RE: East Glacier, Montana

Last night was not a good night. The RV was a rockin'. (And we weren't participating in this.)
W I N D. Big time.

Anyway, I guess we will pack up, take it easy and try to go as far as Cardston, AB. It's only about 30 km to the border and probably another 30 km to Cardston.
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Lee Creek Campground in Cardston
Site #22 - $27.40, p/w/s, Internet leecr12543, Temp 9C

Quiet evening doing internet. Morning groceries at Extra Foods and on road by 10:15 am.

East Glacier, Montana

Johnsons of St Mary Campground
Site #44 - $39, p/w, Internet at office, Temp 11C & dropping, windy!*

Yesterday we drove to Hungry Horse Dam (another damn Dam) and along the reservoir. It was actually a beautiful drive. In some ways, prettier than the partially closed "Road to the Sun" drive. Lots of hiking trails, campgrounds and boat launches.

The reflections in the perfectly still water were awesome. I'm sure it is a very busy place during the summer. Re the name... The severe winter of 1900 left two freight horses starving and lost in the wilderness. They were found a month later and nursed back to health by their owners. "Hungry Horse" became the name of the mountain, the creek and then later the Reclamation or the Dam/Reservoir Project.

Back at home? An enjoyable evening around the fire. It was something to be able to sit out in shirt sleeves until 9:30 pm. That hasn't happened very often this trip! 

This morning we drove to St. Mary's on the East side of the Glacier. We ended up on a road that we had no business being on. Highway 49 - A steep winding climb up the side of the mountain. With a length restriction of 21 feet. Yeah. We have a 18 foot truck pulling a 27 foot RV plus bike rack with 2 bikes. Do the math. The conversation in the truck was a little testy to say the least. 

So the East side of Glacier National Park is very different than the west side. There is so much burned-out area coming in to the park. Then there is an abrupt transition from prairie to mountain.

Our campground at St. Mary's is pretty crappy. Unlevel wide open parking spots on a hill. Not even a picnic table or fire pit. Cost $39. Quite a change from our beautiful forested $27. spot that we had the last two nights.

The forecast here for tomorrow isn't looking good. Only 6C plus rain and snow. We decided we'd better drive the East route today. Chances are we will cross the border to Cardston tomorrow.

West Glacier, Montana

Glacier Campground
Site #F43 - $29, p/w, Internet office, Temp 14C

Mosquitoes. Who would have thought. I figured it would be too cold here for them. Hardy buggers. Also, they are hungry.

Anyway, we have an awesome site at Glacier Campground just outside the park. Very private, in the bush AND we even have power and water. Plus a fire pit and plenty of wood which was left in a site next door. It has been chopped and is drying as we speak. Oh, and we have wifi. At the office. We have to drive down the hill for that.  At least the sun is shining and the temperature is decent.

MONDAY: We did the Park drive as far as auto traffic is allowed yesterday (to Avalanche). I believe bike and walk-in traffic can go a further 11 miles. All the public parking lots were full. Also, one of the campgrounds that is not yet open for camping was jam packed with vehicles. 

People were out hiking. It was a pretty drive along MacDonald Lake and the River, but also a bit disappointing as we expected to see more. Obviously the big attraction, the sheer cliffs, rock railings, larger glaciers and the better view is up closer to Logan's Pass. I was looking at pictures posted on the internet and there is still lots of snow up there. This picture was taken by one of the park workers up near the pass on May 29:

Back home we started a wood fire, but as luck would have it, it started to rain. Out with the canopy and the propane fire pit. It is nice to have that option. We were able to sit out and cook dinner. Last night -- Movie Night in the RV.

Today looks promising with the sun shining once again. We will do some more touring of the area before heading to East Glacier tomorrow.

Kalispell, Montana

Spruce Park Campground
Site # H9 - $31.50, p/w/s, TV, poor Internet, Temp 15C

Kalispell is where it's at. I'm not sure what's happening this weekend, but this campground is full of BC license plates. And kids. Hmmm... Ball? Soccer? A tournament of some sort. The sad part? It rained all last night and most of today. That makes for a lot of wet tents and some pretty soggy kids. As I type (4:30 pm) the sun is just now starting to peek out. I do believe the rain has stopped. The temp remains at 12C, however, so it is not very warm.

We have toured the town, spent a bit of money and after lunch today we drove to Flathead Lake for a look about. Some nice property around there. Also some unique and cool little shops and galleries in Bigfork on the lake.

We would really like to take the "Going to the Sun" road across Glacier National Park and through Logan's Pass. We are told it is one of the most picturesque drives in North America. However, as it was last spring when we were in the area, this road is still closed from winter. We can however drive the 25km from the West Entrance up to Avalanche and that is what we will do tomorrow.

We will make the 1/2 hr drive from Kalispell and set up camp in Glacier Campground at the west entrance. We will then likely circle south to the east entrance and drive the 20 km that is open from that side. Logan's Pass will wait for another visit.

Here's hoping this sun will keep shining for the next few days!

in Libby, Montana

Woodland RV
Site #13 - $35, p/w/s, TV, Internet, Temp 14C

Libby is located along the Kootenai River in Northwest Montana. The town has more than 40 Eagle sculptures of various sizes displayed at various locations around the town. So awesome! These iron and steel sculptures range from a 6 ft. wing span to several over 25 ft. wing tip span. The local art teacher started making these sculptures with his students. The town purchased them and began displaying them. It didn't hurt that the mayor at the time was the teacher's brother. Shortly thereafter, Libby became "The City of Eagles."

