A Little Ditty about Fran and Diane...Two American Gals Traveling in the West Land

At the Lake Crescent Lodge in Olympic National Park

Diane's red cross at Many Glacier Lodge

Hiking in the snow at Glacier National Park

Red bus jammer tour to Waterton International Peace Park

Mom, Diane, and bears - Oh My!

Fran and Diane's perfect waterfall - shaped like a bottle of wine!

At the end of my first week at Glacier National Park my mom and her best friend, Diane, flew out for a visit.  They picked me up in Browning before we headed up to an area of the park called Many Glacier (named because there are indeed many glaciers in the area).  We checked into the Many Glacier Lodge – a timber structure built by the Great Northern Railroad back in the early 1900s. The hotel is rustic and beautiful – no air, no elevator, no phones, no TV, but an amazing view of Swiftcurrent Lake and the majestic peaks that surround it.  It took mom and Diane a bit to get used to the no air and no elevator.  The four flights of stairs provided nightly entertainment for me as I listened to the 2 ladies prepare for the climb.  Diane was relieved to know that our room was directly across from the clinic – labeled with a red cross.  J  After further exploration, she learned that every door was adorned with a red cross because the lodge is modeled after a Swiss ski chalet and the red cross was used for the room numbers.  That gave us a good laugh.  In fact, my entire week and a half with mom and Diane was filled with good laughs.  They were troopers while visiting Glacier National Park.  Our few days at Many Glacier were filled with hiking, boating, and learning about the park and the Native American tribes that surround the park – Blackfeet, Kootenai, and Salish.  Mom and Diane even tried hiking on snow covered trails.  They had a unique strategy for descending the snow covered hill – traversing the hill as if they were on skis.  Whatever works I guess!  We enjoyed our red bus jammer tour with our awesome guide, Ray, to the Canadian portion of the park – Waterton International Peace Park.  We learned a lot, took in some amazing views, and even had high tea at the Prince of Wales Lodge – fancy, I know!  We left after 3 days and headed west toward Seattle via Going-to-the-Sun road.  We stopped at a park visitor center in St. Mary to learn more about the local Native American tribes.  The exhibits are so interesting complete with photographs and video of the tribe members speaking in their native languages.  It’s amazing to learn about how these incredible people lived for so long off of just the land.  We made another stop on the west side of the park for lunch.  Following lunch, Diane and I waited in line for some ice cream while mom went to a store to grab a couple of waters for the road.  Mom walked out of the store with a bag and I watched her walk over to a table, set her bag down next to a stranger, and then begin talking to this young lady.  It took me a minute to realize that mom thought the stranger was me!  The poor girl looked so confused so finally I called from the line, “Mom, you know that’s not me, right?”  Haha…oh mom!  There is never a dull moment with these two wonderful ladies.  I was the navigator while mom drove toward Seattle.  We were passing a river and mom and Diane wanted to know the name of the river.  I found it on the map – Nine Mile River.  Only problem was that my brain was still stuck learning about the Native American language so I pronounced it “nina meelay”.  Shortly thereafter I realized mom and Diane were rubbing off on me!  We enjoyed another good laugh.  A one-night stop in Spokane and several rounds of “I Spy” later we arrived in Seattle.

