Frequent Fliers Don't Kick the Seats

We've made it to Big Sky country. The girls were amazing fliers. We originally had a row of three for our family with Lillian as a lap child. But, we were able to secure two rows of three for our whole family, so Loran and Ella took one row, Lily and I in the other behind them and two extra seats to spread out on. We had zero trouble with either girl. They ate a little, both fell asleep, woke up in the last hour to play a little and enjoy the ride. Neither made a peep - they were the hit of the plane. Although, upon boarding when everyone was ohhing and ahhing over Lillian. I told them to remember how cute she is if everything goes downhill on the flight!

Upon entering the tiny airport in Kalispell - with it's four gates, Ella started providing entertainment for the folks waiting for their luggage/rental cars by dancing and rolling around the floor. It was quite hilarious and everyone was watching and cheering her on as they walked by. She was sure to check everyone's feet. When we were waiting to board our flight, Ella was attempting to remove her shoes, but I pointed out that everyone wears shoes on the plane. The phrase of the day became "everyone shoes" - along with Loran teaching Ella that frequent fliers do not kick the seat in front of them. Important stuff.

We were upgraded from our original SUV to a Suburban. Somewhat hilarious, but there is a part of me that is quickly falling in love with this gigantic vehicle. And, it seems to be getting better gas mileage than Loran's Audi - and that's after driving up and then down a mountain...

We've made our requisite Target run to get formula, diapers and baby food. Stopped at a pizza restaurant where Ella broke into more dance to Madonna's "Vogue" and entertained more friends.

We drove Going to the Sun Road to get from one side of Glacier to the other. It had been raining, overcast and cool when we arrived, but the sun came out while we drove through the park, affording us beautiful views of the mountains - which already have snow, in addition to their usual glacial coverage.

 After we left the park, we caught up to some rain and drove on this amazingly winding road. It had such foreboding signs like: caution falling rock, rough road, avalanches, and beware of livestock. What? Sure enough, we came around a bend and there was a herd of cattle in the road. By road, I mean, highway.

We're currently staying at a small motel that is decorated straight out of the 60s. But, even though it's quite vintage, the rooms have been taken care of impeccably. The vinyl chairs show no signs of wear, and I'm quite certain they are 40 years old. It's just spotless and quite comfortable. The wood paneling adds a special "Montana" touch. While it's not the fancy hotels I've grown accustomed to. I love it. And the owners are an adorable old couple who are amazingly nice.

 

This morning, there was yet another forecast for rain, but we woke up to sun. We drove into the park for awhile. We picked a super short, easy hike to some waterfalls for our first journey. Of course, as we got out of our family bus, a man was quickly leaving the trail to go back to his car for his bear spray. There was a moose with her calf just a hundred yards into the trail. By the time we got everyone in their carriers, a few other groups had gone in, there had been no screaming so we figured it was safe. I was scanning the forest constantly. We did see the moose and calf, but they'd crossed to the other side of the river, far from us. We enjoyed seeing them and the falls. Our second hike was longer and we only saw a chipmunk but did go along the shores of a beautiful lake. If the hike had been any longer, however, I may have had a stroke. I'm on constant bear patrol. I know they're out there. I'd like to see them from the confines of the Suburban with my telephoto lens.

We're currently taking a nap break. The rain found us while we were at lunch, so now we're just relaxing, listening to the pitter-patter. Then we're off on more adventure in the Suburban! I'm loving vacation, but we've seen/talked to so many Minnesotans already and half the cars we see have MN plates that I'm starting to forget we're on vacation far away. It's like "Up North" with mountains. The other half of the cars we pass seem to be rental Suburbans. No joke. There must have been a big sale on Suburbans.