Glacier National Park 2014: Wifi a Challenge - Day 6

Day 6 – Sunday, July 6, 2014

Sorry for the delay in posting due to limited wifi access and phone access in the St. Mary area. Sunday was another leisurely morning as if we were on vacation! I just love it!

We had Luna’s huckleberry pie for breakfast and took out the boiled eggs to go with it only to find that EVERYTHING in the fridge had frozen: the carrots, blueberries, broccoli, eggs, everything. So all of the frozen foods traveled with us to our next stop…Many Glacier.

We decided not to postpone the inevitable and took off to the laundry in the village since there were shops next door to entertain us while we waited. We bought gifts and gas at the Sears Motel, run by a Florida summer runaway from Ft. Myers. Our age, but she escapes the heat every summer for Glacier. On one of our few trips to the car with souvenirs and clothes, we noticed an SUV with dogs barking inside and became worried since we knew how quickly the car heats up. Melodie went into Brownies to get help and returned with a nice young man to help only to have the owner come out of the restaurant next door to see what we were doing. Her car was so quiet that we didn’t realize it was still running with the AC going for the dogs. She wasn’t upset but said she would have done the same if she had found animals left in a hot car. We went back into Brownie’s Deli & Store and ordered our lunch (since everything else was frozen). Our clothes in the dryer, we had lunch and dealt with an obnoxious man who grilled us with questions until I told him he asked too many. He wanted to know our every move on the trip, where we were from, and we waited for the big question…do you have any money to spare. He never asked but keeping my mouth full of food, I ignored him and his continued questioning. Clothes in the trunk with the jeans spread out in the trunk and the back seat to dry to keep from feeding the dryer with quarters, we headed out. Hwy 2 to Mt. 89 to St. Mary, Mt.

We no sooner got on Montana 89 than we saw a horse loose on the side of the road. The pinto is INSIDE the paddock and other on the roadside. Melodie called They didn’t seem concerned but did say they would send someone out. Later on our trek we saw free range cattle and more free roaming horses. We didn’t call at that point since it seemed to be the norm.

911 to report him “chatting with another horse across the fence” between mile markers 116 & 117.

Stopped at the Grocery in St. Mary JUST for creamer and ended up with chips, wine, AND BEAR SPRAY! $50 for the bear spray but we won’t shy from a hike now and hopefully we can find someone to buy it from us for half price before we leave. It shoots out up to 30’ and isn’t intended to spray into the bear’s face but to lay down a mist he runs through and is debilitated with burning eyes while we hightail it out of there. At least in theory, that’s the way it’s supposed to work.

View from Many Glacier Lodge

Glacier Daisy

We drove up to Many Glacier to find our cabin at Rising Sun. Guess what? Rising Sun is off the Going-to-the-Sun (GTTSR) road at St. Mary 10 miles behind us! Oh well, we shopped in the gift shop, had a potty break, stopped at every turnout on the way back and got some pictures for this blog. After going through the ranger station in St. Mary, we stopped at the Visitor’s Center and got some more information on activities and hikes in the area. GTTSR just opened Logan Pass last July 2^nd, eleven days later than usual due to the high build up of snow on the road. The late opening was big news around here but nothing compared to 45 minutes after it opened, an 800-pound boulder fell onto the road and it was closed again for a few hours until the boulder was cleared. I forgot to say that when we checked into our room in East Glacier Park, we had to pay at the trading post down the street and they told us that the room was open with the key on the table waiting for us. Obviously not a crime-ridden locale.

Checking in to Rising Sun, we peppered the girl at the counter with questions that she graciously answered: Can we change our reservation to another site? Can we get a fan for our room? Do we have a coffeemaker? Do you have a guidebook? Where can we get ice? Where do we meet the Jammer bus? Where’s the boat dock for tomorrow’s boat ride and hike? Poor girl! Hopefully she doesn’t have to deal with anyone else the likes of us! Dinner at the Two Dogs’ Grill was Trout for Melodie and Turkey Meatloaf for me. We completely forgot about sharing but tomorrow we’ll get back on our cheap side.

Logan Pass is a great wildlife viewing area so we plan one night to drive up after dinner and plant ourselves at an overlook until dark, around 10p. But not tonight!