After a couple of incorrect turns we found our cozy condo at Harbor Steps.  This was a perfect spot on the 15^th floor of a building in the middle of all the hustle bustle of downtown Seattle.  We unpacked and quickly made our way to Pike Place Market.  I know this is a touristy area of Seattle…but it is SO cool!  Surrounding the market are streets filled with street performers, ethnic food markets, Piroshky, Piroshky (an amazing bakery we frequented), and the original Starbucks of course!  The market itself has fresh fruits, veggies, pastas, fish, and flowers as far as you can see in addition to local vendors selling their crafts and artwork of choice.  For those of you who don’t know mom and Diane, they met 30+ years ago working for SunTrust Bank (then First Virginia Bank, I think).  They are two of the funniest, craziest, kindest ladies you’ll ever meet and they are up for ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.  We left no stone unturned in the Seattle area.  We took a day trip to Mt. Rainier.  When we left in the morning the fog was so thick that it was difficult to see a few feet in front of the car.  However, as we approached the park the fog lifted and we were rewarded with an amazing view of the monstrous peak.  We enjoyed our day there.  We spent 2 days in Olympic National Park where mom got her first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean.  She and Diane loved the time we spent at the tidal pools and in the Hoh Rain Forest (or the enchanted forest as they called it).  We drove up to Hurricane Ridge because I wanted to show mom and Diane the breathtaking view of the Olympic Mountain Range.  The drive up was so cloudy and foggy that I considered turning around.  I’m so glad we didn’t because as we turned the corner we had the most gorgeous, clear view of the mountains.  We also had perfect timing because 15 minutes later the mountains were gone – hidden behind a fog blanket.  We stayed a night at the Lake Crescent Lodge and enjoyed the beautiful view, yummy food, and friendly people.  Back in Seattle we went to Pioneer Square and toured the Seattle Underground…this was completely fascinating and we learned a lot about the history of Seattle.  We ventured to Chinatown to enjoy some performances at Dragon Fest and we had a delicious Mediterranean meal at Café Paloma.  We visited the Seattle Aquarium and enjoyed learning about the Pacific Coast sea life.  These sea creatures are so different from our east coast sea creatures.  We browsed through the Seattle Art Museum for a few hours.  As the world’s best Nordstrom shoppers, mom and Diane just had to see the original Nordstrom’s.  They agreed that it was just like every other Nordstrom and for the first time they both left without purchasing anything (only because they had no extra room in their suitcases).  We took the monorail to Seattle Center – the sight of the 1962 World’s Fair and ascended the Space Needle because you just have to do some touristy things when you’re a tourist.  From the top we had a great view of the different sections of the city including the Lake Union floating homes (as seen in Sleepless in Seattle).  For me it felt strange to be in a large city after being in National Parks all summer.  I really enjoyed Seattle though.  Every day was filled with new sights, yummy food, shopping, and the unbeatable company of mom and Diane.  It was an absolute blast.  On our way back east we stayed a night at the Outlook Inn – a bed and breakfast in Somers, Montana.  The home had a beautiful view of Flathead Lake and best of all we got to love on Sammy and Blondie – two golden retrievers.  Mom and Diane stayed to have dinner with me at Bison Creek Ranch before heading back to Great Falls to catch their flight home.  I was really sad to see them go.  I would love to travel with the two of them again – my belly hurt from laughing at and with them.  I wish I could share more funny stories…but some are just not appropriate enough for the blog!  Mom and Diane have a zest for life that everyone should be lucky enough to have.  So, mom and Diane...tell me...what are the Greatest Hits?   HAHA! J 

At Seattle's Gum Wall - yuck!

Pike Place Peppers

Pike Place Flowers

Pacific Coast jumpy pic!

Can you see the flying fish?

"Glacier National Park is so beautiful that it will mess you up for the rest of your life." - Pat Hagan

Bison Creek Ranch restaurant

Bison Creek Ranch - my cabin is the one on the right.

