This is not the first picture of the trip but I didn't want the first picture to be the thumbnail for reasons which may become clear momentarily. Anyway, this is our first stop, at the Omaha Zoo, where we gazed on this exceptional sledding hill near the parking lot, under Harambe's benevolent gaze.
This was the actual first picture of the trip, where I got up at 5am and found the basement flooding because our first floor bathroom had a sink overflowing...someone had left the faucet slightly running and the drain had backed up. Autosiphon had to be deployed, but this one is broken so I need to replace it. Anyway, we got it at least temporarily cleaned up, and hit the road.
Back three hours into the future, we are at the zoo and are learning that anywhere from excessive sweating to a lack of sweating may mean heat exhaustion. In fact, no possible level of sweating, from maximum to non-existant, does not spell heat exhaustion! Beware!
We got there at opening and it was pleasantly not overly crowded.
Seals and sea lions...
Then into the big primate area.
Shaved and unshaved chimps, in contemplative repose.
Paint me like one of your French gorillas
Gorilla in sumo pose. Going to start stomping from one foot to the other and eating gobs of rice pudding to maintain his figure, undoubtedly.
The kids in the desert dome.
Man, I must have blackballed a lot of pics in the desert dome (there are many such pics on this blog already) because we are already at the underground section. Peter staring into the cave waters. DONT FOLLOW THE LIGHTS
Aardvark I think!
Many (odiforous) bats on display.
In one of the few attempts to save money we shared a single order of fries as a snack which was less food that we expected, but still better than buying the meals there which were very expensive. We actually went and got Burger King cheeseburgers, which at 2.50 are not exactly loss leaders, but way less expensive than the ones there.
Then our ritual visit to the Sergeant Floyd obelisk, of course, near Sioux City.
View of the river.
This is when we convinced the young lad that he could discreetly relieve himself in the field behind a rock wall with no one there to observe him (no portapotties there). Of course this didn't stop me from taking a picture thereby to embarrass him.
And the zoomed in shot when he realized he was betrayed was worth it hahaha.
Into Sioux Falls...USS South Dakota memorial.
View of the quasi forward deck.
Some remaining components on the virtual "aft" deck.
The bell.
I believe, as I've probably mentioned on every post I've been up to South Dakota, that this flag was taken from the Nagato.
Silver Star and Purple Heart.
Some kind of weird lego-like model of the ship.
Back in the stern area. Some Bofors barrels.
Bow area, and then we headed to the hotel.
We stayed at the Ramkota, which has a modest indoor water park, that we had come to when the kids were little.
Lots of the stuff was for smaller kids, and good god it was loud and unpleasant in general, but the kids had fun trying the lily pads for the first time since they were a lot smaller.
We then went outside and just enjoyed the courtyard around the outdoor pool, albeit away from the main crowd.
Was kind of idyllic.
We got the kids and got a pizza at the hotel bar/grill, and then got to bed.
Next morning was a bit rough, as I had a rough session of insomnia at first, combined with (once I finally managed to fall slightly asleep) sleep paralysis through the early hours of the morning. But there's nothing I look forward to more after a night of limited sleep than to have the opportunity to HYDRATE at the JUICE BAR with THICKLY BRIMMING CUPS of FARM FRESH YOGURT pumped out of a machine
Missouri River as we moved west through South Dakota.
The political demise of Graham Platner was a fun news item at the time. And I will never not find the final tagline of "Up the Hearts", particularly with a British accent, not to be funny. Reminds me of a Fry and Laurie comedy sketch where they had a pseudo arts critic program entitled "Up the Arts".
Firehenge is nice, but no Boathenge.
Minuteman Missile Museum. We never sussed out why the flag was at half mast.
The purpose of having two missile keys is...so that no one man..."what doctor"...may launch the missiles!!!
Nice console TV.
Will never not love this artwork.
A brisk passage through Badlands.
We only did about half of the loop.
Cornholio and his mother preparing a picnic lunch.
Views from the picnic area...
We supped on PBJs. And I assume young master CH needed TP for his BH.
Then into the wild weirdness of Wall.
A quick stop at Wall Drug of course.
This was a section honestly we'd never been in. The whole place has expanded into basically a large multibuilding shopping mall.
Kids still loved the random splash park.
They did not fight me on this, rather were enthusiastic to do so!
Thanks to both of you, kids.
He has conquered his fear! It didn't go off at least when we were around.
The first of many ice creams. We kind of spoiled them along those lines.
