Location: Glacier National Park, Montana
The big day finally came! After a couple of false starts (forgetting this, forgetting that), Lisa and I (aka Thelma and Louise) were on the road at last. We headed north to Sandpoint and instead of continuing north, we decided to drive around Lake Pend Orielle and then head over a mountain pass eventually catching up with highway 2. This drive was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful, definitely making the top 10 list of scenic drives. While we were looking forward to reaching Glacier Park, Lisa and I were also in no hurry to get there. We savored the drive, letting the day unfold, enjoying each other's company and thoroughly appreciating the journey. We stopped to view some falls several other times we just had to pull over, get out and appreciate the spectacular beauty of Northern Idaho and Montana. (One of the pics below is of the Clark Fork River.) Hard to believe that yesterday it was cold, wet and stormy. When we finally pulled into Glacier National Park and checked in at the campground, the Park Ranger handed us a couple of tokens and said, "here this is for a free 5 minute shower. Come here and you'll get one for every day." Dang!! Most National Parks don't have showers and if they do, they are run by a private company and usually cost you anywhere from $3 to $5. Imagine my surprise! The Ranger also congratulated us on having the premier spot. She said this was the most coveted campsite in all the campground. (I guess it pays to sometimes be a bit obsessive and book things 6 months in advance!). Lisa and I couldn't wait to see just what we had in store. OMG - we have this picture perfect little spot, off by itself, right on Lake MacDonald! (See the other picture of our little dining area!). After getting set up we decided to get on our bikes and do a little exploring of the campground. By this time it was close to 6 and definitely wine and popcorn time. Well, after a couple of glasses, and feeling pretty proud of ourselves for getting the van perfectly leveled we decided it was time to attempt hanging up the hammock. I was showing off my bowlines and half hitches, which might have been pretty swanky if it was just knots, but the whole hammock thing didn't quite work out. No matter how hard we tried, the minute we got in the hammock, the rope would slip down the tree and our butts just hit the ground. Yes, between gales of laughter, Lisa managed to snap a picture of me "enjoying" the hammock, butt firmly planted on ground. Don't worry Ned, it's only day one and we still have 3 more days to get it right! We eventually got around to making dinner, which included barbecuing chicken, a salad, and cooking naan bread over a fire. After polishing off a bottle of wine we decided to call it a night. Life is good.
