Going-to-the-Sun Road

It finally happened today, we hit the wall and everyone became cranky! I think Tate has been a trooper but 7 days in the car and it finally happened..........I think we are on the verge of calling this adventure to an end.

The first thing I found out as we pulled into Glacier National Park is that Mike had misinformed me, it wasn't Road to the Sun, it was Going-to-the-Sun Road. Whatever the name, it was probably the most stunning scenery anywhere I have ever seen. We pulled into the park and there had been fires close by so there was a lot of smoke in the valleys. I can't even tell you how beautiful it must be when it is clear. The cliffs were not only breath taking, they were just on the verge of being frightening as you are driving right on the edge of the bluff looking down. There is a river in the bottom of the canyon and the trees in the canyon are huge. There is a weeping wall with water just running out of the rocks and waterfalls and glaciers everywhere. Breathtaking!!!! There is no way to describe it, just know that we will go back again! We had lunch on the side of a bluff and Tate played in the spray of a waterfall. We continued our quest and did see 2 big horn sheep while we were traveling.

On the other side of the park, you go out and then back in and we went to a more remote area with a lake and an old lodge. It too was beautiful and ha such an awesome view. The old woodwork in it was rustic and larger than life it seemed. We continued for a while in search of some alleged bears in the area, but never spotted them. Just Grizzly signs and warnings not to get out of your car.

The trek then took us to the Canadian border which we had intended to cross, but the border patrol we spoke with was such a Peach, we decided we might just cross and then never get back. We even asked how long it normally took and he informed us that it could be "Who knows how long, if everything is in order" or we may be days if it wasn't, again "who knows" so we turned around. We decided we had been far enough and it was time to start back.

Our quest back began with needing to find gasoline. Well, we ended up finding a station right in the center of the Blackfeet Reservation and couldn't get the pump to work. We had just come from incredible beauty just miles back to incredible poverty. It makes my heart sick to see such poverty and know that in some way your ancestry had something to do with it. With no gas, we traveled on seeing a few towns within driving range only to find from the farm boys on the side of the road by the bar, with their dog chasing cars in the middle of what was supposed to be a highway that there wasn't any gas for at least 36 more miles (any direction). So once again, we pressed on hoping and praying that we would make it somewhere, anywhere with gas and finally we pulled in on fumes (coasting downhills with the AC off to save fuel) and filled up with less than 1 gallon to spare. We have once before when we were first married ran out of gas on a Reservation and I feared it would be a repeat. The only difference is we were younger then and hiking out wasn't nearly as bad as it sounds now at our age. By this time, we started looking for a room and once again, the Inn was full. There were so many fires in the area and all the rooms were full of firefighters. So once again we pressed on, full tank of gas and on our way to Great Falls. Then the darnedest thing happened, our highway became gravel! There was road construction and a gravel road for 2o some miles. By this time, it is nearly dark, there are no people on this road and even more rarely a house! By the time we made it to a town, it was so late and we were so pooped that we were beyond excited to find an overpriced place to sleep. Tate made a mad dash for the pool and had a swim and visited with a girl from California out visiting family. We were so glad to settle in for the night. Everyone slept very well.