Days 38 - 40: The Final Countdown

Wednesday morning was our second attempt at Glacier National Park. On the way west we had planned to take the Going to the Sun Road through the park, one of the best-known scenic drives in the world. The road travels through the mountains though, and the park service has to clear out the snow each summer before it can open “sometime in late June or early July.” Apparently, it takes about 10 weeks to clear the 50 mile road, so there’s a lot of snow involved (nearly 80 feet fell in Glacier in winter 2017/2018!). When we drove through back in June, we were 3 days too early – the road hadn’t yet opened. So Wednesday was our second chance to see its marvels. And, despite the rain and murk and wind that followed us for the second half of the drive, it was marvelous.

Lake McDonald Lodge

Sacred Dancing Cascade

McDonald Creek

Glacier has LOTS of colorful rocks

Bear Grass

Heavens Peak

"What, do you think you're in the Sound of Music?" - Dad

Sun Point

Sun Point was VERY windy

Wild Goose Island

Glacier was our last big planned side trek on our 6 week journey, so when we left the park around 5pm we were keen to hit the ground running. Dad suggested early on that Billings, MT would be a good stopping point. Mom and I weren’t convinced we could hang on that long. We started driving and figured we’d see where we ended up. We ended up in Billings.

Exiting the Blackfeet Nation

I was momentarily convinced these were mountain goats, but there was a dog shepherding them along. He stopped at the side of the road and was watching the cars go past before guiding the goats along. Hard working pupper!

At first I was mad this turned out blurry, but it's grown on me

The hotel I found online at the last minute was gross. It didn’t look gross online, the reviews didn’t say it was gross, but our room decidedly was. M & D think I’m a diva for not wanting to shower in a pile of gravel and dirt, or to sleep in a bed with stained blankets, but I committed to finding better hotels for the remainder of the trek (and have been successful, you’ll be pleased to learn).

Thursday was our last day for little side trips, including stops at Devil’s Tower, WY and Mount Rushmore in SD. Team, you’ll be thrilled to learn, I think, that I was successful in my mission: we made it to Mount Rushmore! I am now 1/3 in meeting Dad’s requests for this trip!

Dad thinks he's a cowboy

The Black Hills near Mt. Rushmore

We stopped for lunch in Sundance, WY in hopes that we’d meet Robert Redford. No dice, but I did the first 300 miles of morning drive so I got to order a nice big cold beer at lunch and relegate myself to the backseat for the rest of the day. We ordered entirely too much pizza and were grateful for the leftovers when we made it to Oacoma, SD for the night.

Friday was a heavy drive day. We decided early in the trip that none of us should do 300 mile drive days because the biggest tiffs that we’ve had have happened on those days. I drove 316 miles on Thursday but mostly escaped notice because of my wit and charm. Friday, though, we really nailed it. Dad drove 296 miles, I drove 298, and Mom had 250 (she was still raring to go at the end of the night when her drive ended but I was a wreck, Dad was wiped, and we had booked a hotel over dinner, so we were stopping, thank goodness). Nailed it!

The day was pretty uneventful otherwise. We drove through Minnesota (M&D had never been) and Wisconsin (Mom and I had never been), stopped in Wisconsin just before the Illinois border to have dinner and had to try 3 different spots before finding a place without a wait (Midwestern fast food chain called Culver’s). They had great milkshakes and cheese curds, so I was happy. I’m gonna have to eat a lot of veggies when I get home to counteract all the fries and sandwiches from the last 40 days though. We planned to stop in Elkhart, IN because it’s a familiar stopping point on the journey to Notre Dame. Every hotel in 40 miles was booked solid though, so we continued past Elkhart to a town called Howe. That’s when we reined Mom in to stop for the night.