Summer Time Fun

Summer Time Fun: August and a Montana Road Trip!

This summer was the year that we finally made time to go to Glacier National Park, Montana. For me, this is the camping of my childhood. I have had wonderful trips to various campgrounds, lakes, rivers, remote logging hamlets, and so many other places since my first summer. While the way I arrived, what we camped in, the family units and duration have changed many times over the years, the trips have always been filled with happy memories.

Some of my favourite memories of Glacier include: camping in our family Tent Trailer, said tent trailer coming loose, dragging chains and bouncing on the beds! Riding on the back of a bike to the West Glacier Cafe and Laundromat with the black garbage bag of clothes on my lap and eating at the counter. Walking across fallen trees as bridges over more creeks than I can count, and the years AuntieL used her gymnastics’ skills to nearly drive G-Ma to an early grave! The clear cold water of lakes, the tree that grows inside the store, the fancy hotels on Lake McDonald and the famous Eddie's Cafe.

All of these vivid and gloriously happy memories have always made me want to share these places with my kids. Now, don't get me wrong, there were things I dreaded in Glacier, namely the Trail of the Cedars and the Petrified Forest. In all fairness, it turns out that I am wildly allergic to cedars, thus explaining why they smell like rotten meat to me not that wonderful smell everyone else seems to enjoy. That being said, it was important to me to try and balance out showing my kids my favourite things while ensuring that it was not going to become their personal Trail of the Cedars! So with that in mind, we tried out some great new things and I grew to love Glacier even more as I saw the enjoyment my family was having!

Day One: Leaving for Montana. With the little J's safely buckled up in their booster and car seats and an all important assortment of movies we headed for the boarder via Pincher Creek. After a quick crossing at the Carway/Piegan border, we were on our way to St Mary's lake.

For me, this is always the beginning of my excitement! There is always a stop at the shops by the lake, some gawking in the grocery store at all the things still not available on our side of the boarder and marvelling at the beauty of the perpetually windy lake. This is a lake that is most beautiful with the waves cresting with little white caps, the trees bent ever to slightly in defiance to the seemingly ever present wind in the glorious sunshine. There are not many places that I associate their beauty with a howling wind other than St Mary's Lake.



In an unprecedented turn of events, there was no wind on our journey around St Mary's Lake. I have never seen the lake so calm. Luckily it was still magically beautiful. During our pit stop, the kids enjoyed looking at all of the different treats, super sized versions of things and a chance to get a snack.

After a quick stop in St Mary's Lake, then the real fun begins as you start the journey of the Going to the Sun Road!

One of the most amazing highlights of Glacier National Park is a drive on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. This engineering marvel spans 50 miles through the park's wild interior, winding around mountainsides and treating visitors to some of the best sights in northwest Montana

The Going-to-the Sun Road takes you through some of the most spectacular scenery in the park. Because portions of the road hug the mountainside, there are a few tight curves, but thousands of vehicles have safely made the journey from one side of the park to the other. Heading east toward Logan Pass and St. Mary from the West Entrance, passengers on the passenger side of the vehicle will be able to look over the edge of the road in a few spots. Follow the speed limit, drive carefully, and enjoy the majesty this road has to offer. http://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/goingtothesunroad.htm

With that in mind, we were off! The weather was ideal, the sun was out, the sky blue, and we were able to see for miles along the Logan's Pass. We had the opportunity to get out of the car and view the road more closely at a construction delay. We all enjoyed the oddly sickeningly fun game of peering over the edge of the road, watching the weeping walls, and all of the waterfalls.

When we arrived in Montana, we headed right to our campground. This was to be one of the new 4J’s Family Adventures, and now a wonderful part of all of our memories!
The KOA was real eye opener for both DaddyJ and me. I had originally picked the KOA for its wireless access which seemed like a great way to ensure DaddyJ's happiness on a four day tenting road trip. Then as our trip approached, it looked like there might be two nights of rain! After the insane rain of our July Peter Lougheed trip, I was not inclined to be in a tent in the rain a half day from home. So at the last minute we changed our tenting site for a Kozy Kabin.

I must admit, the KOA seemed like we were wimping out in the first place. I mean, camping with fancy showers, an ice cream shop, swimming pool...... A mini log cabin (only beds, no bathroom or cooking facility) seemed over the top!

Were we in for a surprise! The cabin was lovely, the kids enjoyed the bunk beds and I loved the roof every second it rained the one evening! Now, it did rain hard enough that the mud took two days to dry out

While DaddyJ and I enjoyed trying out the local Huckleberry Beer (okay, huckleberry everything and anything!), sitting around our fire pit and chatting with the other very interesting travelers from all over the USA, the kids found their own fun. CubJ and BabyJ took to the park across the little road from our cabin, the ice cream parlour open in the evenings, and the swimming pool! It was an ideal way to enjoy a bit of fun for everyone while checking out MommyJ's must see childhood memory sites.

CubJ even enjoyed helping his sister swim in the rather cold pool!

After a kozy nights sleep in our kabin, where the kids enjoyed the bunk beds, we were off to have breakfast at the Huckleberry Patch. http://www.huckleberrypatch.com/ Home of the best huckleberry pancakes and preserves since I was a child. It was exciting to see that the kids enjoyed the large Hungry Horse heads along the way and pancakes as much as I did as a child. The restaurant was a great hit with the kids, so much so we made it back for another round before going home.

We all enjoyed our time in the Apgar Village. We visited the rangers’ house, examined the 3D topographical map carefully, watched some videos on the park and picked up a kids Junior Ranger workbook to help us learn more about Glacier National Park. We threw rocks in Lake McDonald, explored the old cabins, toured the store with the tree growing in the middle of it (still) and went for lunch at the family tradition of Eddie’s Cafe! http://www.eddiescafegifts.com/index.html

We explored some of the camping sites, shopped in Kalispell, and drove through Whitefish. All in all it was a great exploring trip for everyone. We all look forward to going back again!

Day 4, our last day: We had a final breakfast at Eddie's, tossed some rocks in Lake McDonald and toured the Apgar campground which seemed very much changed from my childhood. Our return drive on the Going to the Sun road offered a very different perspective with is fog, rain and an eerie mist. When we cleared the continental divide and reached St Mary's lake the sun was out and it was incredibly windy.

Our Montana trip wound up with an educational pit stop at the St Mary's visitor's center. The kids really enjoyed learning about how the Going to the Sun road was constructed, how it is being repaired and why it is a monument. After that we headed for the Chief Mountain border crossing. This allowed us to stop in spectacularly beautiful Waterton Park. It is one of those locations that is so beautiful that we could not help but wonder why we do not get down there more often.

We enjoyed watching the wildlife, crazy bike-rickshaw riders, visiting the lake on a very windy day, and a tasty lunch at Trapper's Grill.

It was an ideal trip, everyone enjoyed seeing the sights, I enjoyed visiting the camping areas of my childhood, and we all tried out the Kozy Kabins to our great delight! I feel a road trip on the horizon in 2010 with Kozy Kabins along the way! What a wonderful summer......

July Summer Time fun included a camping trip to Peter Lougheed Provincial Park.

This was a new destination for the Little J's and Mommy to check out. Our camping site was a short walk through a clearing to the lovely Lower Kaninaskis Lake. The first day and night was beautiful. We walked along the lake, played in the creek, followed the nature path, visited the visitors’ center and enjoyed a fire. The second night we were in one of the biggest rain and thunder storms I have been in outside of the tropics! When we awoke to continued rain the next morning, we packed up and headed home.

Our trip started out with a stop at our very favourite mountain restaurant, the Grizzly Paw! http://www.thegrizzlypaw.com/