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| Panoramic view looking east from Logan Pass in Glacier National Park (Photo credit: A. Bennett) |
We are home after a fabulous two-week family vacation to Montana and Glacier National Park
Weather: While in Montana we experienced all kinds of weather. Our first day in Glacier NP was cold, raining, and windy. We attempted an outdoor picnic but had to abandon our plans after several bites of our sandwiches -- aside from the stubborn manly men -- as the women and children all crammed into our pickup to laugh and eat inside the cab. The next day it was beautiful and warm, followed by an overcast day with a huge afternoon rain storm. I guess when mountains are involved one doesn't know what to expect. Now that we are home we are experiencing delightful summer weather with temperatures in the high 70s. Nothing like the scorcher/boiling temperatures the rest of the country is experiencing.
Highlights from our trip:
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| Welcome to Glacier National Park. Don and Carly at one of many entrances to the park. |
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| Rita and her family at the St. Mary entrance to Glacier NP. |
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Don and our grandsons on our first hike inside Glacier NP along McDonald Creek.
It was a cold and rainy day. |
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| The weather was glorious for our ride on the Glacier Red Bus the next day on 'Going to the Sun Road' toward Logan Pass. |
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| The view of St. Mary Lake (East Glacier) right before a huge rain storm. |
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| We saw lots of wildlife. This great shot was taken of a ground squirrel with grass in his mouth on Logan Pass. This is one of my favorite photos of the week. (Photo credit: R. Adams) |
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| A Mountain Goat mama with her kid peeking out from behind. We caught her resting on the rocks while other goats romped around at Goat Lick Overlook. (Photo credit: D. Bennett) |
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| Carly and I hung out with these guys (a group of about seven bachelor Bighorn Sheep) while the rest of the family hiked to an overlook beyond the visitor center at Logan Pass. In addition to goats and sheep. we saw deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, a moose, a marmot, and a few chipmunks over the course of the week. We were bear adjacent a few times but never actually sighted any of them. (Photo credit: D. Bennett) |
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| Don and Jamie on the aforementioned hike. (Photo credit: R. Adams) |
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| Dan (Son-in-law) and Ian. The only members of the family to make it to the end of the Logan Pass Outlook trail. Spectacular view! (Photo credit: D. Adams) |
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| An Osprey nest in an old snag at Hungry Horse Reservoir. We saw lots of osprey on the trip, even a pair fishing on Swan Lake and a single bird soaring over Holland Lake. We also saw several bald eagles and a large gang of wild turkeys. We heard many other birds on our Merlin Bird App but didn't see them: Red-eyed Vireo, Swainson's Thrush, Yellow Warbler, Western Tanager, and a Townsend's Warbler. When we were at the top of Logan Pass it said we heard a Spotted Sandpiper, which is a water bird, so we are sure that was a misidentification by the App. 😏 |
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| Glacier was experiencing a super bloom of bear grass while we were there. So pretty. |
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| Don and I with Running Eagle Falls (aka Trick Falls) in the background in the Two Medicine area of the park. |
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| Grandsons throwing rocks in Lake McDonald. (Photo credit: R. Adams) |
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| A glorious evening in a beautiful setting on Logan Pass. We had a low-key but joyous celebration of our 43rd anniversary spending time with the people we love most. (Photo credit: D. Bennett) |
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| The "cabin" where we lived together for the week near Essex, MT halfway between West and East Glacier along the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. |
After leaving Glacier the family split up and went our separate ways for the second week:
- Carly flew home from Kalispell to go back to work.
- Rita and her family headed south to more adventures at two additional National Parks: Yellowstone and Grand Teton in Wyoming.
- Don and I drove a few miles south to vacation alone at Bigfork on Flathead Lake, where we spent two delightful evenings. Sunday night we ate salmon burgers while drinking Mile High Mules and listening to live music in the park. The duo, Bad Larrys, was very good and we enjoyed the scene and experience very much. The next night we had tickets to a musical, "All Shook Up", at the Bigfork Summer Playhouse after a dinner of amazing brisket tacos at Oro y Plata. We stayed in a beautiful condo overlooking Bigfork Harbor which was great for reading on the sunny deck. The following day we drove down the Swan River valley to join friends for a few days in Seeley Lake. Don and Matt took a beautiful hike to a waterfall above Holland Lake while I visited with his wife, Eileen, and his mother, Loretta, sitting in camp chairs down at the lake. Later that evening we were treated to join the family for a delicious meal at Loretta's home.
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| Longtime friends and JAG colleagues, Don and Matt at the falls. |
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| A beautiful view of Holland Lake with the Mission Mountains in the background from their vantage point on the trail. (Photo credit: D. Bennett) |
Books and reading on vacation:
- Audiobooks -- Don and I spent 44 hours in his truck together during the trip/from Montana and while we drove around during the weeks there. That gave us a lot of time to listen to books.
- The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison -- Our daughter was with us for the first leg of our trip. She and I agreed on this book which was so popular a few years ago and was listed on the NYT Best books of the 21st Century. It is Sci-fi/Fantasy/Dystopia, a really complicated story not told in chronological order. I think we all agreed it wasn't the best choice for a long car ride, too many details to keep track of. I haven't written a review yet, but hope to have it up in side the next week. 15 hours and 27 min.
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller -- The classic anti-war satire published after WWII but before Vietnam. Often funny or silly. Very little about battles, but a lot of insanity about fighting wars in general. Don and I listened to this one without Carly, since she was flying home and we still had a lot of car time left. 19 hours and 58 min.
- A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean. I had not read this famous novella before but kept thinking of it as we drove around Montana's many beautiful rivers and lakes. I am so glad we were able to squeeze this in at the end of trip. 3 hours and 45 min.
- Print books --
- Tess of the D'Urberville by Thomas Hardy -- My CC Spin book for summer. I started it during the trip, attempting to read on a schedule of 12-pages a day but I got off schedule due to busy days and tired nights. 32% complete.
- Raising Hare: a Memoir by Chloe Dalton -- This was a perfect choice to read about nature and conservation while I was out in nature! Complete.
- Water, Water: Poems by Billy Collins -- I love this poet and I love this collection. Complete.
- A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson -- A Christian devotional and study book. I am working through it a chapter at a time. 51% complete.
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| Grandma Anne (me) reading Someone Builds the Dream by Lisa Wheeler before bed time. It is a new favorite children's book for everyone. |
- E-Book -- I had to start an e-book that I checked out remotely from my library after I finished the two physical books I brought along, Raising Hare and Water, Water.
- The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley -- Thought I'd try to knock off a few challenges with this book --- 1. Paris in July Challenge and 2. A Goodreads summer challenge. 27% complete.
- Blogging the past two to three weeks. I prepared a few reviews and blogging memes before I left and scheduled their publication:
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| (Montana farm, Canola flowers. Photo credit: A. Bennett) |
-Anne
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