Day 5

Mimi and Alan’s Montana Saga- Day 5  Glacier National Park

Alan writes:

Mimi and I woke up early today thanks to a little help from a hotel guest that walks on four legs and communicates with a bark.  We had a nice breakfast at our hotel and some of the best bacon I’ve ever eaten before heading out to sightsee. Our plan was to check out and head to Glacier National Park- we just started a little earlier than planned.  From Kalispell you head east on Hwy 2 through Columbia Falls and in about 45 minutes you come to the west entrance to the park.  As a little side note, we got the year pass so we can use it through September 30, 2013 at any National Park. Once in the park the story may best be told by the pictures- both what we saw and what we did not.  Alas, no bears (Grizzly or black), no Moose, no Elk, no Wolves, Wolverines or Mountain Lions. We did see Prairie dogs, Mountain goats and a cute little posing Marmot.  The scenery is stunning, as you would expect in a national park.  It is almost like eating a world-renowned huge buffet.  You want to sample everything and save room for dessert but just can’t.  About 45 minutes into almost any park in this country and you are overwhelmed, full, powers of description overused.  Anyway, enjoy the picture show.  Mimi has the hard job of sorting through aver 250 pictures to find 6 or 8 that represent Glacier!

Mimi says:

Amen to that brutha! I did take a lot of pictures because EVERYTHING was sooooo beautiful. And yes, it’s gonna be tough choosing just a few to represent the day. I was sorely disappointed that I had not seen any bears at the end of the day. Every day when we begin our journey I say, “today’s the day we’re going to see a bear!” Maybe I’m jinxing us. I won’t say it tomorrow.

                                              Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park

                                               Notice the heart shaped rock in the center.

Still laughing in the 2nd shot ~ the first time I set the timer and ran over to get in the picture I almost jumped up and fell off the back of the rock.

 

 We were at this spot for 30 minutes due to road maintenance and met some folks from FL and Canada   while we waited. We were up so high that we actually felt dizzy!

                                       
 Maintenance vehicles on this narrow mountain road.

                                                    Can you spot the 3 mountain goats? Mother and baby together with dad lounging on the edge.

                                                             Marmot

                                                Opera on the prairie. Magnificent! Bravo!

                                                                  St. Mary Lake

                                                           

                                            An apple and chocolate milk for lunch. Yum!

                                                                            Osprey

                                                                  No bears :o/  "Rough break"

Day 4

Mimi and Alan’s Montana Saga- Day 4

Alan writes:

Today was less eventful than others in terms of what we saw, not getting lost, not falling and not driving on any gravel roads.  We left Helena around 12:30 PM and headed west on Hwy 12, traveling through numerous small towns before hitting Hwy 90 west.  We left 90 at a small state road, number 271.  It was only 24 miles long but it was the prettiest of the day for two reasons.  The first was the scarcity of any other traffic and the second was the number of old bunkhouses, ranch houses and cattle we saw in a valley between two diverging arms of a local range.  We turned onto Hwy 141 and then 83 towards Kalispell.  We looked for bear, moose, elk but only saw one deer.  Today was not an especially beautiful example of Montana travel but tomorrow promises better as we head through White Fish toward Glacier National Park.  Mimi may remember things differently.  We’ll see what she has to say!

Mimi says:

Today was a relaxing ride down small roads where we passed numerous mountain lakes … gorgeous lakes … lakes of shining waters (just like in Anne of Green Gables.) We saw more green mountains, grassy mountains and rocky mountains … some in the distance with snow on top!  And lots more cows, bulls and horses, but alas no wildlife (except for one lone deer that Alan spotted.) We arrived in Kalispell with my left over Rigatoni from dinner last night (Mediterranean Grille in downtown Helena) and had an early dinner in our hotel room. We may go for a walk and get the kinks out before we settle in for the night.

Are you Martins lost? ... This way.

 Cathedral of Saint Helena, whose cornerstone was laid in 1908, is modeled after Vienna's Votive Church of the Sacred Heart in Victorian Gothic style. Look at the amazing details! It was closed
today for Labor Day but we hope to come back through to see
the inside.

Hay stack in a rick (instead of bales)

Free range cattle munching on grass outside the fence.

Snow on peaks in the background.

Day 3

 Montana Saga- Day 3 - "Jump Down, turn around, pick a can of bear spray"

Alan writes:

Mimi and I have just returned from about 8 hours road travel and are both just about at the exhaustion level.  Before we end the day though let me share some of the highlights.  Evidently this morning Mimi was more than a little peeved with my attempt at subtle sarcasm at the end of our last blog.  At Wal-Mart where we had gone to purchase bear spray (caution, you do not apply this as a repellant) and an air horn she subtly performed a very seldom used Aikido move.  This move, which is in the fifth set and is only given to brown belts, has a Japanese title that loosely translates into, “Heel hook resulting in catastrophic fall.”  I have only seen it once before and it was demonstrated by a Master.  Suffice it to say that when Mimi executed it perfectly as I reached for the bear spray, the surprise was overwhelming.  I ended up face down on the floor of Wal-Mart hearing the store clerk repeatedly say, “Are you OK sir?  Are you OK sir?”  As I lay there the rest of my life flashed before my eyes.  Every time I say something rude or even subtly approach rude, I’ll find myself on the floor in pain.  I’ve been planning on working on my rudeness and, as they say, there’s no time like the present.