Keith and his daughter, Molly - part of my ranch family

My fetch buddy - Ponder



Chef Aaron - always cooks with a smile

We arrived in the town of East Glacier Park, Montana at the beginning of July.  Here is my experience during my first week as a temporary Montanan:  We turned down the gravel road beneath the sign for Bison Creek Ranch and caught the first glimpse of my home for the next month.  Bison Creek Ranch has been owned by the Schauf family since the 1950s.  Jake and I walked into the restaurant on the property and were greeted by Aaron – a member of the awesome Schauf family.  Aaron and the other family members (mom – Nancy, dad – Keith, and sister – Molly) live and work on the ranch.  This wonderful family also includes furry friends – Ponder (a spaniel) and Arlo and Gertie (2 pugs).  Jake and I are missing Tillie like crazy so we were so very happy to be greeted by the pups.  After a long day of traveling Jake and I were excited to have the restaurant just steps from our door.  We enjoyed one of the best dinners of our trip.  Aaron just finished his degree in culinary arts and he’s super passionate and excited about cooking.  For a great price dinner includes homemade soup, salad, meat, potato (baked, mashed, fries, or homefries), veggies, bread, and a scoop of homemade ice cream.  During dinner we got to know Molly and several of the ranch guests including Shawna and Stacy from Phoenix, Arizona.  We slept well after a long day of traveling.  The ranch is a bed and breakfast, so I get to start every day with a home-cooked hot breakfast.  I LOVE breakfast!  Jake had to drive to Browning, Montana (about 13 miles from East Glacier Park) to check in at the hospital for his pharmacy rotation.  Browning is in the middle of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.  While he was away, I went to eat breakfast.  Shawna and Stacy would not let me eat on my own and insisted that I sit at their table.  2 hours later we had full bellies and enjoyed a great morning chat.  Shawna is a 3^rd grade teacher and she and Stacy have done a lot of traveling so we had lots to talk about.  When Jake returned from Browning we headed into Glacier National Park to explore.  We had to purchase some bear spray as this park is home to many black and grizzly bears.  No one hikes without it, including the rangers.  When used properly, it ensures that both humans and bears stay safe.  We traveled through the park via the Going-to-the-Sun Road that hugs the mountain side up and over the continental divide offering spectacular views of the snow-capped mountains and glacier-carved valleys.  After exploring for a bit I drove Jake home to Browning.  The drive from East Glacier Park to Browning is beautiful.  The landscape changes from jagged mountains to rolling plains open as far as you can see and dotted with herds of bison, cows, and horses.  I got my first glimpse of Browning as we crested a small hill.  The first 2 buildings in town are the Museum of the Plains Indians and the Casino.  There is a lot of poverty in Browning.  Jake is living in a 6 bedroom trailer within walking distance of the hospital.  He has 4 roommates – Mark (an optometry student from UConn), Melanie (a pharmacy student from Drake University), and Tiffany and Laura (pharmacy students from Sanford College).  They are all very nice and seem excited to be here.  There are 2 permanent fixtures on Jake’s trailer porch – Chewy and Blondie – “res” dogs they call them.  I am already in love with Chewy and Blondie and told Jake we need to make some extra room in the car to bring them both home with us.  There are hundreds of "res" dogs roaming the streets.  Some belong to members of the tribe, but most are strays.  I want to take each and every one of them home. 
I spent the next 2 days on the ranch while Jake started his rotation at the hospital in Browning.  I walked around the town of East Glacier Park to meet some of the local business owners and chat with them.   I promised my mom I would not hike alone, so I spent some time researching the ranger led programs in the park and there are tons of them.  I met up with a ranger in an area of the park called Two Medicine for a nature hike where I learned a lot about the plant life in this area.  I enjoyed eating my packed lunches each day at Two Medicine Lake – a beautifully crystal clear glacial lake backed by Rising Wolf and Sinopah Mountains.  I also spent some time in the evenings at nearby East Glacier Lodge where I met some rangers and learned lots of good stuff at their nightly fireside chats and enjoyed free cowboy music in front of the huge fireplace.  One of the fireside chats was with a 26 year veteran park ranger named Pat Hagan.  He started his chat with the quote in the title of my blog - "Glacier National Park is so beautiful that it will mess you up for the rest of your life."  I am beginning to understand what he was talking about.  Back at the ranch, I enjoyed eating and chatting with Shawna and Stacy and another sweet retired couple from Rapid City, South Dakota – Greg and Sharlyn.  It was like being at adult summer camp and I loved every second of it.  Jake had a good first 2 days of work at the pharmacy filled with orientation, culture training, and a LOT of paperwork.  I went to pick him up on Tuesday night because he had July 4^th off.  He got to spend the night on the ranch and enjoy the home cooked breakfast with me the next morning.  We took a drive up to the northeastern side of the park called Many Glacier – named because it has many glaciers.  There are only 26 glaciers left in the park.  We set out on a hike to Ptarmigan Falls.  On our way we met a nice couple who stopped in Glacier on their move from Chicago to Southern California.  Turns out the girl, Mo, went to the University of Richmond and swam with a girl Jake knows from high school – small world.  She and her husband, Matt, were great company.  The hike to the falls was spectacular.  Most of the hikes on our trip have been tree covered with occasional views.  This hike was on the edge of a mountain with unobstructed views of the Glacier Rockies.  There was almost too much to see at once!  When we arrived at the falls, we stopped to enjoy the sights, sounds, and clean air.  Mo and Matt continued on.  On our hike back we met Jason and Gretchen from the twin cities area in Minnesota.  They were so much fun and made the hike back enjoyable.  We grabbed a quick tailgate lunch and headed out for another hike at the Swiftcurrent trailhead to Red Rock Falls.  There were fewer people on this trail, so Jake and I chatted loudly and I made up a few songs with rhyming lyrics to make sure we didn’t surprise any bears.  Songs make the hikes go by faster for me (I don't know about Jake because he has to listen to my awful voice).  We soon arrived at Red Rock Falls.  Waterfalls never get old to us.  We are in awe every time we stand at the base or top of a waterfall and hear the roaring, feel the mist, and see the power of water.  It is just awesome every time.  After a long day of hiking we spent the evening enjoying dinner and music at the East Glacier Lodge.  I have spent the last 12 July 4^th’s in the Outer Banks watching fireworks over the water.  So, I was a little bummed to hear there were no scheduled firework shows near the park.  However, Jake and I returned to Browning and were greeted by a sky lit up for miles by fireworks.  It was the perfect ending to a beautiful day spent outside enjoying Glacier National Park.  We are looking forward to so many more days of exploring this awesome place.  We hope all is well where you are!

Driving the Going-to-the-Sun Road

Beargrass - misnamed by Lewis and Clark as bears do not eat it

Would you consider working here on Orcas Island?

