ miles between here and Yellowstone National Park in one day. We are going to split it up. SO tomorrow to Deer Lodge, MT. hoping to meet up with the Caldwells who are heading to Glacier in their Rialta. Old Faithful, here we come!

Note: We found out after making our reservations on the Red Bus, that Glacier has a free shuttle service that runs through the Park. One can get off and on at many stops. I don't know what information about the Park the drivers give but I do know that on the east side time waits for the bus may be half hour between buses. It runs more frequently on the west side. Cheap way to see the Park and it is FREE!