Day 23- National Park Tour: Glacier National Park

Thursday July 28, 2016


Hotel sleep doesn't do much better for me than tent sleep, but I didn't want to make anyone wait for us in the morning so I ended up awake before my 6am alarm clock. I packed the car while the kids were still asleep and made us all breakfast in our big camping bowls: ½ a waffle, a muffin, a cheese omelet (small frozen ones, nothing fancy), yogurt, the kids' small thermos' full of dry fruit loops, and their Hydaways full of orange juice. I got the kids dressed while they were sleeping after setting up their spots in the car so breakfast was ready for them but Chuck Roast woke up shortly after. He looks so cute in the morning with his little grin and mussed up hair! I was able to wake Pumpkin up, and as usual, once she's even slightly awake, she is ready to go quickly! They were both bummed about not going down to breakfast, but the crew was ready to go and when they saw all the food I had for them, they were happy travelers again.

We made one big pit-stop on the way in order to do laundry and pick up some groceries. There was also a Target with a Caribou. This was a big deal for a majority of our group! I was exhausted, there had been some who's-paying-for-what drama, and I snapped. At the laundry mat. On the floor.



We drove out of town and north on 15. We were going to stop in Helena but my cousin was sleeping, so we made it to Wolf Creek, MT before Chuck Roast 'almost peed his pants' and we stopped at a tiny gas station with a full gift shop. My co-pilot cousin picked up a stocking cap since the nights in the Tetons were so cold and we were heading further north, and I grabbed a 6-pack of Huckleberry Honey beer at 9am :) The drive was uneventful up 15 and over on 2, but then we saw Glacier... 

It was a magnificent spread of mountains with snow and trees and with the sun shining on them with the clouds, nothing could be more beautiful... until we actually got next to and then into Glacier, then everything was more spectacular! My cousin from Washington was waiting for us, how he beat us I'm not sure, and we all met at the Apgar Visitor Center, got the scoop on where ALL the wildlife viewing happens, and found our campsite. E06 was on the edge of the loop so we had fewer neighbors than other sites. There were only 3 tent pads, but our two 4-person tents each took their own and two of the cousins shared one with their 2-person tents. We set up camp and were sweating when we were done, it was much hotter here than we all figured it would be. 


Dinner of pasta with red sauce, white sauce, and bagged chicken was amazingly satisfying with the Sangria we were drinking. My aunt and three of the cousins went wildlife viewing and the rest of us hung around at camp. My cousin from Washington helped Pumpkin learn how to build a solid fire, my cousin set up his own fire tee-pee to see if his homemade fire starters would work after we submerged on in water, and Pumpkin practiced his fire building skills as well. Needless to say, my cousin's fire was the most successful, but Pumpkin's stood it's own for a while, too. Campfire chat and s'mores were a great way to end the night. The kids and I walked to the bathroom and then back to the tent for the night, where both kids cried and yelled about who-knows-what and then Pumpkin crashed. Chuck Roast had to go to the bathroom again, so we walked back to the bathrooms, which Chuck Roast was very worried about because it was dark. After he was done, we made a loop through the campground and talked about how even though it's dark, we don't have to be too scared to be out of our tent. He enjoyed the stroll and fast asleep we all fell.

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