Mimi and I got on the road about 9:30 AM and headed to retrace Michael’s and my route on Hwy 89 but we did it in reverse.  As we passed through the town of Monarch and came up to Sluice Box state park, we decided to adventure a little and take a gravel road that was purported to take us across our loop, almost due west, cutting off miles though at a slightly slower pace.  It is enough to say that the combination of using a map without adequate detail and my lack of familiarity with the area was the “perfect storm” in terms of not ending up where I had planned and a good ride once again turned into an adventure.  For those who have read my blogs before, I have often spoken of writing about the difference between an adventure and a good time.  Next time someone uses the old saw about “ten miles of bad road,” we’ll know precisely what they mean.  Mimi and I are now safely back in Helena trying to figure out which restaurant will provide the most local flavor and atmosphere for our last night here.

Mimi says:

Even though we spent most of the day crawling along a gravel road in the
Lewis and Clark National Forest, we saw some amazing scenery (again!) 
and some more wild life (my favorite!).  I will have to include pictures of 
the deer, turkeys, and ptarmigan. It was a fun day.  
Oh...and the very BEST part was our 1st stop at the beginning of the day to 
pick up supplies at Walmart. We have never laughed so hard as we did when 
we got back in the car and started thinking up what the title of the day's blog 
would be to capture the sight of Alan face down on the floor at Walmart. He 
was heading one direction as I turned to head in another, and he tripped over
my foot and hit the deck! Just really glad we didn't have to spend our day in
the emergency room getting xrays!

Snow fences

Lunch!

Turkeys

Can you find 3 deer in this picture?

Ptarmigan

What the hay?

Day 2

September 1^st- Day 2 of the Montana Saga

Alan writes:

Mimi and I woke up in Billings (which is fitting since that’s where we went to sleep), ate a great breakfast and spent a little time walking around the local farmer’s market.  We saw every kind of vegetable and fruit but the most interesting thing was people who looked vaguely Amish/Mennonite in that all the men wore beards and the women all sported these little polka-dotted headscarves.  I told Mimi that I thought she would look good in one but she didn’t seem too excited.  We walked only a short time because I was eager to hit the trail for Great Falls.  We headed north on Hwy 3/12 passing through numerous small towns (Ryegate, Barber, Shawmut, Oxford, Judith Gap, etc), numerous newly cut wheat fields that looked like sand and a few wildlife (pronghorns, deer, cattle, fighting bulls).  When we came to Great Falls we decided to push on and that was the prettiest part of the day.  We sort of slipped over the top of Great Falls and hit Hwy 89/200.  We began to see the arroyos and canyons and buttes I love so much.  The end of the ride was a little marred for me by the fact that we were some miles from Helena, our ultimate destination, and we were very low on gas.  If you have been in this state you already know that there are not stations on every corner; in fact, there are not even many corners.  All ended well as we limped into a station just a few miles from Helena.  Mimi had pulled out the owner’s manual for our little rental Corolla and assured me that we had actually had many more safe miles of travel even though the gauge said “Empty,” and that I had worried for nothing.  This has helped me with my future resolve not to worry when I encounter similar circumstances.

Mimi says:

This “Big Sky” countryside is just as beautiful as Mike & Alan have described.  We drove today from about 10:45 a.m. til 6:30 p.m. without even stopping for a lunch break and we were totally mesmerized by the changing scenery…from beautiful sand colored fields to streams and green mountains that even changed textures and colors depending on their location. Very interesting! We’ve decided to hold up at the Hampton Inn in Helena for 2 nights to take a few day trips on some of the scenic roads/passes in the area.

Day 1

A word from Alan:

Yesterday was a long day.  I realized the last time I was trying to keep up with a blog that I had to get the day’s events recorded quickly or they began to merge with previous and subsequent ones until I was left scratching my head wondering what happened over multiple days.  Mimi and I got out of bed at  5:45 yesterday (8/31/12) to get Clancy, Holly, Hattie and Penny to the clinic and go meet Mel with Michael and Megan at Stax for breakfast.  From there we headed back to Simpsonville to meet with David Winchester, the representative for Crescent Properties, to sign a contract and deliver earnest money for some acreage we are buying in Mt Carmel.  This is the culmination of five years of searching, walking, examining, bidding and losing.  For this deal to go through seems truly momentous- we’ll see.  After this Mimi and I left for Atlanta to begin our trip to Montana.  There was something special contemplating this trip with her.  I ended my and Michael’s blog from our motorcycle trip last time with an un-posted summary and in it I said that Michael was a great friend as well as a son, though, I said, the two are not exclusive.  The same can be said for me and Mimi.  After thirty-one years of marriage, raising kids, running a business and just general life, it just seems fitting to take a trip to retrace some motorcycle paths from ’09 with my best friend.  I’m not bragging on us but it does seem that this is the way it should be if marriage is done right.  From Atlanta we flew to Minneapolis for a three hour layover before flying on to Billings. Our little plane had engine trouble and the three hours turned into about four and a half and our arrival in Billings was about 1:30 a.m. local time or 3:30 a.m. home time.  Twenty-two hours in one day was enough and we crashed at the Crowne Plaza in downtown Billings.  Tomorrow we’ll rise and trace a route on the map to bring us into Great Falls from further east than Michael and I rode.  We should see prairie shading into coulees and draws, the reverse of what we experienced on bikes.  Looking out our windows in Billings the landscape is already beautiful. 

Montana, here we come!