Glacier National Park pictures

here are pictures of the park!!  What a wonderful place.

Glacier National Park on 5/31/2011

This was the first nice day we have had in Conrad since we arrived last week. So off to Glacier National Park for the day. We decided to drive over to West Glacier Entrance and drive up to Avalanche Creek on the "Going-to-the-Sun Road. On the way to the entrance on Hwy 2, we went thru the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and stopped at a great waterfall. I really enjoy waterfalls and this one did not disappoint me. We also stopped at Goat Lick Overlick to hopefully see the Wild Mountain Goats. Well we saw 2 of them on the mountains and several deer crossing the parking lot.
We could only go 16 miles up the " Going-to-the-Sun Road, as it is closed due to SNOW. They had another 2 foot of snow this past weekend on top of the record snowfall and are working to get the road open soon. Once we got into the park we saw Lake McDonald , a beautiful and really large lake and the Lake McDonald waterfall. The views from the overlooks are really breath taking and wish we could have been able to complete the entire drive and see Logan Pass and the other wonderful sites. Oh well a reason to return:))
Another wonderful day!!

From our campground

entering the Blackfeet Indian Reservation

Wild Mountain Goat

Staying in Conrad, Montana

We arrived in Conrad on Friday, May 27th. On the way over we stopped at a rest stop and found the rattlesnake sign, which almost stopped us from getting out of the truck:) Conrad is a small town of less than 3,000 and has a nice Main Street with a few things to do. We are staying at the Pondera RV Park which is run by a very nice elderly lady, Ms. Jones. She has lived here most her life coming from Wales in the 1940's. She is one of much knowledge of the area and keeps the park up with help from her family. The weather has not been good. Saturday it rained all day and Sunday the rain has stopped, but the sun is still behind the clouds. We stopped by the Conrad Transportation and Historical  Museum and met the man who helped restore the clock displayed on Main Street. The clock had been hanging on the street corner in 1909 and was removed for almost 50 years before it was put back in 2009. The town also has Olson's Drug Store which has perhaps the longest-running, operational soda fountain in America. Suzanne's grandfather had a drug store and soda fountain in Pocahontas, Arkansas in the 1930's, so we are looking forward to our visit and trying the ice cream treats:)  We will be taking a ride over to Glacier National Park and hopefully see some wildlife and wonderful scenery.

More pictures from Lewis & Clark Caverns States Park

The place is really wonderful!

the 535ft exit tunnel 

Visiting the Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park

It was going to be a day without rain so we decided to make the ride to Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park. Known as the most colorful caverns in the Northwest. We really enjoyed the ride over to the park and saw a bridge in the middle of a field. Later we found out that it was moved there to be used as a stage for concerts that are held in the field.

 We took the tour of the caverns and really enjoyed the 2 hours it took to complete. The caverns are really beautiful and you spend over an hour inside. You go down over 600 steps and the temperature is around 50. There are also big eared bats hanging down, not to worry there are only about 50 of them in the caverns, and we only saw 2.
Here is some history on the caverns ---
Before handing the caverns over to Montana, the federal government agreed to make improvements. The work began in 1935 with the arrival of the Civilian Conservation Corps, a federal public works program that set up camp at LaHood, just a few miles up the Jefferson from the caverns. The industrious CCC crews turned the caverns into what visitors see today. They built roads and a visitor center, widened passages, and chiseled steps into limestone. They laid electric cable to power a new system of lights. And they hauled out tons of bat guano. They also explored the caverns more fully, discovering the remarkable Paradise Room, where they blasted a 538-foot exit tunnel so visitors could make a one-way tour of the caverns and not have to climb the long stairs back to the entrance.
After World War II, the state began its own improvements, such as tearing down Morrison’s wooden steps, including a rickety spiral staircase that yawed as much as 2 feet while suspending visitors over a 90-foot drop. A short railroad was built from the visitor’s center to the caverns, where tourists then took a tram car up the last several hundred feet of nearly vertical ascent, its clacking and groaning adding to the excitement of seeing the caves.
By the early 1970s, the train and tram were deemed unsafe and removed. Today, all visitors must take a short hike to reach the cave entrance, where the guided tours begin. It’s understandable that most people are in a hurry to see the caverns. But it’s best not to rush. The walk up a moderately steep path to the cave mouth is a fascinating journey in its own right.

the rode to the caverns

It was well worth the trip to see the caverns and was an enjoyable day!