Coffee chocolate chip I think.
Into the arcade.
I'm not sure the answer to solve Debra's left-eye/right-handed problem but that stance is something.
Pete got a few quarters to spend.
And he did well!
Too much money but dang they would look good on the wall.
Then to our cabin in the Black Hills...Keystone area.
Dinner at the Powder House restaurant...buffalo meatloaf for me, although I didn't get the mashed potatoes to reenact the Devil's Tower scene (we weren't going back, anyway).
On the way back, kids spotted a ground squirrel of some kind.
View of our cabin. Fun place, where we have stayed before.
Then a quick swim. The pool was unnecessarily heated (it was very warm).
Sun going down.
Watching the little bastards plot from across the way.
Debra got ambitious.
Was a little touch and go for a bit!
But she managed it!
Pete came out and I told a long story about how the ground squirrels were planning to attack and murder the nice old man who was getting out of this car. I didn't actually see the murder but surely, he couldn't have survived. Bloodthirsty marmotty things.
Next morning, we saw some turkeys outside.
Some turkey chicks or whatever you call youth turkeys.
We got breakfast at the restaurant. I saw this poster and was inspired...such a great tribute both to the great presidents of the country, and the great tribal leaders.
Naturally I thought, how could I improve this? By using AI, and I think everyone will admit, this is just 100 times better!
Then we drove off to the first surprise of the trip, for Gretchen...REPTILE GARDENS
It's basically a reptile zoo. Nice gardens, as you might expect from the name, too.
The prairie dogs were an early attraction.
Pete in the bubble amongst them.
They tend to be built like Walmart patrons, which is to be expected, as life here is a little easier and devoid of the same sorts of predator filled challenges.
First stop was the snake show. Gretchen maneuvered away from us to get a better view.
Do I remember what this snake was? No. Am I OK with that? Yes. Ask my daughter if you really want to know.
The really pissed off cobra, which I liked. He did not enjoy the process though.
Some variety of rattlesnake.
Then, pet the constrictor time.
I'm not sure reptiles love to be petted but these tortoises are going to get petted a lot. Sorry guys, if that isn't what you are into.
Alligator...
The interior of the central dome was gloriously air-conditioned.
Maybe one of those Jesus lizards. Sorry Gretchen, this blog is probably going to stay this way forever and I'm probably wrong, and I know that will bug you.
Snake just hanging out overhead (occasionally had a staff minder near it though)
"My siestas are getting 'chorter and 'chorter!"
Alligator snapping turtle?
On to the gator show.
No, he really is going to drag one of them around by the tail.
They don't mind that do they?
Some video of the fun...
The kids getting to pet a mini gator.
They had birds as well.
King vulture.
Owls...
One of the larger ones on site.
I loved how they decorated this one's pen with old Havana style decorations.
He looks contented doesn't he?
Blue poison dart frogs. Yes yes, I know they aren't psychoactive because they aren't eating the same diet here.
You can't blame a man for trying!
They don't taste great, I'll tell you that.
Pac Man frog.
Some adders I think, next to a big amethyst geode.
God I was in love with this spot. AC just flowed out gloriously. Park me here and leave me.
Honestly, may be the same lizard as before.
Mister GLP-1 himself, the Gila Monster.
Russian armoured division in full glorious retreat!
Hi fellas.
Perentie I think.
Maybe Komodo dragon?
I'm pretty sure we were into "dangerous snakes".
Taipan.
King cobra with hood down. Hard to tell by the picture, but a shockingly enormous snake.
Always loved the iguanas.
We got a funnel cake, then went back to the cabin to escape the heat. Lunch on leftovers, a nap, and a pool visit, and then drove into Keystone to pick up dinner.
Only got it at the tail end but we enjoyed a nice pizza from there that was the cheapest way to feed the family by far, without resorting to our cache of canned soups.
Next morning, leftovers for breakfast and we headed into Wyoming. A gas station stop warranted a picture because Loaf 'n Jug is such a wonderful name.
Then we got to the American Museum of Military Vehicles, a place we'd stopped at last time. This time we didn't pay for Debra and Gretchen's entrance fee and let them chill in the canteen with internet and snacks. Pete and I did a speed run of the exhibit. Starting with some rare early 20thC rifles, including a BAR.
WWI machine guns, with a German antitank rifle in the upper right.
American WWII small arms, pretty much all of them...M1903, Johnson M1941, M1 Garand, M1 carbine, grease gun, Thompson, and M2 and M1919 machine guns. MG34 and MG42 on the right, and that looks like a Soviet PPD.
