Day 6: Heading south to Wyoming

Today wasn't an extremely eventful day, but it sure beats some of the alternatves so here goes. Here's the photos; some keepers in the bunch from Glacier.

Wednesday night I spent doing laundry, and getting ready to start the second major leg of the trip back to Chicago. I got up pretty early, and figured I should get my money's worth out of the Season's Pass to the National Park System, so I decided to head north from the Rodeway Inn towards West Glacier and Going to the Sun Highway.

Before I left the hotel, I obviously had to pack up once again, and got annnoyed that I don't seem to be dropping any weight along the way. For some reason, I have this hope that the next time I go to pack my car I'll have fewer things. But with the exception of trash, there isn't much I'm getting rid of. Most vacations work that way, you come home with what you brought.

But I decided to do something about it and get rid of one item I didn't need. I looked through my suitcase, and there were two candidates to make Kalispell, MT their home: 1) Magnets from my refrigerator and 2) a pair of hiking/water shoes. I decided to go with # 2 but only after I gave those shoes one last chance to be comfortable and/or functional. I've worn those shoes in Asia, across the country on my trip to Seattle, and countless other times only to be disappointed that they really aren't that comfortable. But as a shoe whore, cutting bait on a pair of good looking shoes is not easy, so I gave them the day to redeem themselves. And as a sucker for nostalgia, I hate letting go of those shoes I had some great trips with.

But after a day wearing those suckers, I'm officially done with them.

Once I got over my "big decision" for the day (what to ditch), I headed to Glacier once again. Before entering the park, I stopped in to say goodbye to Roger at his camera store. If you're ever in West Glacier, make sure to stop by and pick up something from them. Here's Roger hard at work with his ma. He's got a brother in Chicago who I'll have to catch up with once I get settled down.




I then headed towards Lake McDonald, which is one of the more famous vistas in Glacier. I snapped a few photos, and took the highway as far as I could before I saw "End of the Road" signs.

Since I took 93 up from Missoula to Kalispell, I decided to take 83 on the way back south, so I could see a bit more of the east side of Flathead Lake. There was some great views of Mountains, and I took whatever pics I could on the way south from Glacier. Sometime during the drive, I noticed I had about 10% left with my car's oil life, and that I'd need an oil change before I head to Wyoming. I wasn't going to make it to Yellowstone in a day, so I decided to take 83 south and head back to Missoula for the night. I'd get the oil changed, catch the first game of the NBA finals, then head to Wyoming in the AM.

I settled back in to Missoula around 7 PM, and headed to Mo's once again for a cheeseburger, since its a place I'm familiar with and like the burgers. On the way back from dinner, it occured to me I haven't eaten a vegetable in about a week. I know my gut isn't great at handling veggies since the surgery, but that's a bit long for me. So tomorrow I'll make sure to eat some form of a vegetable.

As I said in the intro, today wasn't a day filled with highlights; lots of time to think about what's to come once I head back to Chicago. I'm excited to be near friends and family, and the great city of Chicago, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit concerned about the work situation. I wouldn't say it took the shine out of the trip, but it has occured to me in the last 24 hours that eventually the trip has to come to an end, and I'll need to get back to work. I don't mention it to be a downer, just wanted to paint an accurate picture of what's shaking between my ears. I guess that reality means I should continue enjoying every minute I have on the road, and having fun along the way. So its off to Wyoming in the AM.

I have a reader question to answer, so I'm including that here at the end:

Question: Is Annie enjoying the trip?
Answer: I have no idea if this is the greatest thing she's ever done or just another day. For those who know Annie, she is an impossible creature to figure out. But after having her for 2 and a half years, I believer Annie's ideal 24 hour day includes:
20 Hours of sleep
1 Hour of running around, walking like a dog and peeing on everything in sight
1 Hour of sitting in the car, checking life out
2 Hours of begging, eating, barking and causing trouble.

On this trip, this balance is way out of whack for her. She hasn't been sleeping much in the car, so I'm trying to get her long blocks of time to rest at the places we're staying. Today I tried to get her some extra running around time at a dog park here in Missoula, and I think she's had a good day.

I do think she enjoys being in nature, but from her perspective, the alley behind the hotel counts as nature....

Will check in tomorrow, hope all of you are well,
D