Travel Recap #4: Beauty in the North and Glacier, pt. 1

 

“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” 

~ Psalms 16:11 ~

Once our solar was up and running again, we hit the highway and found a perfect waterfront spot near a boat ramp on Lake Pend Orielle in Idaho. And when I say waterfront, I really mean it was right there: just a few steps from our front door, with an unobstructed picturesque view out our dining room window with no one else in sight (the beauty of being able to travel on a Tuesday). We stayed 3 nights and wished only that we had had an inflatable boat or double kayak or something to take out on the beautifully clear water. 

A venture out one day to the town of Sandpoint led us to a sweet surprise: a super-fun and fully enclosed Cedar Street Bridge and Public Market with a free children’s play area/museum for the kids! They really enjoyed it, and we grabbed a few pieces of terribly overpriced goodies from the candy store on the way out. 

Being on a coveted lake spot and nearing the weekend, we decided to leave on that Friday, dumped our tanks and refilled our freshwater (for free) at the nearby County Fairgrounds, and continued east into Montana. We passed several forest areas that were still smoldering from the fires that had burned through, and although it appeared that the dispersed campground we planned to stay at might be closed due to the fire danger, it was plenty full of other campers. We got a nice big spot overlooking the Clark Fork River, and were able to watch a few trains go by on the opposite bank a couple times a day. 

As with the spot we had just come from in Idaho, we were again completely without cell/internet service the entire time we were there, which was a tremendous blessing and also a peculiar problem. It forced us to spend all of our time together, meeting neighbors, exploring the campgrounds and riverbank, cooking meals and homeschooling. But it really was weird not to be able to pick up the phone and see what was going on in the world, check up on social media, call family or get some work done (good thing it was the weekend, at least!). So, one of the days we drove to the nearest town to be able to catch up on work while the kids played at a playground. We had unfortunately just missed the fair that was in Plains that weekend, which would have been fun. But we quite enjoyed venturing by the river and even found some fresh, wild mint growing among the rocks. I really wanted a mojito after that :P

We had some more business to attend to, so we spent the next two nights at Cracker Barrel in Missoula. Justin had a certification exam to take, and I needed to do laundry and groceries (the fun stuff). We went for a family bike ride on the nearby trails and came across some big huckleberry bushes (yum), and enjoyed a meal at the restaurant that evening to show our gratitude for them providing us a free spot to park! We found the kids a fun playground in town the following day, finished up running errands, found yet another place to dump and fill for free (thank you Bretz RV & Marine!) and took off north the following morning. 

It was a beautiful drive by Flathead Lake with a mountain range, forest land and a rainbow to boot. We could have gone on either side of the lake, but decided to take the slightly faster route on the east side up to Columbia Falls rather than drive on the west side through Kalispell. We parked in a wide open field surrounded by trees about a 30 minute drive outside of the west entrance to Glacier National Park. There were several other RVs there and the kids were happy to discover a 4-year old girl named Lily next door, with whom they made Monster Soup all afternoon (a kid thing - you can imagine what was in it). I learned that we were in the last weekend of the year of needing advance reservations to drive on the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier, which could only be obtained online the day before at 8am, so it was a bit of a bummer to know that we’d have to wait another day before entering the park. It actually worked out for the best, though (of course- thank you Lord!), because we came across some new friends for the kids to hang out with the following day.

Although Lily and her family had to head out, we were fortunate to find out that we were in the same spot as several members of the group Fulltime Families, waiting for their next meetup at an RV park down the street. Needless to say, with several other kids around, we didn’t hardly see our kids for the rest of the day. Haha. I spent a few hours that afternoon trying to set up a blog on a site that just wasn’t working, and was frustrated to the point of tears at wasting the day and not wanting to make dinner when, just at that moment, a sweet lady named Jan came over and invited us to their potluck dinner with the other families. Did I mention God is good?! We enjoyed great company and conversation with everyone there, and the kids had the best time playing with their new friends, ranging from toddler up to preteen-age. Their games lasted long after bedtime, and it was so worth it. :)

Our first drive into Glacier led us on a very rough and bumpy dirt road (they were in the midst of repaving all along Lake McDonald, which made the drive a whole lot longer), to a neat hike called Trail of the Cedars with boardwalks, “weeping walls,” and awesome trees. Justin continued on alone to Avalanche Lake while we finished the loop, worked on junior ranger books and had a snack in the truck. The kids enjoyed more time with friends that evening as we planned to do the entire Going to the Sun Road the next day.