Going to stop naming them but notable is the Stg44, the first assault rifle. Also a P.08 Luger and the similar Japanese Nambu under the Arisaka and Japanese machine guns.
Antitank weapons, including the mighty 20mm Finnish Lahti.
Amphibious vehicles...
Japanese tanks. (Stuart on the left...Stuarts are everywhere we have too many of them...I want one in my garage)
M3 Grant and a Priest.
The FlugAbwehrKanone 88mm, normally an anti-air flak gun, but better known as a fearfully potent antitank gun.
A variety of American half-tracks with various armaments.
Many many Shermans on display.
The humble ARVs!
This might be an M3 Lee. The main 75mm cannon looks longer that I'd expect it to be but maybe I'm wrong.
Gun motor carriages or tank destroyers. Highly mobile, well armed, but not quite as strongly armoured as your standard tanks...these were utilized in tactically different ways.
MP40 and an unfortunate Loser Flag.
Hetzer jagdpanzer and German half-track.
Panzer III.
Sherman and an amtrack.
Stuart in flame tank form, known as the M3 Satan.
Matildas, one of them a flame tank.
The Kuebelwagen and Kettenkrad.
Mockup, not real, of a Schwerer Gustav shell.
Japanese weaponry in various formats. I guess the background also gave that away.
Both of these are nonoriginal mockups of German experimental jet and rocket powered interceptors.
Into the Cold War era, the T-34/85.
Couple of anti-air platforms, four M2s or two Bofors.
M26 Pershing medium tank.
Huey fitted out in gunship mode with rockets, minigun, and M60 gunners.
Hawk SAM system.
Fiercely beweaponed truck that would do convoy escort duty.
M551 Sheridan.
Exploring what traps Charlie has laid for us in the jungle.
Firebase mockup with a Paladin SPG.
Duster anti-air.
I would still have that furniture.
Big ol' M60 MBT.
The wild and weird Ontos, a recoilless rifle platform.
M41 Walker Bulldog, a "light" tank but it could have probably cleaned up on the early WWII battlefield.
Brown water navy boats.
Vietnam is not a conflict I would like to have been involved in, I'll say that. The idea of sitting on one of these boats in the sweltering heat while guerillas take pot shots at you from the shore, not ideal.
Having a glance at the controls inside the FT Renault.
I explained how it was the first to show the pattern of a tank we are all familiar with...basic hull with driver, engines and tracks, and fully rotating turret on top with armament.
Mortars and a weird piggyback mortar with an M2 on for good measure.
I explained to Peter how they could lower the skis for snow or raise them for roads...a tractor intended for snowy environments.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.
A quick jaunt outside to the park which was full of bugs and unrelenting heat!
Panzer IV...
StuG III...
Later model StuG III.
I think this was Japanese artillery (the paint scheme at least implies, but the text looks Chinese, so not sure). Maybe done as a prop for a movie?
Heading to our rendezvous, an M60 again...
CCVL/ M8 Buford prototype. Interestingly I don't think they had one at Fort Benning!
Rifle and bayonet collection in this hall next to the conference rooms and food court...
Bayonet for a Martini-Henry...
And a classic sword bayonet for an Enfield.
Quick snack of fries, kids had ice cream. (and fries)
Back out on the road...
Scenery was getting more fetching as we went...
Chip bags at altitude giving real "these jeans surely have shrunk" vibes.
Into Colter Bay Village. Muley buck just not caring at all whether we were there.
The cabin was nice, we were there for two nights this time. We ate a quick dinner of grapes (away from our dog, Now The Forbidden Fruit Must Be Tasted!) and chili cheese frito burritos.
Later we went down to swim at the beach. We walked, which was longer than anticipated but it was fine. Another muley.
This really was the spot that made me fall in love with cold mountain lakes for swimming, several years ago. Glad to be back.
A nice view here.
Sun had dipped behind the mountain at this point, I think I stayed in nearly an hour.
The surface layer starts to actually feel warm. Shocking at first but you get used to it.
Can't beat the views though.
At one point the people on the right side started encroaching my little bubble of personal space, while on the left were some international tourists who were merrily hurling rocks into the lake in an attempt to skip them, so my options for moving that way were not ideal.
So I sort of skipped around the cluster of giggling Gen Zers who were happily chatting about things that made me think, oh you must be in such crippling debt, I look forward to seeing you on Caleb Hammer's Financial Audit...and I came out on the other side.
