From Yellowstone, we headed up to Glacier National Park. For some reason, I didn't realize how far it really was. I thought maybe 5 hours at the most, but it ended up being an 8 hour drive! Beautiful scenery along the way, but still very far in an RV! We stayed in an RV park just outside Glacier that was very posh. The bathrooms had nicer fixtures than ours at home! It was late when we arrived, so we didn't have a chance to see much, but the next morning we headed off to Glacier. The main road through the park, Going to the Sun Road, doesn't allow RVs or vehicles over 21 feet, so you have to park and use their shuttle system. We arrived at the end of the RV accessible road to find absolutely no parking. Brad decided he would stay behind with the RV and keep looking for a spot while the rest of us got on the shuttle bus.
The kids at Lake McDonald, where we boarded the bus. We could have taken a boat tour, but since we only had one day in the park, decided to stick to the road.
I'm glad we took the bus! The road was very curvy with steep cliff drop-offs. Driving would have taken all my focus and I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the gorgeous scenery, like this waterfall, one of many we saw.
Amazing that these snow arches were still standing!
We got off the bus at the Logan Pass visitor's center, where we thought we'd be able to find some lunch. Unfortunately there was no food service, but the surroundings were so beautiful we didn't mind. We started off on a hike to Hidden Lake.
Right at the beginning of the hike, a mountain goat crossed our path. Thankfully, he wasn't very interested in us.
After walking about 1/2 a mile, Jillian decided she couldn't make it any further. The elevation was really getting to her (6600 ft.) and she felt like she couldn't breathe, so she and I turned around and Kylie, Nate and Ben continued on.
While we waited, Jillian and I watched several of these little critters scamper around looking for goodies people had dropped.
Kylie and Nate took several great pictures on their hike, which made me happy since I wasn't able to see it myself.
They also saw more mountain goats!
Isn't this gorgeous! I think Glacier is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. This is a view of Hidden Lake.
Another view a little closer.
It's so perfect, it almost looks fake!
More mountain goats! Have you broken out in song yet? This place made me want to sing and dance through the beautiful, sunny meadows! "The hills are alive with the sound of music...."
Back on the shuttle bus, we continued east in search of lunch.
More amazing scenery...
We finally found a restaurant at the eastern end of Going to the Sun Road. I thought there would be a "snack shack" type option, but it was an actual sit-down restaurant at Rising Sun Resort. We had "linner" (lunch & dinner combined). I ordered a buffalo burger, which was quite good, but Ben was appalled that I would actually eat buffalo meat. I asked if he wanted a bite before he knew what it was and afterwards, he was not happy with me for making him eat "his favorite animal."
After some good food, we were ready for a nap! We thought the shuttle bus ran every half hour to take us back, but it was actually every hour, so we had quite a long wait.
At least the scenery was beautiful!
Heading back, so much to see! I really wanted to go on another hike since mine was cut short earlier, but we ran out of time. We wouldn't have had enough time to catch the last shuttle back.
Here's an example of the curvy roads and cliffs. This wasn't even the worst of it, but it was hard to take a good picture from the bus.
After we found Brad again, we stopped at a campground on Lake McDonald to enjoy the sun.
And Ben went for a swim! Just like with Yellowstone, I wished we had more time to spend at Glacier. There is so much beauty and one could spend weeks exploring!
Here are a few shots of the RV...
Brad's and my bed...
The kids' sleeping area...they rotated sleeping spots, one of the floor each night. They're not as small as they used to be!
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