Roadtrippin Part 2
Day 8
We left off with a great workout at Crossfit Bozeman before starting the day. We had booked a fly fishing trip in Craig, Montana on the Missouri River for the afternoon. It was going to be about 3 hours of driving so while Austin was making a stop at a store I got us coffees and breakfast burritos to hold us over. We got to drive through some small towns and see a lot of different landscapes. As we approached Craig we found our RV spot for the night and got settled in for 25$ which included full hookups!
After taking Jax for a swim in the river we made some lunches to take with us and headed for the fishing shop. Austin had booked us a half day trip with Head Hunters Fly Shop. We met guide at the fly shop and got driven to the starting point. After a bit of instruction he had me fly fishing in no time.
I will admit I never looked like a natural but for some reason I kept catching fish! The guide did say that the fish weren't as hot as they normally are, but it also was a hot day. I caught at least three fish and one being over 20 inches!
For that area, he said any rainbow trout over 20 inches is bragging rights! I did feel bad that Austin was so excited about it and didn't catch a single fish but it's the way it goes sometimes.
After our trip with the guide, we got back to the fly shop and headed to the campsite to check on Jax who was napping in the camper with the AC on.
After eating some food we had in the camper we decided to head back to the river and do some fishing from shore. Austin tried out some flies he had purchased and Jax and I watched from the shore!
When the sun finally set for the day we headed back to our camper to get a good nights sleep before heading to Whitefish in the morning to pick up our friend Lauren from the airport and enjoy the next leg of the roadtrip.
Day 9
We started with an early morning and hit a gas station in the next town. While Austin was filling up with diesel I stopped for a latte at a coffee trailer. The wind started coming in so strong that I ran for cover in her trailer. She had created a food truck coffee shop that services the small town, so it's permanently parked next to the gas station. I watched as some locals came by and ordered up their usual drinks.
When we made it to Whitefish, we waited at the wrong airport for 30 minutes before finally realizing it..... We finally got Lauren in the truck and headed for town to hopefully grab some food and stock up on drinks for the upcoming music festival.
Before the trip we had purchased Under the Big Sky Music Festival tickets for 2 out of 3 days and planned to attend Saturday and Sunday. This music festival takes place on a ranch in Whitefish, MT with beautiful backdrops of the mountains and an amazing line-up of up and coming music artists. We had purchased our tickets in February and at the time there was zero availability for rv sites, air bnb, or hotels. After calling a board and breakfast (for horses) to see if we could park our camper in their field we got the contact for a local in town. We ended up being able to park at her house for 100$ a night. Still seems a bit much but we were a mile from the venue and it was literally our only option!
After getting settled in we shared some wine with the couple whose home it was and one bottle led to another that then led to grilling up food and making dinner at their house instead of grabbing dinner in town.
Here are a list of some great restaurants in Whitefish that we didn't get the chance to check out but came highly recommended from some locals:
Day 10
After getting to bed a little late, Austin and I, had to get up early to drive Jax into town to his Rover reservation with a girl named Dani. Jax seemed to really like her dog and we had him stay there for two days while we enjoyed the festival. After dropping him off, we hit up a Crossfit gym, Big Mountain. We got a fun work out in and met some others traveling in for the festival. On the way back, we grabbed a coffee for ourselves and Lauren, then showered and got ready for the day. We then headed up for some champagne with the other couple who was staying in the tree house at the same property. It was their wedding anniversary! After a bit we started getting ready to head to the festival.
It was about a mile walk so we loaded up on a beverage and started walking! On our way we met some llamas!
Once we got to the festival we were sooo glad we went with VIP tickets! The venue has two stages so its on the smaller side. However, the bathrooms are a good walk in the middle of the two stages; with VIP tickets you get A/C bathrooms right next to the stages. It was definitely hot with temperatures in the low 90's and since it started early you were there in the hottest part of the day. Let's just say, the AC bathrooms were a great way to cool down!
Prior to our trip I had made a playlist compiled of all the artists that were going to be playing at the festival and we listened to it a lot on our drives. At this point we had our favorites that we really wanted to see perform live and planned out our day based on those.
Day 11
We enjoyed the days filled with music, good food, and fun people! Here is a video I made of a compilation of some of our favorites artists!
At the end of the day we were sad it was over but our feet were happy!
Day 12
We woke up, made breakfast and started packing up the camper and getting it loaded for the next day of travel. After dropping Lauren off at the airport we picked up Jax from his dog sitters and headed to Glacier National Park.
We had been lucky and had amazing weather for the festival but the clouds were coming in and rain was projected in the forecast. We made it into the park by purchasing a boat tour since there were no more day passes available. In order to travel on the "Going to the Sun" road you have to had a pass which has to be purchased ahead of time. When I started to plan this trip 5 months ago it was already sold out. They open them up for purchase 24 hours before the day you plan to go but those also were sold out before I could get to them. This is when I found out about purchasing a boat tour that you have to travel on this road to get to and then they let you in! This is the link where I checked in about the pass.
You can get to Two Medicine and Many Glacier with just a park pass, however, after driving on the going to the sun road I understand why it is a MUST see!
Once we got inside the park we started heading down the "Going to the Sun Road" we got to a couple switchbacks and realized there was no going back. With the cab over camper on the truck we got flagged down by a bus yelling at us that "you are too big for this road". Unfortunately there was a line of cars in both directions and no shoulder to turn around on.. So, we took a deep breath and decided to take our chances. The road is very narrow and the cliffs hang over which is why tall vehicles can't go. We got VERY lucky that we made it through and luckily we were going the direction we were so the vehicle traveled on the outside lane. On this drive we saw some of the most spectacular views and at some points I even felt a bit scared with how the road was essentially on the ledge.
It's honestly indescribable and the photos due no justice for the vast beauty. The stormy weather made for no hikes, but I had researched some and planned to do at least one. This is a blog that I thought was well done and had great breakdowns of hikes.
After the storm continued we ended up getting to the end of the park and checking out Many Glacier but the rain was coming down hard so we opted to take the loop passing through East Glacier and coming out West Glacier. On the way back I found a hike that was short and took us to the beautiful lake shown in the bottom three pictures above. It was the perfect distance to stretch our legs and let Jax run and thankfully the rain stayed away just long enough!
After grabbing a quick bite for dinner we drove a couple more hours and found a spot to land for the night.
Day 13
As much as we were enjoying our trip we knew we were on the home stretch. The next morning we continued on the road until we saw some signs for Kootenai Falls Park. We ended up stopping here and making some breakfast in the camper. After that we enjoyed a short hike to a waterfall and checked out a suspension bridge.
After a little pit stop we continued on. We ended up stopping when we got to Coeur d'alene, ID and had a late lunch at a brewery. Neither of us felt the need to stay here much longer, maybe because it was the end of the trip but we decided to continue on. We ended up making it to our friends house just outside of Portland, OR and staying there for the night. We always enjoy seeing them and catching up so it was nice. Once we got settled we were exhausted from the long day of driving.
Day 14
And as every trip goes, the long haul back home and back to reality. We stopped for a quick breakfast and coffee before leaving town and then made the 8 hour journey all the way back home. We had a lot to reminisce about during the drive and we both were so thankful we decided to make the road trip. I highly recommend all of the places we visited and we do hope to be able to go back to Glacier National Park and be able to spend more time there.
Comentarios