Yellowstone/Glacier Trip, Part IV

Monday, July 3 10:50pm-ish

I just finished playing card games -- gin, go fish, and war. War took forever for me to finally lose.

This evening we experienced a hailstorm. It lasted a good 30 minutes or so, maybe less. I took several pictures of the highway, which is right below the hotel, and my car, which suffered some minor dents on the hood (about which I am really unhappy). I also took a short video of the hailstorm with my digital camera. I'll see if the dents are anything my car dealer can take out when I take the car in for its 10k mile service at the next opportunity. It's not serious enough to call my insurance agent about, but I do want it fixed if at all possible. ****Note about the hail damage: I didn't realize when I was writing this in the motel room exactly how extensive the hail damage was to my Element. See a couple of posts below for more details and the claim amount.**** I'm glad none of the glass was broken. I'm sure it would have been impossible to find replacements for the skylight glass, as I don't think there is a Honda dealer in the entire state of Montana.

The bus tour was quite enjoyable. We rode along US Highway 2 to the Continental Divide at Marias Pass. Then we returned near the starting point where we rolled the top back. Up to Double Eagle Falls we went, and we hiked from the parking lot up to the falls and back...again. Then we continued on to Two Medicine Lake, where the other 5 passengers decided to take the boat tour on the lake.

That meant we had the entire bus to ourselves. The driver then took us along Looking Glass Road which I had driven yesterday. It was nice to be able to watch the scenery instead of the road. The sun was bright and the wind was whipping. We finally returned to the lodge and decided to book a place on the 8-hour Circle Tour for Wednesday. The Circle Tour goes from East Glacier to West Glacier then crosses the park on Going-to-the-Sun Road to St. Mary before returning to Glacier Park Lodge. Our driver (Steve from Gainesville, Florida) today told us it is a beautiful drive, and the best way to see the park. He also assured me that the bus makes numerous stops where we get out and hike to little places along the way, so it's not as though you're sitting on a bus for 8 hours. The tour is $70.



My lithium camera batteries are really performing well. I hope they last for the entire journey on Wednesday.

I drove over to the horseback riding outfitters place again this afternoon. They had a spot open at 3pm tomorrow for a 2-hour ride, so I made a reservation. The rafting option isn't going to happen, as there isn't enough time between the end of the rafting and the beginning of horseback riding to get from West Glacier to East Glacier. Oh well.

So that leaves me with some leisure time tomorrow morning. I'll probably get up early again and then drive to the West Entrance to take a look around and search for souvenirs for my nephew.

Tomorrow is the 4th of July.