Yesterday we drove to the Kootenai Falls. I was only able to walk in a short distance, but Ron hiked down to the falls and then back across the swinging bridge over the river gorge. The Kootenai Indians had sweat lodges and encampments up and down this river valley where light clay was found for their pipes. Also, this beautiful river and falls were the setting for the 1994 movie "The River Wild" with Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon. Cool!

Today we drove to the Libby Dam which holds back the 90 miles of Lake Koocanusa. (Forty-two miles of this lake is located in Canada.) The Libby Dam is architecturally one of the strongest and most massive dams built today. It is 422 feet tall and 3,055 feet long and was built to withstand an earthquake of up to 6.5 on the Richter scale with no structural damage. There are forty-seven sections, each one designed to stand on its own. If one section were to fail, the other 46 would remain standing. 

We also drove the scenic 100 km up one side of the lake to Rexford, where we stopped at a busy little local cafe for lunch [surprise, Gail]. We then circled back down the other side of the lake. It was a big climb and we were very impressed when we passed a couple bikers both coming and going in the opposite direction to us. Wow.. they were obviously in very fine shape!!



Above is the Libby Fishing rod.

Tonight? A Black Russian at our propane fire pit. Until it started to rain. Tomorrow we move on to the Kalispell area.

Idaho...

Sam Owen National Forest Campground

Site #20 - n/s $18. 

We are in Idaho. We are *ahem* beyond Hope... hehe...., in a National Forest campground. Once again, no hook-ups. I am lucky, however. There is an adjacent campground that happens to have 'open' internet which I can pick up from a picnic table on the beach.

We were going to camp at that campground, but at $45. we decided this $18. spot next door was a better choice.  Also, we are in the trees, unlike that other campground.

Lake Pend Oreille is HUGE! The US Navy did (still do?) submarine training in this lake. We have camped at Farragut State Park at the south end before, but this is our first time at the north end. We had planned to stay at Sandpoint but the two campgrounds we saw were too close to the train tracks.

Ron always manages to gather up a "bike full" of firewood and we enjoyed a campfire last night. It rained during the night but the sun is shining now (12C). I am reluctant to complain about the cooler weather when hear about the weather back home.

Today we will check out the nearby towns and pick up a few groceries. Our next destination? Somewhere, Montana.

Kettle Falls, Washington

Grandview Hotel & RV Park

Site #23 - $35, p/w/s, TV, Internet, Temp 20C

Finally, an easy crossing in to the US. The border officer took a quick look in the fridge and we were free to go. To Kettle Falls, Washington which is 45 miles south of the border and Christina Lake, BC.

We had planned to spend one night. Until we were reminded that this is the Memorial Day weekend in the US and the roads and campgrounds will all be busy. So we paid for a couple more nights. Also, the campground owner has taken a liking to Ron and has offered us a free night. We will probably take advantage and stay until Monday.

Meyers Falls at Kettle Falls, WA

Kettle Falls is near Lake Roosevelt which was formed when the Grand Coulee Dam was built. The original town and the 'kettles' of the Kettle Falls are now under this lake. We have toured and driven along a large portion of the area and yesterday we took a short ferry ride across the south end of the lake. It is a very picturesque area! There are plenty of lumber mills and logging is the main industry.

one of the oldest continuously operating waterpower developments

And, we chuckled at the town sign.

The grouch is elected each June during the Town and Country Days. One dollar, one vote. Another sign that made us laugh was at the local pub. "We speak Canadian".
Eh???

Right now we are off to pick up another bottle of wine. It was pretty damn good for $4!

near Rock Creek, BC - Kettle River Prov Pk

Kettle River Prov Pk
Site #23 - n/s, Temp 11C & rain

MONDAY: Well, we are done the visiting and now we camp! It would be better if it wasn't raining though.

We enjoyed our weekend in Kelowna. Doug and Rina took Friday off and Kari, Gerry and the boys came from Vancouver. Jeff and Owen drove from Vernon for Friday dinner, but unfortunately Christal was sick. Possibly some of that stomach virus that Owen had on the weekend before. Or maybe it was still some of that Morning Sickness. That news has been shared with you all, right?? A December baby! It was great to have an opportunity to see Owen as his normal healthy and cheerful little self.

So there were beers on the deck. A flying patio umbrella (after one beer only... honest!) and we had a good visit with everyone. Gerry sent a short clip of that flying umbrella to Global Okanogan and it was shown on the local weather. It was pretty freaky. A little whirlwind picked it up and twirled it about 200 feet up for a good 5 minutes before it came down.

 On Saturday, Doug, Rina and family headed to Dave's Lillooet property while Kari and family stayed at the house for the weekend. We did a 30 km bike ride along the Mission Creek path. Awesome! The weather was perfect.

Today? Not so lucky with that weather. It is nice to be in the trees and the bush though. No power, no internet. Right now Ron is out exploring in the rain. Hopefully we will have a campfire this evening. We may be enjoying it from under the canopy however.

THURSDAY: That stop at Kettle River ended up being 3 nights. It was just so relaxing and peaceful. Kind of nice to be 'off the grid' for a few days. Did anyone miss us??

We spent quite a bit of time riding along the KVR bike path and we burned lots of wood in the campfire. We drank a little too much and listened to an audiobook in the evenings. Good times. The RV battery held up well for us even with the furnace cutting in a couple times during the night. Last night it got down to 2C, so it's still a bit cool.

Today we will cross the border and we plan to camp near Kettle Falls, Washington. No tomatoes, no peppers and NO firewood. I'm hoping for an easy crossing???