Then Debra's sister and her family showed up...a thing that we didn't orchestrate but just happened to line up for a few nights. So we chatted with them, Peter drove back with them to hang out with his cousin, and we walked back. Nice views of the sunset though as we left.
Next day we left the kids to hang out around the village and in the cabin and drove down to Jenny Lake for a quick hike. Saw an elk on the way, which weirdly, were one of the rarer sightings this trip...usually the elk are everywhere.
You get a better view of the Tetons (stop that in the back!) from down here.
And this would be the smaller, but very pretty, Jenny Lake. (sounds like a 90s talk show...I guess there was Jenny Jones and Ricki Lake)
To shorten our hike we were going to buy a one way ticket across via the ferry, like we've done before. But man...the line was huge. We eventually decided just to hike around ourselves.
Around this time I wondered aloud how international tourists might become confused with how we have "bug spray" and "bear spray", both designed to ward off bugs, or bears, respectively. The formulation of the words follows the same pattern, but the method of use is fairly demonstrably different and I feel this could result in some slightly funny but terrible for them to endure misunderstandings.
I only regret I had not packed the correct stuff to be able to jump into this lake, too. It was hot.
Indian Paintbrush.
Thimbleberries, not ripe though.
That clear water was calling to me. Tie me to the mast, I'd say, if I wanted to invoke the zeitgeist of the summer.
Hidden Falls...
Debra powering up with Mike and Ikes.
Pretty substantial rock fall.
Then back on the other side again.
We had to park pretty far out. There is no "too early" when it comes to getting parking at Jenny Lake, apparently.
Then another muley once back at Colter Bay.
I spent the afternoon doing laundry, getting gas, getting tons of ice, etc., while folks napped. Also doing the important work of making a movie poster with AI that tells the story of the NEALPAGESSY...the epic quest of Neal Page to return home in time for Thanksgiving. The text along the bottom is supposed to say "You're messing with the wrong guy!" in ancient Greek. Probably doesn't, though, LOL.
We were planning to return to the lake to swim in the evening, but the weather took a dramatic turn!
It rained pretty hard so we nixed that idea.
We went to get food from the grocery store, and of course, ice cream for the kids. Boy there was a lot of ice cream on this trip.
Later as a treat to ourselves for saving the money for the shuttle fare by just walking around the lake, Debra and I got a drink and a snack at the restaurant. They gave us bread even though we protested we weren't ordering a full meal. Chips and artichoke dip (something Debra very rarely gets) with a Manhattan for me and a huckleberry margarita for milady. She -loves- it when I call her milady!
Next morning, we (Debra and I...our teenagers had much more freedom this trip to opt out of activities) went down and got fancy espresso drinks, another splurge for this trip. Debra some kind of candy-sweet latte, myself a flat white. I talked about maybe living on board a little sailboat like this. Did not sell it well.
Picture frame for taking...pictures, I guess. Freedom 250 branded, and they didn't have a cutout of the President in the frame with you, an unrelenting insistence of his presence ever with us? What a missed opportunity!
Drank our coffee down at the marina.
A bit further up as we were walking back.
Picked up Peter as we walked back. I was in the car downloading things from the very localized internet. But I thought this looked like a very sweet exchange between Pete and Debra so I snapped some pics.
Meanwhile I had been using my time, and internet access, for Good, by making a meme to express who I thought should win in a contest between the UK and Argentina in the World Cup that day. AI wouldn't let me show the General Belgrano actually foundering but still, pretty good.
Taking notes for a potential 20+ mile loop that could be done with Jenny Lake Lodge as a base camp, for the future. If I can hike 33 miles on the flat in a day, in about 10 hours, this should be doable too.
Back to swim!
It's not like I actually SWIM swim. I just get in the cold water and kind of bob back and forth.
I would say, cold plunges might do the same thing, but most cold plunges don't have THAT in the background.
Some more deer on our way out and up through Yellowstone.
First stop, the hike to the overlook of Grand Prismatic Spring. This is not the Grand Prismatic Spring, it is a lesser spring that is on the way, but not nearly so revered.
Firehole river maybe?
And our briefish view from the top.
Back into the car and drove on to the Lake Yellowstone hotel.
We had a humble cabin in the cabin village. Felt more like a poor Californian suburb, we were somewhat squashed in with everyone with a lot of concrete, but it was fine, and relatively cheap compared to the hotel.