Our view from the top of Mt. Constitution

A young orca swimming

Quaint town of Eastsound

Eastsound shop

We spent the last few days of June in the San Juan Islands on lovely and peaceful Orcas Island.  To get here we had to take a ferry.  So we spent a night in the port town of Anacortes and were pleasantly surprised by this little spot.  We stayed in a little inn about 20 blocks from downtown that served free fresh baked chocolate chip cookies at 6:00 pm (thanks dad).  We spent the afternoon exploring the waterfront and downtown area.  As we were exploring we ran into Angel (a yellow lab) accompanied by her kind owner.  It’s funny how we always get the dog’s name but sometimes not the owner’s.  We had a nice walk and chat with Angel and her owner.  He told us we were going to fall in love with Orcas Island.  Later in our walk we spotted two guys carrying a little john boat out of a Marine Store.  We were about 15 blocks from the marina and we thought surely they wouldn’t be carrying the boat all the way there.  We watched them walk about 3 blocks before we started to pass them.  As we passed I offered to help them carry the boat.  They looked very relieved and said if we didn’t mind helping they would appreciate it because they had to make it all the way to the marina.  Jake gave me the most evil look…oops!  So about 10 minutes later we were at the marina winded and sweating from carrying a boat down the sidewalk.  The nice gentlemen thanked us profusely and also told us we would fall in love with Orcas.  Jake informed me that although they were nice they were not very smart.  They had a truck parked at the marina and should have driven to the boat store to pick up their purchase.  Oh well – we can’t all be smart at everything! J  We turned in early that evening because we had to be up at 4:30 and at the ferry dock by 5:15 to catch the 6:15 ferry.  We boarded the ferry to Orcas Island and were lucky enough to have the sunrise as our boat ride entertainment.  We arrived on Orcas and made our way to the other side of the island to a little town called Rosario.  We reserved a room with a bathroom, microwave, and fridge through vrbo.com.  When we arrived, we met the owner, Torrey (a retired special education teacher).  After chatting with her for a while she told us she wanted to give us a wedding gift and she gave us the other part of the unit which included a big living room and kitchen for no additional charge.  How sweet is that?!?  So, we were spoiled rotten with our accommodations.  We originally thought Orcas was a volcanic island, but it’s not.  The San Juan Islands all used to be mountain peaks.  At some point the valleys were filled in with water and the mountain peaks became islands.  I’ve become a lot more interested in geology on this trip.  Some pretty crazy things happen to form this beautiful land we live in.  Our condo was just up the hill from the Rosario mansion – the private home of Robert Moran (mayor of Seattle back in the day).  It is now a resort with a really cool museum on the 2nd floor.  We headed to the main town on Orcas Island called Eastsound.  It actually reminded us a lot of Manteo, NC and we both fell in love with it pretty quickly.  The shop owners were super friendly and always up for a chat.  The town had lots of quirky and yummy local restaurants.  We enjoyed strolling through the town and browsing through the shops.  The next day we headed out on a whale watching adventure.  We took a boat out of a town on the other end of the U-shaped island called Deer Harbor.  We spent about an hour traveling through the San Juan Islands and ventured into Canadian waters to meet up with a group of transient orca whales.  We had a naturalist on board who taught us a ton about resident and transient orcas.  The first sighting of these amazing creatures was so very exciting.  There is something so cool about seeing an animal in its natural habitat.  We were able to observe the orcas for about an hour – an adult male, adolescent male, a couple of adult females, and 2 young.  It was just awesome!  On the boat ride back we saw some harbor seals basking in the sun and a beautiful bald eagle.  We cooked in every night on the island because we were so excited to actually have a kitchen instead of our camping stove!  We enjoyed lots of good meals with an awesome view from our deck.  Our condo was within walking distance of Moran State Park.  We enjoyed a great hike around the lake and to Cascade Falls and loved the view from Mt. Constitution.  We returned to the quaint town of Eastsound and decided to visit the only pharmacy on the island – an independent pharmacy called Ray’s.  Jake was immediately drawn to the section dedicated to northwestern wine and ciders.  While looking at the different labels we were approached by an employee who made some wine recommendations and talked with us a little about the pharmacy.  He turned out to be the owner of Ray’s pharmacy and was very interested in talking with Jake about school and his time working at Pitt Street (an independent compounding pharmacy in Mt. Pleasant).  At the end of the conversation he said, “Would you consider working here on Orcas Island?”.   Then he gave Jake his contact information and asked him to stay in touch.  I think that counts as Jake’s first job offer as a pharmacist! J  It was fun to think about living on Orcas.  It sure is a beautiful spot with friendly people.  It’s laid back and has lots of places to explore.  The only downside is it’s a long way from the people we love.  Neither of us were ready to leave this mountain top island.  It felt like a good home for a few days.  We will definitely be back – at least to visit.  We hope all is well where you are!

A pod of transient orcas