Epic road trip, day 14

Sadly, we had to leave Glacier the next morning and drive to Buffalo, Wyoming for our next stop.  But we had what was probably the very best experience of our trip on this day:  Montana Grizzly Encounter.  As a vegan, I am obviously not a fan of animals in captive situations.  However, these bears are rescued bears from bad situations, or ones that were found as orphaned cubs and would not survive in the wild, and being in this rescue situation is the only humane option for them.  They are obviously treated very well and are much loved by their human family, who dedicate their lives to the well being of these bears and  to educating the public about bear safety and what a gift these animals are to our world.  

This is Brutus.  He is the star of the place.  The other bear who comes out at the same time as Brutus, a female named Sheena, decided not to come out of her den that day.  It was raining, and Sheena is not a fan.  I don't mind telling you that I had tears in my eyes as I watched Brutus enjoying his life.     

On a completely different topic, this was a sign as we drove through Montana and Wyoming.  I found it very fitting that the "Gusty Crossing" sign is bent by, I am sure, gusty winds.  

Epic road trip, day 13

We spend a second day at Glacier, and Mr. GV had an awesome bike ride that morning.  Bikers were allowed to go quite a bit further than other traffic.  

While he was riding, I hung out at our favorite spot from the day before, just enjoying the scenery and reading.  

I could have sat there all day long on the moss-covered logs, looking at the water and the mountains.  

Eventually it was time for Mr. GV's bike ride to be over, so I met him and we had a picnic lunch.  While we were there, we were joined by a Stellar's Jay, a bird that we do not have at home.  

That afternoon we took a boat tour on Lake McDonald.  We saw land that had been decimated by fire several years ago.  It is coming back to life though, slowly.  

We both had a great time on the boat.  

This picture just cannot do the reality of Glacier any justice.  

Eventually we had to leave the park and head to dinner.  We chose to try out Hu Hot.  The food was good, and the fact that there was tofu and plenty of vegetables was so nice.  

Epic road trip, Day 12

Our first day at Glacier National Park!  Unfortunately there was still snow being cleared on the Going to the Sun road so we could only drive a few miles into the park.  But oh!  The scenery!  We fell in love with this place.  

Look!  A vegan out in the wild!  Luckily I was able to throw some tofu and granola over to the side to distract him!  (Or as I like to call this #perpetuatingveganstereotypes.) 

We found some vegan snacks in the camp store.  We tried the hazelnut cookies, and they were delicious.  

But I would have to be starving to spend $5.59 on a box of Wheat Thins!  

I just had to have my picture at the Continental Divide!  

Apparently they have hovercrafts near the Continental Divide?  This is what happens when a car goes by during your panoramic shot.  

We drove to the other side of the park, to Two Medicine.  It was chilly enough to have a fire going in the park store.  

Epic road trip, days 10 and 11

The following morning we started out on the next leg of our adventure.  We had a rainy day of driving, going through Idaho, and some chilly temperatures.  

We arrived at our room in Kalispell, Montana in the later evening and headed out to the local WalMart for a few provisions.  

I love okra if it's fried.  I've never seen it in this form before though, and not sure I would like it.

The next day we had to take care of the task of getting the oil changed in the car.  Afterward we went for lunch at A Fresh Start in Kalispell.  It was good, although the portions were small and we found out there was honey in the slaw.  

Mr. GV went for a bike ride that afternoon while I enjoyed some time at Goodwill.  When he came back to the room he told me he had lost his room key, driver's license, and credit card.  Oh I was upset and worried, because that is how I react to those kind of things sometimes.  The room key was no big deal, and the credit card could be cancelled and other than leaving us short one method of payment for the next week, would be OK.  The driver's license is what I was most worried about.  He was going to have to drive without one, and just hope he never got stopped, because I could not drive cross country by myself.  

We retraced his route, and what do you know?  On a way, way back mountain road outside of town, we found all three of them laying in the road!  We were both so relieved.  

We just hung out at the room for the rest of the evening, and enjoyed the fact that the sky still looked like this at 10:00.