Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park, MT

 

Camping in a National Park

Yesterday we drove from Calgary to Glacier National Park for some camping and nature.  The border crossing from Alberta to Montana was easy.  The Border Agent was the nicest agent I have met.  He greeted us and even gave Francis a milk bone.

The drive was pretty easy except for the lack of rest stops.  We ended up stopping at a casino in Montana for a "rest".  

It rained lightly most of the night but we made due.  Dinner was quick to cook and then we were in the van for the rest of the night.  At 7pm we booked our Going to the Sun driving pass.  They only allow 300 cars during the day so we wanted to book early.  Booking opens at 7pm.

There is nothing like National Park Pour Over

Part of this nutritious breakfast!

They were still working on the road so there were a few construction stops.

We only made it about 1/3rd the way on the road until it closed.  We were not aware of the closure because when we entered the park we told them we were camping so they didn't let us know the road isn't fully open yet.  Now we know the road typically opens at the end of June or early July.  It's a lot of work.  It still a beautiful drive and we are glad we went.

Tomorrow we continue on with our final stop ultimately being in Minneapolis, MN, but there will be adventures along the way. 

That's it for today.  If you missed, The Call of Having a Home is Loud, check it out.  We lay out what we have planned for the next year.

Victoria -> Calgary Along the Trans Canada Highway

 Calgary, AB

At the Lake Louise Visitor's Center.  We didn't do the hike because it was crazy crowded.

Road Tripping Canada Eh

We left our tiny place in Victoria on Monday with a plan to camp and hotel along the Trans Canada highway and arrive on Saturday in Calgary for our month long stay.  Our first night was in Golden Ears Provincial Park just outside of Vancouver but first, we took the BC Ferry from Vancouver Island to the mainland.

A beautiful day for a boat ride!

Right at the end of the trip you pass through The US briefly.

Golden Ears was beautiful

10/10 would poop here again.

Francis helps us set up our campground.

We were pretty much alone in the campsite.

We finally drank our French 75 from our Alesong stop in Eugene.

Donna played chef for the evening and made us amazing Cajun Skillet.

Our 2nd night was in a Hilton in Kamloops, BC.  We couldn't really find any good camping along the route we were taking because it is so early in the season and everything in the mountains was closed.  

There were some nice rest stops along our route.

In Kamloops we got really great Korean Fried Chicken.

We also found out we were headed for a late snow storm so we altered our plan.  We booked a hotel in Golden, BC and cancelled our campsite that will be covered in 2 feet of snow shortly.

After a good night's sleep in Kamloops, we continued on to our next camping night in Herald Provincial Park.  It was a beautiful campsite and there was a great hike to an epic waterfall.

Nice detail on the picnic tables here at the park.

The next day we did a 3 hour drive to Golden, BC for our hotel stay.  We also got to visit a cool footbridge and a brewery.  It was a nice stay and we were avoiding a ton of snow and snow driving.

Morning breakfast and birding is always the best part of camping.

Donna spotted our first Morel mushroom.  We left it for the wildlife to eat.

The cool footbridge in Golden was a cool place to walk.

We shared a flight of beer at Whitetooth Brewing.  The beers were very good.

The view from our motel was nicer than the motel itself.

When we found out about the snow storm we contacted our Airbnb in Calgary and checked to see if we could extend our stay and check in a day early.  We were in luck and she added a night to our trip so we did the drive from Golden to Calgary on Friday and checked in for our month long stay.

Our drive took us through Banff.  We stopped at a visitors center and checked some stuff out.  The hike to Lake Louise was packed so we skipped it and ate lunch in the parking lot instead.

If we get bored in Calgary we may return to Banff for the gondola ride.

We got lunch in Calgary and took it to a local brewery to wait for our Airbnb to be ready.

We are now in Calgary in the Airbnb and getting settled.  It's in a pretty good location and there is a lot of room compared to Victoria.  We are looking forward to exploring Calgary for the next month.

That's it for today.  If you missed, On The Road To Calgary, check it out.  It's a very quick on the road update.