June 6-9, 2022

We met Rick and Barb during our first year on the road in 2018, on our way to Alaska via California. We clicked right away and met up with them again at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon in 2019. This time we decided to rendezvous at Flathead Lake in Polson MT and what a beautiful spot it was.

On our first night together we shared a great meal and a beautiful rainbow over the lake.

We woke up to a fabulous day and set off for Kerr Dam in Rick’s truck. We climbed down many stairs to get a view of the dam and feel the spray.

Next we headed to the Bison Range in Moiese to explore the one-way Red Sheep Mountain Drive through the park. We stopped for information and a map at the visitor center. It was funny to see the snake warning on the sign and then see a snake right there! Is that a rattle snake?!?

Upon leaving the visitor center our first stop was the picnic area for a quick lunch and then we set off on the drive. We did see bison and deer and stunning views at High Point. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of all the wild flowers!

The next day we went to tour Glacier National Park. There is a new system in place to limit the number of visitors in the park. Each vehicle must have a pass to drive Going-to-the-Sun Road that cuts across the park from East to West. It only costs $2 for a 3-day window pass but the number is limited so you have to plan ahead. We drove about 90 minutes to the West Glacier Gate and set off on Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Our first stop was McDonald Falls then we headed to Avalanche Creek to walk the Trail of the Cedars. It was less than a 2-mile loop and it was good to stretch our legs.

Unfortunately when we got back into the truck to head farther into the park we realized that the Going-to-the-Sun Road was closed beyond this point due to snowfall! We had only made it about 1/3 of the way. They told us that the rest of the road would not be opened until the end of June. We turned around and exited the park and drove on Hwy 2 around the south perimeter of the park and up to the Two Medicine Entrance at the southeast corner. By the time we got to Two Medicine Lake it was raining pretty hard so we bailed out on the hike we had planned to take there. Oh well we had a fun day anyway and returned home to sunny weather at Flathead Lake.

The next day we took a 20-mile bike ride on The Great Northern Historical Trail. It’s a rails to trails path so relatively flat but we discovered on the way home that there was a pretty strong head wind…challenging for our non-ebike riding friends 🙂 Parts of the trail were along busy Hwy 93 but we did see a bald eagle and some pretty scenery. The last picture is an original ice house once used to store blocks of ice year-round. Three foot walls stuffed with sawdust allowed the inside of the house to stay cold even in the summer months. The ice came from nearby Flathead Lake.

Well, we had reached the end of our time with Rick and Barb so after one more rainbow and shared campfire we parted ways the next day. But we’re not sad…we already have plans to meet them in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and then on to Leavenworth, Washington in 2024!

Next we are off to the Canadian border at Roosville hoping to cross over without any problems.