Across the country - Day 3 Glacier Nat. Park

Day 3    

    Off to tour Glacier National Park, the 10th National Park  The Park spreads into Canada as well as the US known as the Waterton Glacier International  Peace Park. It took the Rotary clubs of Montana and Alberta 30 years to accomplish this. It is home to 1.4 million acres, 1200 species of flowers, 200 birds, 60 mammals, 700 miles of trails, 76 paved roads, 200 lakes, and 100 waterfalls. "The Crown of the Continent" by  George Grinnel.
The East side of the park is desert compared to the west side that gets 10-15 inches more of rain a year. The park is on the west corner of Montana and the picture below shows the park. If you cut the park in half, this is the trip we took on the red jammers.

We took Rt 89 form Browning to St Mary.  St Mary Lake is 255 feet deep, 11 miles long and 1/2 mile wide.  It is the second largest lake in the park and a mere 55 degrees at the moment. The lake turns turquoise depending on the sediment.

We are off to ride the Jammers which are bright red. They travel the 50 mile  road called Going to the Sun Road which was completed in 1932.  The highest peak in this part of the park is Mt Cleveland which is 10,446 feet.
We see some breath-taking views and sights including climbing snow fields . The kids immediately collect snow to put down our backs!  As we travel through the park we are on the lookout for Grizzly, black Bears, elk, moose, Rocky Mountain goats, long-horn sheep- the usual suspects.   We didn't see much except goats, The end of the tour takes us to Lake MacDonald which is 450 feet deep, 10 miles by 1-1/2 miles and mighty cold!!!

Saint Mary Lake.

Evidence of the forest fires they have.
There have been many fires in Glacier over the years.  In 2007 11,000 acres were burned and the latest in 2015 burned about 5,000 acres.

We are at the top of the Logan pass where Rogers and Eamon decide to have a snowball fight and then come find us to put snow down our shirts! In the picture above it shows you how deep the snow is and this isn't a glacier..

Our little friend just looking around and seeing what's up!

Water coming down cold and fast,

At the end of our Jammer ride and tour we ended up at Lake MacDonald where Amanda and David decided to wade in the water and freeze their feet!

Now we are going back to Glacier Lodge to do laundry.

see you tomorrow....

Across the country- Day 2 -Heading West on the train

Day 2
 It was very interesting with the sleeping. David very nicely took the upper bunk. But when the beds are out, there is no room. You need to sit on the bed to wash your face and brush your teeth!

























A nice sunrise but the weather has gotten cloudy.    We have passed through many towns. We are in North Dakota. Some towns are known for their fracking.     As we get closer to the mountains we can see the hills forming.

As we passed through the country side we saw many grain elevators.

 Arrived in Montana ...Almost to Glacier and our first night in East Glacier National Park Lodge.

Along the way we see the aftermath of a train-wreck. Heavy duty machines are moving them away.

It happened 2 days before as the cars were standing still on the track because of the high winds. The winds were too much for the empty cars that were stacked 2 high and over they went, pulling the rest of the train with it.

The tracks had just been cleared the day before we came through.

We were here for a quick stop so off we all went for some fresh air.

No place out West is complete without the John Deere business

Arrived at East Glacier Lodge.  Only opened for 10 weeks of the year and had just opened a week and half ago for this season. The hotels were built by the Railroads . The logs are huge . To give you an idea, David and I could maybe reach each other's hands.

Main lobby of the Lodge

The West was first worked by trappers , mostly beaver that started int the 1800s. Then came the miners in 1850/60s for gold. The mining changed from gold to oil in 1870 "Last Chance Oil"  and the last big strike was in  1880. Oil was really done by 1906.

The tribe in this area is  the Blackfoot. 35% are unemployed.  This unfortunately creates a high alcoholism.  The ones that want to work must go outside of the area to find a job.  The Indians here felt their land was taken away from them even though the government pay for it. Till a few years ago the Indians had to pay to enter the park. They have farms and one farm raises Bison.

Going to get out of here fast before they get Amanda!

See you tomorrow.

across the country- day 1-leaving Chicago

Day 1
Our day started out with trying to find a medical clinic for Eamon. I looked them up before I even saw Amanda and I asked at the desk. Sure enough
They had had a bad night and we were heading to the Drs. We left at 9am and got there about 10 am and we were seen till noon. We rushed to the CVS and then to the hotel and to Union station... Just made it for our train. You know you are late when you are greeted by you must be Talbot and Adams!

Our state room is great - a long bed/couch and a chair, sink, but best of all a. Bathroom with a shower.  The kids keep coming up to us our bathroom as they don't have one in the family room that they have.  It is down the hall but they haven't discovered it yet....so they say.

                      Oh some quiet time and the whole couch without kids to share it with!

We are traveling through corn country. We are stopped just outside of Columbus WI.  David says gambrel roof barns started here because it could hold more hay than the traditional gable barns in New England.

Below we are in the observation car playing cards and enjoying the view. We were lucky to find a table.

We are traveling down the track and we are coming to the Mississippi River which has 4 branches that we pass. The first one is the Black slough from the Black river. The Army of Corp has to keep this river clear. Sometimes they need to suck up the muck and spread it on the banks. . The river is only 9 feet deep.

We continued onto the Mississippi. These pictures show us the barges that are carrying grain. They line up in the morning to load. One barge takes the equivalent of 58 semi trucks.

We passed Red Wing, the town that produces the best "work shoe" since 1905. The Red wing shoe- if you look on line at Amazon the price goes from $154 to $360.  The Red Wing pottery is now a collectors item as the factory closed in 1975. My picture didn't come out well enough to put here.

Time for dinner and watching a beautiful sunset.

This is so cool traveling like this.  See you tomorrow.

Across the country with the kids -day 0

Day 0
Trip across the country with the grandkids and Amanda
Off to a great start only 5 minutes off our leaving time but poor Eamon wasn't feeling well with a big time sore throat.
Landed in Chicago in rain but by the time we got to the street it was hot and steamy.  We stayed a the La Quinta so we would be sure to make the train the next day A quick unpack, a dip in the pool which says it holds 18...no way.  We took a walk around the block and backwards around the same block then up and down a few more blocks and
Finally headed in the correct direction. (I stopped and asked directions) ....
We met Kevin's childhood friend and godfather to Rogers who showed us around.
As we walked we visited the new park called the Millennium park. Beautiful and lots for the kids to do and see.  Looks down over to the lake.

 Millennium Park in Chicago.

 We had to unpack our suitcases to take only a small bag on the train for two days.   I missed that memo. We had to do this in front of all and with only 5 minutes before boarding!  I did manage to get clean underwear!

 On the train in our bedroom.
Amanda and the kids had the family
room downstairs, We had a bathroom in ours and the kids found they liked using ours better than the one in the hall.

 Getting snacks on the train.

 Leaving Chicago into our big wide country.  First field of crops out of many to be seen!

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see you tomorrow....