We headed back east on Tuesday after lunch, taking Highway 2 from Deer Park, WA to Kalispell, MT. We've done this route two or three times before but always in the fog or at night. It's a beautiful drive. We dreamed of buying a cabin somewhere here when we retire. It just can't be on a cliff. That's my only requirement.
I still wasn't too confident driving in hilly and mountainous terrain with the big van and trailer so I designated Chet to do this part. After a few hours, he was getting tired so I agreed to take over. The roads weren't too bad on this section and we only had an hour to go. While he started to nod off in the passenger seat, I started to get comfortable with the drive. I came around a corner, downhill, and saw a small SUV in the oncoming lane with the words "oversize load" written on the bumper. I didn't see any oversize load anywhere near it and I didn't give it a second thought.
As I approached the SUV, I noticed it was moving at a snail's pace. All of a sudden, I see a small stop sign being waved slowly out the driver's window. I could only see half of it. The SUV's mirror blocked the other half. I'm driving almost 70mph downhill with a big vehicle and a trailer and I almost didn't stop in time. I was watching the truck behind me in my mirrors and he was within inches of rear-ending us. I was able to stop so my window lined up with the SUV's window.
"Yeah, there's a wide load coming." the woman said. "Stay here until..."
I interrupted her.
"I hardly saw you." I said, out of breath. "I hardly had any time to stop and I'm pulling a trailer."
"Oh, really?" she said, in almost monotone. "Maybe I'll move farther around the curve."
That would be great, I thought. Or perhaps get a larger stop sign.
I didn't get too many photos of our time in Kalispell. We had a lovely visit with family and friends on Tuesday evening at Conor and Heather's and the kids spent most of their time in the pool.
On Wednesday, the ladies made a Costco run to get food and supplies for our upcoming four days at Glacier. The guys got the fun part and got to bring the kids to Big Mountain to go on the alpine slides.
I was the lifeguard in the afternoon at the pool and all of my kids plus nieces/nephews wanted to ride in my boat. It was the easiest lifeguard job ever.
That evening, we went to visit our very first friends as a married couple, Dan & MaryAnna at their new place in Columbia Falls. We each have seven kids and all of them have someone their age. Someday, I hope they get tired of the mountains and they decide to move back.
I have to give my baby some credit for this leg of the trip because she went right to sleep both nights and slept for at least 9 hours. On the second morning, she woke up earlier than the toddlers and I snuck her into the house from the camper so the toddlers could sleep.
A while later, I sent Chet out to check on the toddlers. Both were crying. Henry was walking from his bed to the door and had fallen from the couch into Willow's crib. The side of the crib had fallen down. He was stuck with his upper body down in the crib. Ruby was crying because she was trying to help him and, "I couldn't find you!" she cried to Chet.
That morning, we loaded up the van and camper and made our way east towards East Glacier. St. Mary KOA to be more specific. We had loaded up on Krispy Kreme donuts in Kalispell and while we drove, we chowed down. There were a lot of trains on this route and our train expert, Henry, pointed out each one, with his Krispy Kreme hat on and chocolate all over his face.
"There's a train. It's moving."
"There's a train. It's stopped."
"There's a train. It's stopped. It's moving! Guys, It's moving!"
"This is where you change your baby." she said, importantly. "Then, when you are done, you have to lift your baby in the air." She pointed to the picture.
We were the first of my family to reach the campground. Overachievers, we are. Our 20 year old tiny trailer was so cute next to all the huge motorhomes and fifth wheels. We didn't even see any of our neighbors the whole time we were there. People must just park and stay inside their RV's the whole time.
We had a deluxe patio site so that's why there is a patio. We didn't pack the patio bricks and set it all up, nor did we pack the patio furniture. We did, however, have many people walk by, literally stop and stare at our family. I almost started charging them. Our site looked like a yard sale compared to all the fancy big rigs and their impeccable lawns. But we're camping. We will hang towels and swimsuits outside without shame.
We hit up the pool while we waited for the rest of the families to arrive. This was the kids' favorite thing about our whole trip. Never mind the beautiful national park we are visiting. All they cared about was the pool.
And this little fishy surprised me. She was so petrified of the pool at Conor and Heather's, but as soon as she hopped into this pool, she swam away like she had been doing her whole life.
The views here are amazing. This KOA isn't nearly as nice as the one at West Glacier, or so I've been told, but the views are much better. The wildfires clouded the view somewhat but I wasn't complaining.
To be continued...
Comments
Post a Comment