The lake was beautiful, but there was a bit of a cliff so we couldn't figure out how to get safely down...
Eventually we did find a path, if you walked the road well west of the hotel.
I waded in and it was as expected, glorious. Made plans to return to swim in earnest.
Then we went over to the Lake Lodge (different from the hotel) which was told to me by staff as the only place that has reasonably sometimes-working internet.
It's a pretty place like a lot of these old lodges. The kids did all there internet things.
As MacArthur vowed he would return, so I did likewise.
They say you shouldn't swim in this! But it is wonderful, they are liars or spoilsports and you should not heed anything THEY say. In fact, let's round them up and put them in camps! Who is they again?
Debra made sure I didn't spend too much time in, she was worried about hypothermia. It wasn't that bad.
We then went back to the Lake Lodge, where we had left the kids, and had dinner with her sister's family. Later over a cider on the porch, I took the opportunity to take this picture to frame the many empties left by an uncaring previous occupant of the porch with her, with the implication that she was a half-dozen beverages in. She hadn't realized what I was doing at this point so she hadn't moved to thwack me yet.
Next morning took a walk to get more fancy coffees.
Lake was looking very fetching, but I fought off its charms and did not hurl myself in.
Got a small shared breakfast at the canteen at the Lake Lodge, and recharged our internet needs briefly, before heading out in a northerly direction.
On our way up, quite a cluster as a couple buffalo were crossing the river near the road.
Buffalo were having a moment thanks to that guy who got tossed way in the air (but survived, thankfully).
Then one of the points at the canyon.
You can thank me now for not bothering to try to write something for each photo. I'm going to do less of that as I'm starting to get the carpal tunnel, Pop ("Derek you've been writing this blog for one day, talk to me in thirty years!"). Very friendly squirrel though.
Then briefly out of the park into what was a proper surprise last time, more of an expected but we're not sure thing this time, the Wolf and Bear something something Center. Basically, a wolf and bear mini zoo of sorts.
Just absolutely bonkers corvid behavior which I suppose is normal for them. Gretchen thought it was trying to mimic a turkey.
The wolves always remind me of my husky, Yuri.
They hide food throughout the pen and then let the grizzlies out two at a time.
More uinta squirrels.
He looks contented.
As does he (or she).
This place is the closest I've ever gotten to seeing a grizzly in the wild. Yet! (foreshadowing!)
Being good sports about duplicating traditional photos.
The fact that they named this painting "Heavyweight Champ" made me want to slightly alter it to become more topical.
Thanks AI! (and sorry, random guy who ended up flying through the air...the memes are fun, your experience surely was not)
McDonalds for lunch across the street.
I've never had a picture of My Favorite President on a parks pass before! This is a novel new sensation! Why didn't they think of this before! Think of the poor, deprived masses who looked at blankly boring national park passes in 2012 or 2022 and thought, well gee, this is dreadfully dull, this visiting of national parks, I sure wish I could be reminded of the head of the executive branch of the federal government when I am on vacation to brighten things up. A failure of imagination!
Parked well out of the way at Mammoth Hot Springs.
We got...surprise!...more ice cream.
Short hike up past the tiki guy. Well, what I call the tiki guy.
I can't tell you how much I like this painting. I've told it to you before! If you've read my blog before anyway. It must be effective though because it is so expressive I think I'm not the only one who pays attention to it. Just has Wagnerian epic all over it. Isolde's Liebestod over there on the left? Or maybe something like Mahler's Trinklied von Jammer der Erde, which opens his Lied von der Erde.
Pretty. But it was hot.
The girls quickly collapsed into you guys go ahead, we don't care. I mean aside from Gretchen paying scrupulous attention to the local killdeer.
Peter and I had a job to do though, reenact the famous picture of him pointing with disapproval at one of the many nails in the boardwalk with the nail heads bent over and not driven in properly.
This accomplished, we too admitted it was too bloody hot and made our way down to rendezvous with the girls. On the way we bumped into Debra's sister and fam again which was fun (Debra and Gretchen had gone too far ahead to meet them).
Then out of the park and into Gardiner, Montana. Our usual location at the Antler Lodge. Pete convinced me to do foosball in the game room (he won) and ping pong (we weren't keeping score, but unofficially, I would have pretty surely won).
Noted rain came through while we were in there. Good, maybe it will cool things off a bit.
All American! I think this one was dated from 1993, so the question topics should be a little less befuddling in pop culture content, to Olds like me. I've definitely reached the Curtains for Zoosha line these days.
