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?