Aug 12 & 13

August 12

Today is our Glacier National Park day. We woke up earlier than usual (7 am) and all the other campers were gone.We wondered if they knew something we didn't but it doesn't seem to be so. Perhaps they just all wanted to get into the park early so they could take their time.
When we got to the gate we were told we couldn't go through - shock! We went through in 2004 with no problem but I guess they are cracking down. The length limit is 21 feet and we are just over that. Turned out to be interesting anyway as we took the road around the park and got to see some places and things we would have missed otherwise. East Glacier was a fabulous area and we stopped to walk around the Glacier Park Lodge which looks like a CN hotel in Canada - absolutely beautiful!
As we drove toward West Glacier we saw this pull-in called Paola Creek River Access so we pulled in to have lunch.We were the only people around; the water in the creek was turquoise and running pretty fast. Norm wanted to stay for a couple of days but there's still too much to see in this area. We were about 30 miles from West Glacier when we spotted a fire on one of the mountains. Very scary especially since within 5 minutes we could smell the smoke.
Stopped for the day at the Apgar Campground in Glacier National Park. The weather has warmed up quite a bit here but not as bad as it was on our way up to Canada. This campground, however, does not have power, cable or internet access so can't do too much that way. Miles driven = 125.7

August 13

Today was a long day - 10 hours driving but we did our usual thing which is to avoid highways whenever possible and take the alternate routes. We try to always take the less traveled road so of course, it always takes us longer than everyone else. A couple of the scenic byways we took were disappointing because there were all these beautiful views and no place to stop so we just had to keep going 60 mph past them all. We did stop in Wallace, Idaho to walk around. It's a very old town with several mining museums and a brothel museum which we really got a kick out of. We were getting desperate to find a place to stay as we were ready to stop about 4 pm but there wasn't anything around at that time. Then we took the scenic route so it took another two hours before we got somewhere.

We stopped in Potlatch, Idaho. A quaint little village of 970 people. In the middle of town is the Scenic 6 Historical Park with 20 camp spots with full services for $15 per day- unheard of! We're the 5th camper here. The campground host recommended the local bar "Wagon Wheel Bar and Grill" for dinner, and a great recommendation it was.
Miles driven = 325.9