28 Days on the Road

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Lots of time together can bring out the best and the worst in you, so I was surprised that we did as well as we did. I can't thank my Uncles and Cousins enough for the time that they gave us for our visit. For over a week we infused their world with our normal ruckus, Uncle Greg even gave us his home for the week. My cousin Bruce flew in from LA. My Dad and Grandmother flew in for 2 weeks from Philadelphia. Nancy brought Cara for the week we were there and most of all, my mother spent 20 days cooped up in a 12 passenger van with 5 kids and myself. Talk about martyrdom. I couldn't have made it without her help.

We caught a huge break with the weather. While the East Coast had a record setting hot, dry summer; we, for the most part had comfortable weather for camping and touring. A little rain here, a few hours of very hot afternoon sun there and one really awesome thunder storm as we went through Sioux Falls. It was 30 minutes of fierce winds, heavy rains, lighting, thunder and hail. But the temperature dropped from over 100 degrees to less then 80 as the front came through and the heat never bothered us again until we returned to Pennsylvania on the way back home

Back in 1983, my brother Marc and I Bicycled along much of this same route as we rode from Seattle to Philadelphia. It took us 42 days to ride one way, and we bypassed many of the most scenic parks and side trips along the way. At the time I wasn't sure if I had made the right decision, I had always wanted to visit Yellowstone, Glacier, the Badlands and on and on. This time we did all of that and more, but even in a car we did not have close to enough time to actually see the places the way that I would have liked too. I left feeling glad that I had gone to visit these places, but disappointed that I could not stay longer.

On the bicycle trip, we would have never made it home if we had tried to make all of the stops that we did on this trip. I was also warned me about the narrow roads and big RV's that clog the highways in the National Parks. They were right. It would have been challenging to battle them for the road way in Yellowstone and Glacier.

The other issue with these parks is their shear size. A bicycle would be a great way to get around between hiking and camping jumping off points. But just driving from one end to other at Glacier and Yellowstone is an all day event, and the roads would be hard riding, as you cross back and forth over the continental divide at 8000 feet.

I enjoyed Yellowstone, the geysers, hot springs, mud pots and the falls on the Yellowstone river almost seem unreal. However, we had a spectacular day when we visited Glacier and the views from Logan Pass on the end of clear sunny day were magnificent.

This was in spite of Jacob falling, or maybe because he fell while climbing on the rocks, needing stitches and having to return to the camp to set up the trailer in the afternoon. I was determined to get up to Logan pass. So after medical treatment and lunch at the camp site, we headed back up the Going to The Sun Road. Along the way, we passed beautiful vistas, cascading streams from snow melt off the mountains, mountain meadows filled with wildflowers, mountain goats with their lambs and some of the most breathtaking scenery on this earth.

A friend of mine visited this area a few years ago, and the mountains were shrouded in fog and rain, so we were most fortunate indeed. He had great weather father north near Jasper and Banff in Canada, so his recollection of Glacier is much different. He hopes to get back to Canada to see the mountains there. On a good day they are all incredible!!!

My son Joshua and I walked from Logan Pass to the overlook for Hidden Lake, a 35 minute walk. The next time I go I am going to hike the trail from Logan Pass down to the lake and then all the way down until it meets up with the Going to the Sun Road again. They have old open air busses that will take up to the pass in the morning and pick you up at the bottom in the evening. What a great way to spend a day that would be!!

The other thing that struck me was how much bigger the country felt in a car then on a bicycle or on a plane. You drive all day and feel like you have made so little progress, while cruising along at 70 mph. On the bicycle, your goal was never more then 60 to 110 miles away, and you had to stop every 20 to 40 miles for water or food. By breaking it down into such small steps I don't remember it seeming to be so far to go. I know that it must sound odd, but it seemed like along way to drive. It may have been one of the influences of having all of those kids in the car. Who knows for sure.

Updated February 25, 2003

Black Water Falls