Mason came to Spokane to visit us and his visit inspired us to take a trip while he was here. He got to Spokane on August 5 and we enjoyed hanging out with him here staying up late, playing games and ordering late night pizza. After he had been here for a few days, we took off to go see Glacier National Park. We originally planned on camping, but chickened out at the last minute and ended up staying at a hotel in Kalispell, MT. I enjoyed the trip, but I don't think Mason will ever want to travel with our kids again.
We spent the first day driving the "Going to the Sun" road and checking out unbelievable views in every direction. We also attempted a hike, which went horribly wrong. Landon screamed if we put him in the backpack carrier, but letting him out to walk took too long. I was determined to keep hiking even through all the craziness, but Mason and Brooks wanted to stop hiking immediately and put us all out of our misery. When we got back to the car, Landon and Elliot fell asleep almost immediately.
We then drove around a bit more and Brooks and I did a short hike to a waterfall while Mason sat in the car with exhausted, sleeping boys. He was given instructions to give them graham crackers to keep them happy if they woke up. On the hike, we ran into people stopped on the trail who said a grizzly bear and her cub had just passed the trail ahead of them. We could see her through the trees and the whole thing was somewhat frightening not knowing exactly where the bear was. Brooks and I had left the bear spray in the car not thinking we would need it for such a quick hike. We made it down okay just in time for Mason to hand Elliot the last graham cracker. Perfect timing.
After the hike, we grilled hot dogs and let the boys run around for a bit. On the way out of the park, we saw the bear and her cub again. This time she was walking along the side of the hill and was easy to see from the road. It was right in the same area we had hiked earlier.
Brooks is loving photography more every day and these are all pictures he took.
It was very cloudy the day we drove though which made for amazing views!
This is the "Going to the Sun" road which hugs the side of the mountain on parts with big drop offs to the side. Not the best place for those with a fear of heights.
I don't know what we were looking at, but I thought this was a funny picture.
Mason carried Landon during most of the screaming. Mason stuck his headphones in and tried to ignore it.
This family picture makes it look like we are all enjoying ourselves, but I think we were all a little frazzled at this point. It was still an amazing place!
We saw mountain sheep on our drive as well. I got out of the car for a minute and the male sheep started coming straight for me. He didn't want me by them. I quickly jumped back in the car.
Two tired boys after our family hike
This is the waterfall we hiked to when we passed by the bear.
The boys were happy to be out of the car and able to run around. They especially enjoyed watching the fire. It was a big chore keeping both sets of hands out of the fire pit.
Landon's dirty hands prove he had lots of fun!
The grizzly bear with her cub
Day 2 - August 11
We almost didn't go back the second day because of Landon's screaming on the first day, but we decided to try agaqin. Mason had had enough fun for one trip and he stayed back at the hotel while Brooks, the boys and I went back to Glacier to try another hike, without the backpacks this time. We were just going to hike until they were done and call it a day. We actually made it the entire three miles to the lake at the end. Landon and Elliot went the entire six miles miles with us some on foot and some being carried. They are going to be great hikers when they get bigger. Glacier is an amazing place, we just wish we could have seen more of it.
Elliot fell in the mud right when we got to the lake. His shoes and pants were covered.
