A few days ago we arrived in Glacier National Park. We got an awesome spot with a river right behind our campsite. Our first day here was a hang out day. Jay played with containers and a screwdriver, and I built a bridge to an island in the river.

Yesterday was rainy. In the morning, I stayed in the RV (reading Harry Potter) while Ma, Pa, and Little Kid went on a short hike in the rain. In the afternoon we went on a hike. On our hike it rained and snowed (what, snow!?!?) a bit, but it was worth it to see the water falls. On the way back we stopped at the camp store. We bought a family mascot- a billy goat!

This morning I became a junior ranger here. Now I am a junior ranger in three national parks! This afternoon we hiked part of the Grinell Glacier trail. I did some snow sliding on a garbage bag. It was fun!

Just went on a fantastic hike to a mountain lake and waterfall. Part of the time it was snowing (what?! snow?! in June?! yes, snow!).

We are at Glacier National Park, about thirty miles from the Canadian border. Camping at Many Glaciers campground, next to a roiling river, beneath a snow capped craggy mountain.

Arrived two days ago, after a long – and fortunately – uneventful drive. As usual, Pa and I split the driving, with me driving the first half while Pa navigated (and thanks to Google maps on the iPad it is an easy job) and in the afternoon we switched roles. The kids do great on driving days. Big kid does her school work, reads (she is deep into the world of Harry Potter), and looks out the window. Little kid talks and sings, plays with his feet, looks out the window, and naps.

We all got to do some animal spotting on the drive – the ubiquitous cows and horses, a handful of pronghorn, a bald eagle, and Pa even spotted a grizzly bear (Ma missed it, as she was busy navigating the big rig on the hairpin turns).

En route we stopped in Helena to do some provisioning. It was a beautiful Montana day (sunny and sixty degrees … kind of like Tucson in January) and so we dressed appropriately, in long pants and fleece jackets. We were amused to find that once we got inside Costco most people were in shorts and t-shirts.

The season at Glacier is just beginning, with many roads still not open due to massive amounts of snow and some of the buildings (i.e. much needed showers) remaining closed for another week or two. As a ranger told me, they call this month ‘Junuary’.

We are keeping busy with hikes and walks (in the rain, in the snow, over snow banks), playing in the freezing river (big kid) and just relaxing at camp. For Barney, it is a scented paradise …. each walk has him in a frenzy as he sniffs the deer that wander thru camp, the squirrels, possibly a sheep or a bear.

Not yet sure how long we will stay here. It is absolutely breathtaking and we could happily stay for a while …. but the forecast is for continued rain and wind …. and the north country beckons ….

(p.s. this was written on June 13. will be posted whenever we locate a cellular or wifi connection …).

Leaving Yellowstone.  En route to Glacier National Park ….

It is so crazy beautiful here!! The trees. The rivers. The sky. The clouds. The bison. The geysers.

These photos do not do Yellowstone or our campground justice …. but here you go ….

Today we settled in to a beautiful campground just outside the west entrance of Yellowstone National Park. A river runs along one side of our campsite, a herd of bison are grazing across the river, and there are snow capped mountains in the distance. The temperature is 66 degrees, which feels pretty pretty good to desert rats used to 106 in June.

Getting to this paradise was a bit of a slog. Wednesday we put in close to ten hours driving from Bryce Canyon to Idaho Falls. Although the speed limit was 80 (!) on the interstate in Utah, our rig is happiest between 55 and 60, so it took a lot longer than Google Maps predicted. Rather than try to find a campground in Idaho Falls (about two hours from Yellowstone), we decided to spend the night boondocking in the parking lot of a Walmart. It didn’t make sense to spend the time and money on setting up in a campground when we were planning to get going first thing in the morning to head for Yellowstone. Camping at Walmart was pretty nice. We got some shopping done, used the restrooms, and a nearby hotel generously provided wifi service.

After reading mixed reviews about some of the campgrounds in Yellowstone, and about people scrambling to grab limited campsites, we decided to camp at Bakers Hole Forest Service Campground just outside the park. The minute we pulled in we knew we had made the right decision. There were lots of nice spots available and the setting was gorgeous.

After three long travel days in less than a week we are going to stay put for a while, at least for three days, and use the dinghy to take some day trips to Old Faithful and other Yellowstone must-sees.