When we first came here I had a bit of buck fever as an aspiring, and maybe at that point, unsuccessful hunter. That was obviously a bit of the draw.
Will you people stop using AI for this kind of thing, it sticks out horribly.
Nice place to wait for a table at the grill. The moose definitely occupies space in the room.
Once seated, noted rainbows outside.
I got an elk meatloaf sandwich. Was definitely good! I tend to be pro-meatloaf with lean game meat. It gives the cook a lot more freedom to tweak texture and flavor. It's one of my favorite dishes with my own ground venison (but I smoke mine).
Later a partial game of the really-old Trivial Pursuit. I think Debra won, as she usually does. I usually have great streaks of answering lots of questions right in a row, only to fall short when I'm actually landed on the right square.
Pretty view to the south in the evening.
Next morning, having found out breakfast was no longer free, we breakfasted instead on our own packets of instant oatmeal. Debra is channeling the "things my German mother says" girl on Reels/Youtube/probably IG/tiktok with the black turtleneck.
The Business Center is the vestigial tail of hotels.
I was going to make a joke about Feminine Products (vs the correct Feminine Hygiene Products) by photoshopping me threatening to flush something down but I couldn't think of a product I could humorously (enough) call girly. That's kind of the rule, you can do problematic things in a joke (eg in this case, shame someone for liking something "girly" in a very dated 1990s way) but the humor has to be enough to warrant it, and it was not. But nonetheless...you shouldn't just say "feminine products". I mean, heck, the blood itself is literally a feminine prOKAY STOP THAT NOW MOVING ON
Not much happened worth noting in the intervening time, other than us just driving a massive amount of time across Montana. Lunch in Missoula, then up into west Glacier. Lake McDonald Lodge:
I love that some payphones still exist out there, even if defunct.
The lodge is very nice, beautiful woodwork and a ton of taxidermy if that is your thing.
A new discovery this time, a little stream to the west of the lodge.
Then...of course...into Lake McDonald.
Glorious.
Debra was content to just wade and sit at the edge.
I can't tell if this was later or what, but the water was stilled a lot.
Very clear water, nice small rocks. Watching the swallows in flight was a particular favorite of mine, they were like incredibly maneuverable fighters in dogfights with moths and other insects. I saw a moth taking off from the surface, and new to lock eyes on it, because within a few seconds as it reached maybe 10 feet up, a deftly diving swallow snatched it right out the air at full speed.
Ominous little hut.
We may be going to collect Gretchen here who went on her own to the stream again.
Then dinner...first a salad.
Then a pizza...again, usually the most cost efficient thing we can order from some of the restaurants, for four people.
Ground squirrels were duly fascinating to the kids like in times past.
Debra and I got a drink and sat at the lodge back patio in the evening. Nice view into the valley.
This chap decided to walk right up to the lodge, along the beach.
He got kind of hemmed in by people who were mostly oblivious to his obvious state of being uncomfortable and without an egress path...I backed way up. But eventually he got out of the crush of well-meaning tourists arrayed around him.
An ant with a prize from somebody's salad.
Another view inside the place:
I have to make the Pink Panther joke! Although this far into it maybe I can just reference it. [Pink Panther bell - man joke goes here]
It was more hot and humid than you would expect up there. The bathroom, the fixtures which had cold water running through, were sweating because of the humidity.
Back at the stream.
Then walking back along the beach towards our cabin.
After this, there was a brief little panic moment where we literally couldn't find Peter, we had come up from the beach, and Gretchen said he went to the beach, but we hadn't seen him there...we traced his phone and found it in the cabin itself, which made us...well, not panic, but get more nervous, so we split up to search for him and I found him pretty quickly...he was indeed at the beach, we just missed him. All's well that ends well.
Last morning at this cabin...
Naturally time for a swim.
Three of us did!
This was our cabin. It actually has two or three units all adjoining.
Then onto the Going to the Sun road, to cross the park.
Quick stop here...looking at the snow caves in the snowfield there.
Nice view of the valley.
I like how the bathrooms are built into the earth back there.
Another snowfield on the lower side of the road (I guess that would be makai in Hawaiian, but no kai anywhere around here!).
Many waterfalls in the area.
Quick stop in Logan Pass, we actually got a parking spot, which I didn't fully expect.
Feel the wrath on display here!
Truly the King of the Castle.
How did this one get so...amply proportioned, I wonder? Sigh, tourists.
