Day twelve

The turning point. 
The best day in glacier yet. 
Finally a day that really made us all see the “IT” about Glacier. 
After the late night shower fiasco we slept in until probably 10. Loralea and I made sausage peppers egg and cheese breakfast burritos. They were great. Well I made coffee first.

After breakfast we planned on doing the whole “Going to the Sun” road again and going out the east side of the park. I was hoping there would be cell signal there and that I could find some coffee creamer as I was running low and that was about the one indulgence that I really didn’t want to give up for camping. We hadn’t seen outside that side of the Park yet so it would make for a good day. Leo has come to travel well. He seems to be the most calm in the back there knowing everyone is in the car and where they should be, I can relate to that sense of peace to be honest. I’ve always said in their car seats is where my children are the safest in all of their lives. May or may not be true but they’re very safe. After breakfast I worked on trying to I re-fix the leaky gas tank on the Coleman camp stove, we’ll see. Once dishes were done and put away we hit the road. I was determined we were going to have a good day and stop at everything any child wanted to see and take every picture they wanted. 

We set out probably about 12:30 and the “Going to the Sun Road” did not disappoint. I was determined the girls were going to have good memories. This road is only about 50 miles but it takes a couple hours at least each way this time of year. Have I mentioned it’s really crowded? The first stop was at a piece or a pair of pieces of leftover snow and ice. Charlotte had seen it the firs time we came through and wanted to stop then but it was, surprise to crowded.   Today we had to drive past and come back twice to be able to find a spot. We made it happen though.

Lunchbox falls was the second stop. It’s a beautiful place. It started of with a bit of a continuing problem with Leo though. As we were walking up the trail tightened up for a short section and Leo freaked out. Not expecting it he knocked me over, George over into a scratchy tree, and Loralea into some mud. He was already on my list from his behavior yesterday but this, this behavior here and hurting my children pushed me over the edge. As I would tell it I put Leo indiscriminately on his side put a knee on him and yelled at him. As Loralea tells it I picked him up off the ground by his collar and only his tail was touching and put threw him down on his side and was mad at him for hurting my children. Both are probably pretty accurate. With that moment behind us Leo won’t make eye contact, he stays on the ground until I tell him he can get up an is perfectly behaved for the entire rest of the day. I mean directly to my left, never pulling, asking if he can drink some water before he approaches it, not barking and biting at the water and completely perfectly behaved. I’m optimistic we’ve turned a corner. 
The views both close up and far are all beautiful. This stop was turning into a delight. We stayed at Lunchbox falls a good while probably 30-45min.

When we got back in the car and continued east on “Going to the Sun Road”. We were slowing down and pointing out the different sites and admiring the beauty. Traffic was slow in spots and it’s a winding mountain scenic road but THIS is the destination so who’s to rush. 
Then we turned a bend and the traffic is at a complete stop. I knew. There’s something good going on. I can tell from how people are scrambling for cameras and scrounging to get a view, it’s a bear.  
Sure enough. 

​It was a delight to get to see one in the wild. I had seen one once before but it was from the box of a cable lift at Telluride and I was the only one that saw it so it wasn’t as big of a deal as this time.  This was a cool experience. After the bear finished his swim and seemingly disappeared into the vegetation within 4 steps we continued to the east entrance.

That night after dinner we were going to see the “We didn’t Start the Fire” presentation at the fish creek amphitheater. 

As usual everything here takes 8 times longer than it should so we leave to go 3 miles down the road with fifteen minutes before the presentation starts. When we arrived 40mins later we discovered it was a thirty-minute presentation and we walked in to hear the ranger deliver the final paragraph at most. We were all disappointed. Except that Loralea or George one, saw an opportunity and capitalized. The ranger was having a meet and greet q. & a. session after and they took the opportunity to get their Jr. Ranger books checked and subsequently sworn in. 

George is so bashful tonight that he had to be held by his sisters and he’d only stay if they stood with him. I love how he finds so much comfort and security in them.