June 27th, 2006
Drive to Galcier National Park
Today we undertook the 550 mile drive from Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington to Glacier National Park in Montana. We drove through the Mt. Rainier National Park to savor the beautiful vistas one last time, picked up the road that led us through the lonely stretch of Pinochet National Forest and then through desolate wilderness of dry rain shadow area on to I-90E. Soon we were in the midst of rolling hills with potato farms as far as the eye could see. With just the dust devils to keep us company, we rode on through Idaho into Montana.

The “Big Sky” Montana was true to its word. Vast expanses of open skies accompanied us through the rolling hills into the majestic Rocky Mountains. We checked in for the night at the Vista Motel right outside the West Glacier entrance of the park. The room opened us right to the views of the mountains. The rooms had the look of a mountain chalet with wood paneling on the wall. A swinging, shuttered, saloon style half door separated our room from Ben’s. A meal of delicious pizza from a local pizzeria accompanied with Huckleberry ice cream was a great ending to the day.