A quick impromptu hike to/towards I think Hidden Lake.
This deer kept intersecting the path and was not at all afraid of humans...for good or ill.
Our deer friend again.
Coming back down once I realized it was a bit further than we wanted to spend in time.
And saw some big horn sheep on the way out of the parking lot!
Waterfalls by the side of the road. We were of course listening to our traditional Ring Ohne Worte (Wagner's Ring condensed with no singing).
We got to our destination on the east side, Many Glacier, and promptly found out that due to new rules and the glut of day hikers, there was nowhere to park, at the hotel we had booked. This was non-ideal and after burning enough gas circling the parking lot with too many other people with the same objective, we went down the road a mile to the Swiftcurrent Inn where there was some parking still, to wait for the day hiker traffic to let up.
Eventually we opted to go back and in my frustration I adapted this classic song, but adapted for day hikers, that I sang to my family as we circled the parking lot:
Debra however was smarter than me, and used her cunning to exit the car, latch on to a couple over-served Wisconsonites (is there such a thing? they can hold their liquor) who were wandering to their car, and by the force of her personality they were more than happy to sort of stand near their car til I came around again and they flagged me down, so we got their spot. Our thanks expressed, they departed and we unloaded.
Waiting for check-in.
Peter had texted about wanting to play the piano and as soon as I heard the music as we walked in the lobby, I knew it was him. I permitted myself a playful John McLaughlin "WRONG!" when I observed a mistake, but better than I can do. Probably summoned a bunch of millenial Zelda nerds.
Grinnell Point is so pretty from this vantage point.
The Boy and I got ready to walk around a bit after check-in.
On the north side, a good place for swimming. We swam here a bit.
Then the traditional walk up to the top of the hill we always do.
The girls were exempted from this, Pete and I tend to be the more given to these little traditions.
The way back down. Good way to dry off in the wind up there, too.
[Pink Panther Bell - Man Joke Reference No. 2]
I think later in the evening...swallows out in force.
Love the architecture of the place.
We gave the kids some money to buy dinner at Heidi's, a quick stop place with food they would like, and we had dinner at the Swiss Lounge.
Then later out on the deck.
Watching the birds fight the (very strong) winds.
Later going to check on my son, who was doing his traditional practice of making a blunt weapon from the stones and wood along the shore and hiding it for future generations (see previous blog entries).
Toiling away, unaware of my presence (I announced myself but still startled him).
Glorious views this time of night.
A great view up the valley with Swiftcurrent Mountain still alight deep back there.
Not as good of a weapon as created before, but it'll work.
I made my own out of a piece of wood that shaped itself somewhat axe-like and we stowed both of them in a cleft in the rocks, for future generations in need.
And another look at that glorious landscape in the setting sun.
Next morning we went down to the coffeeshop to get our latte / flat white / cappuccino or whatever it was, and I noted the huckleberry tax...look at the price of this otherwise identical mead. Both the same strength so in all likelihood any juice addition was minimal (more huckleberry juice would have led to lower original gravity). But you add a pinch of huckleberry juice or extract for flavoring and you almost double the price of your product! HUCKLEBERRIES ARE A SCAM they taste like bland blueberries we know its true but we pretend otherwise
I'm still mad about the previous post. We bought huckleberry soda that tasted like artificially flavored grape soda which is so far off, there ought to have been a criminal inquiry. But in the words of Nigel Tufnel, I'm a professional, I'll rise above it. Debra and I enjoyed our coffees, although as I am documenting, someone needed a few packets of sugar. That's OK though, if you aren't used to unsweetened coffee. While I might have meant it jestingly at the time as a bit of shaming, I'm happy to sweeten her coffee now.
Sheep in a glass case.
Luxuriating in the views again, for the last time in a while, probably.
On the way to load the car with our luggage.
We relocated to the Swiftcurrent Inn, where Debra was going to do laundry while the three of us went on a ranger led hike to Red Rock Falls.
First stop was at Fishercap Lake, with hope to see (the frequently visiting) moose. We saw a mule deer doe, at least.
It is a pretty and shallow lake, perfect for moose who want to eat aquatic plants
We are not sure but would be unsurprised if this ranger was the same ranger who led us on the same hike in 2023.
The kids, Gretchen in particular, were ravenous for berries (and what else?) (just berries). The ranger identified these as serviceberries. Edible, not exceptional, but that didn't stop G.
At a certain point I had to chide her to leave some for the bears / other hikers / etc. You'd think we don't feed them! But the lure of wild berries is something I can't quite rationalize.
