Magnet #610 - Glacier National Park Red BusYa'll know how I have a habit of going to places, and missing the biggest things to do there? Like when I went to Dublin, and missed the Guinness tour? Or went to Philly and missed Benjamin Franklin's grave? Or when I went to New England and missed well, Vermont?
Yeah. Glacier National Park. Didn't do the Red Bus to travel the man-made, superamazing Going-to-the-Sun Road. I do kinda feel like a cheater with this magnet.
But, we did drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road - even saw a goat along the way. And a bear that was really a cow! But, we opted not to do the Red Bus. Mainly because we had rented a car (from the tackle shop!) for that part of our cross-country trip. So we skipped the Red Bus. Sigh.
And instead, ended up like 35 miles away from Canada, and making our way back in twilight and dark on some of the scariest (and most beautiful) roads ever. Scary. Especially when you're in the passenger seat with nothing but sheer drop-off to the ravines and canyons below.
It almost made me regret fulfilling the promise I made my grandmother years ago, about vising Montana before dropping everything and moving there.
Not too much regret though, because I did love Glacier Park Lodge, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Great Northern Railway built the lodge a century ago, when the west was still expanding, and people needed a place to stay along the way. Makes you wonder who else traveled the same rails. In our case, it was the same Amish guys on their rumspringa who shared the ride from Chicago, stayed in Montana, too, and then we saw them in Seattle (so. weird.). But I digress.
The Lodge. Loved it. The lobby was amazing, with its giant open atrium, and supercool gift shop where I bought one of the first magnets of this collection. The rooms were small and bunky. No television. The dining room and the food was terrific. Truly, this place was everything you'd expect from a lodge in Montana.
Well, I suppose if I did have to improve anything about the lodge...maybe have a television in the room. That's just unnatural right there.
1 comment:
oh if only you had come a few years later and i could've gotten you a free trip on the red bus. i ended up sleeping in one of the red buses during the forest fire of 2003. oddly enough, the bench seats are pretty comfortable. i <3 glacier! also, when you were 30+ miles from Canada, you should've just gone straight to Waterton and see the Canada side of Glacier NP. pretty cool...
also not sure how you DIDN'T see a bear in GNP... it's pretty much a given for all tourists. i think they even stop the red bus tour to watch the bears sometimes...
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