Day 8

Since we left the campground without breakfast we consulted Road Food and found Stella's in Billings. Who could resist a restaurant that is famous for its cinnamon buns? We highly recommend them, but the ice cream scoop of butter on the side is a bit over the top.

Sufficiently full we left Billings and headed north to Glacier. It took us most of the day to get up there with a few pit stops (I'm pretty sure that we have seen every bathroom between VT and here, thanks for that kids) and some play time in a river

we made it to West Glacier. We found the best campground that we have stayed in so far this trip, cleverly named Glacier Campground. It was run by two super-friendly women and their two dogs; Porkchop (he was a rescue so they didn't have a say in his name!) and Maddy:

There were dogs all over the place, even two bassett hounds. We got there and actually set the tent up in daylight for the first time so we were able to make s'mores before bed:

The next morning we made our first attempt at cooking over a campfire; pancakes and hot chocolate-yum!

Then, on to Glacier National Park which does, in fact, still have glaciers despite what those who did not have the guidebook said. 

It is truly the most beautiful place that I have ever been. Every bit of the landscape is dramatic from the soaring mountains covered in pine trees and glaciers, to the rivers with crystal clear water, beautiful lakes, waterfalls and glacier flowers. On the advice of Nancy and Gerry LaPlante we took the Going to the Sun Road to Logan Pass. The road was built in the 1920's by groups of men who blasted the sides of the huge mountains. They built these one foot high stone walls that are very pretty but wouldn't stop anyone from falling over the edge. The road itself is quite a skinny one that can barely accommodate two SUV's. Honestly, it was terrifying, but the views made the frequent adrenaline rushes worthwhile!

We drove up to Logan Pass where we had intended to hike, but it was so packed that we had to turn around and come back down. Instead of hiking we stopped by the side of the MacDonald River (where the salmon come to spawn and the bald eagles and bears come to feast) and stuck our toes in the glacier water, so cold that it felt like your toes would fall off in 30 seconds. Rosie promptly lost her flip flops so Chris jumped into the frigid water and chased them down the river only to have to stand there while he waited for Emma's flip-flops to float down to him. 

We were almost to the bottom of the road when we saw this magnificent waterhole. Rushing water, little waterfalls and a large swimming hole, we couldn't resist.

The weather was warm and sunny so Chris and Max jumped off the rocks into the frigid water of the calm swimming hole. Look at the expression on Chris' face in this picture:

It was so cold he couldn't speak!

 Max set a world record getting out.

But then they turned around and did it again. Emma and Rosie got their suits on and dabbled for a bit. 

Then Emma got brave an jumped off the rocks too:

To be honest, I told her that I would buy all three of them an iPod touch if she jumped. When a teenage girl asked to get in on the promise I told her it was a safe bet because she would never do it. I should have remembered the time that we told her we would take her to Target if she won her freestyle heat at States. She beat her best time, won the heat and got out of the pool grinning and giving us a thumbs up. Oops. I reneged on the promise when she didn't do it, but after she did it without the bribe on the table, we are considering following through. Bad parenting all around, but it sure was funny! Emma voted for the swimming hole as the absolute best part of the trip so far.

After some shopping and a 3 pm lunch in West Glacier we set the GPS for Wenatchee, Washington and the Jorgensen family.