This I think was one of the more properly ripe serviceberries.
Then...the HUCKLEBERRIES
A ripe specimen close up.
This one was just hanging up there, just out of easy reach, but ripe and very alluring. The funny thing about this picture is that even though I don't have a picture, I turned around later as we moved off to see Gretchen walking off trail, to capture and eat this berry.
Red Rock Lake.
We had absented ourselves from the main group because they were moving really slowly, and I was worried about getting back later than expected, which would send my dear currently-laundry-cleaning partner into the throes of anxiety. So we moved on ahead, and got to the upper pools of the Red Rock Falls.
Then moved back lower to the falls area.
On the way back, more berries.
Then at Fishercap lake again, an actual moose sighting.
Back at the trailhead we collected our laundry and our......"laundrist"? with much thanks, and headed up to the border. The Mountie at the border was a little annoyed when he asked why we hadn't signed our passports (honestly we didn't know we needed to...they were just given to us, and we used them previously to get into Canada with no issue). Well, Canadians are likely to be annoyed with us, so, understandable. We got through and moved towards Waterton Lakes. The Prince of Wales hotel in the distance.
Big horn sheep blocking the way in.
Checked in to the hotel and walking about in the little Waterton Village town.
We intended to do Wieners of Waterton for lunch but the line was pretty darn long.
Deer in the village were pretty common.
As an alternative to Wieners of Waterton, we went straight to Beavertails. With a box of poutine to start with.
Then a dessert style Beavertail, of course.
Back to the hotel, with its classically Canadian SEURRY! No Vacancy! sign.
It's a lovely spot, even with the cinderblock walls, but especially with the wood panelling.
Then me and Pete went to swim in Waterton Lake.
No pictures of me in it, but it was glorious, as expected.
Then after warming up we went back to Wieners of Waterton to have dinner.
I insisted on a side of poutine, because, it's Canada!
Love this photo with the kids...
Walking about the waterfront...
Gretchen implored to get the key to go back, solo, to the room, to which we assented. This left Peter open to our generosity to buy him dessert on his own with another dessert after dinner, from, you guessed it, Beavertails. He worked his way through it. And we played Trivial Pursuit late into the night, eventually annoying Gretchen who was ready for bed, but Debra finally won our long running game.
Next morning, we were going to make a run for the border. Baby deer walking about the town.
On our way out, just a flabbergasting sight of a wild grizzly right off the road. Debra and Gretchen shouted BEAR at about the same time, and I pulled over shortly thereafter.
Pictures aren't great, but honestly, I was just outside the car and this is maybe the closest I'm allowed to get to a grizzly without me having armour or a weapon.
Beautiful backdrop zoomed out.
He (or she) was just happy to eat whatever was over there. A jogger ran by us and said "hey I think that's a grizzly" without any concern at all. Hey, we're sorry, we're Americans, this is a big deal.
At this point we ran for the border, because we had a hunger only tacos could stop. (See J Lo's great songs along these lines.) And eventually after escaping back into the land of the free, we got to a Taco Bell to satisfy that need.
This was somewhere in Montana that was...non-optimal, at this point. But very colorful!
We stayed at a basic long term hotel that was a good deal for having additional rooms. We ate our canned soups, the kids had canned ravioli, it worked out OK.
Breakfast the next morning was fine, but still, why do hotels that offer breakfast have to specifically offer the worst possible fruit? Couldn't you offer good oranges? Maybe any conceivable apple other than the worst imaginable, Red Delicious? Free hotel fruit is just the absolute worst. We would eat better and probably save you money if you gave decent fresh options.
A rest stop along the way. Again, don't ask me what the half staff was for, but by this time, Lindsey Graham is a good guess. RIP.
This was our long planned, aggressive return home journey. Aside from listening to the Rest is History talk about the Odyssey, to whet our appetites for the upcoming movie, we listened to a reading of that other outstanding piece of literature...the lost Hans und Franz movie, The Girlie Man Dilemma.
No seriously, this is good, and you need to watch it.
Ja ja, fellas, I'm serious, you need to watch all of this from start to finish.
OK last chance guys but I think you'll like it.
Then into...I think this was Iowa maybe? But they were going for a Mordor style affect.
And once home at last the dog was incredibly chuffed. I thought I got video, but only a few photos apparently. I am reliably told he got so excited he peed the floor, like he did as a younger pup on our return, once.
Happy to be back!