On the way home we saw something I bet not many people have seen before.

Let me know if you have seen this before:)

Visiting Helena, Montana

Monday was our moving day to Helena, MT. We drove 320 miles our longest driving day to date. Of course the Chevy did great and made our drive easy. The drive showed us another state, Montana in our journey. The mountains looked smaller on our route and had lots of greenery on them. We also saw more trains along the way than anywhere we have been. We are staying at a nice park called Lincoln RV Park which has nice long pull-thru sites with grass. The weather is not cooperating as it was raining in the morning, which hindered our plans some. We decided to go to the old section of town and brave the rain. It is a nice walking area blocked off to traffic. I am sure there would have been other people if the rain had stayed away. We ate at Windbag Saloon and Grill which has a risque past. It was a bordello, one of the most respected ones in Montana, owned by Big Dorothy who ran it until it was closed in 1973. Hopefully the weather will change and allow us to do some hiking tomorrow.
I did fill up with diesel for $3.99 a gallon, the lowest price since Texas:))

Our last night and day in Cody, Wyoming

After our great ride to the East entrance of Yellowstone we decided a nice meal was needed. We ate at the Irma Hotel that was built in 1902 by Buffalo Bill and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service.  The hotel has a cherrywood bar, one of the most photographed features in Cody. There was even a cowboy with a gun sitting at the bar during our dinner. We walked around downtown after our meal and came upon the biggest rifle I have ever seen.

On Sunday we decided to drive over to Greybull and some other towns in the area. One of the towns, Emblem has a population of 10, can you imagine that? We got near Greybull when we came upon an airport with a lot of old planes. We later find out that it was once the "Museum of Flight and Aerial Firefighting."   My Dad would have loved this place. If you would like to know more about this group of planes click here http://www.ruudleeuw.com/greybull.htm
and here http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/14707
We continued our journey back to Cody. Another great day!!
PS. we did try to see wild Mustangs and Devil's Kitchen but the roads were not the best:)

you can click on the pictures to enlarge them

More Pictures from the trip to the East Entrance to Yellowstone

Well we didn't get to Old Faithful but that gives us an excuse to come here again.

our first Moose

Visiting the East Entrance to Yellowstone

The day looked promising so we decided to go to the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The east entrance is only open from 6am to 10am due to an avalanche and if you don't get out you will add another 6 hours to your trip. We decided to just got to the entrance and return to Cody. Just going to the entrance is a beautiful ride. The ride takes you over some fantastic views and is worth the trip. We ate at the only place open, where Buffalo Bill's Hunting Lodge is situated. Since buffalo was on the menu we had to have the speciality "The Buffalo Burger."  It tasted better than beef and was a different consistancy. Suzanne found a very pretty coat that she had to have. OH boy coat number ??  they all have different purposes:) We saw long horn sheep, a buffalo and our first Moose. Overall a GREAT day!  Thank goodness the world didn't end today, we have too much left to see!

East Entrance closed

Rain Rain Go Away! PLEASE

We are getting camper fever. It has been raining for 2 days straight, not a hard rain but a slow steady rain. Went out for breakfast and dinner today, just to get out of this camper. They are under a flood watch in certain areas of Wyoming and Montana. We spent the day planning our trip from Alaska to Las Vegas. We are going to drive HWY 101 from Oregon to California as much as we can.  Planning to visit Joe's parents in Vegas sometime in late September. It will be nice to meet them before the wedding:)  Looks like we are going to be flying home from the Phoenix area for Nicole's wedding.

Please keep David in your prayers. He is in Kuwait now, but will be going into Iraq soon.

Sandy and Oreo