Into the Wild.........again

The next day, we got up early, packed up our stuff and got out of the campsite and on the road by 7:20. We planned to stop at Mammoth Hot Springs in the North of the park to take showers. We made great time and got to Mammoth at 8:00 AM. We may have been too efficient because the showers didn't open until 9. Not wanting to waste time sitting around for the showers to open, we decided to remain dirty a little longer and shower when we arrived at Glacier National Park (at some point I'll admit that we just don't like showering but not quite yet). So, we hit the open road and headed for Montana (a new state for Kate).

As an aside, I don't think I've mentioned this yet but every time we go to a state that Kate has not yet visited, she has a little song that she sings:

NEW STATE! It's a state that I've never seen before.

NEW STATE! It's a place that I've never been before.

It's pretty damn catchy.

The drive was fairly uneventful from what I recall. We listened to the John Grisham book and looked at the scenery. It started to rain a little bit and it got a little cold which was our first run in with "inclement" weather but we were lucky to be in the car rather than trying to take a hike or something.

We stopped for lunch in Missoula, Montana which we thought was sort of a cool, hip, college town where we could go to some cute brewpub and in reality, it may be just that but that was not the Missoula that we encountered. We went to the Oxford Saloon which claimed to have been there since 1883. I don't know what it was like in 1883 but in 2009 it was filled with drunks and meth addicts covered in denim and leather. We were concerned about our attire/smell given our hygiene over the past week so on the bright side, that concern was quickly put to rest. We fit right in in terms of bathing habits. There was a woman in a t-shirt and windbreaker pants.....I don't think she had time to change before coming to The Oxford straight from 1993. I'm pretty sure we saw the beginnings of a drug deal that finished up outside. Everyone just looked spaced out and several people were just sort of aimlessly wandering around. Kate and I were both wearing Ohio State shirts and as we walked in, some guy said, "Looks like the Buckeyes are here." I didn't know what to say so I just said "Uh, yeah....." It was a lot like an old west movie where some one walks into a bar and they say, "we don't serve your kind" or "we don't take kindly to city slickers in this neck of the woods." In the end, I was happy to eat a meal that wasn't pb&j and get a chance to watch a little bit of football. The food wasn't half bad and if they have to do a little meth to get motivated to make it for us, so be it.

A few hours later, we arrived in Glacier National Park. After setting up camp, we went to the visitor center, talked to a ranger and discovered that the Going To The Sun Road would be closed for the season at midnight. I had been to Glacier before and driving that road was undoubtedly the highlight of the trip so I insisted that we once again forego the showers we were planning to take and drive as much of the road as we could be before dark. For those that don't know, Going to the Sun Road is the road that traverses the park from east to west and winds through the mountains, crosses the continental divide at Logan's Pass and in the process affords the driver with breathtaking views. I've just learned from wikipedia that the road was featured in The Shining and Forrest Gump. This road is possibly my favorite place that I've ever been on planet Earth. Words and pictures do not do it justice but I will post some of both anyway. All I can say is that if you ever get the chance to go on this road, TAKE IT.

After the drive, I cooked steak and uncle ben's rice for dinner which was magically delicious. We started a fire and watched it burn while we drank some wine. Then we bundled ourselves up for the night and went to bed. The weather was supposed to get down into the 20s and Kate was nervous about it but courageously agreed to try it for a night and if it was too cold, we would find other arrangements.

Edit: I forgot to mention that within 10 minutes of starting our drive up Going to the Sun Road, we saw another bear. This made the bear to shower ratio 2:1.