BFF Road Trip to GLACIER! (Day by Day)
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Wow, it’s hard to believe this trip is over! 😭😭 We began talking about going to Glacier FOREVER ago. Now, I’m sitting here in my travel-themed guest bedroom, reminiscing on the crystal clear water and all the memories from our 4,500 mile trip.
During our adventures, I posted many photos on Instagram of the things we did. But I wanted to take a deeper dive into the days below! A place where our stories, adventures, photos and memories will live forever.
Plus, if YOU ever decide to take a trip out West, this post could also serve as a handy, dandy guide to give you ideas on things to do (and NOT to do — hahah) while on your cross country road trip!
I hope you enjoy!
-Ashley
Day #1 — DRIVE DAY
(NW Indiana to Sioux Falls, SD)
DRIVE TIME: 9.5 Hours Total
(2 from NWI to Cheese Castle —> 3.5 to FAST Fiberglass Graveyard —> 4 hours to AirBnb)
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY:
Hitting the road!
ACTIVITES:
Mars Cheese Castle (Kenosha, WI)
Fun stop right along the side of the highway!
Cheese hats! Castle chairs! What more could you want?!Lots of cheese! Plus…A cafe, restaurant and bakery inside.
Plenty of goods + gifts available for purchase!
FAST Fiberglass Mold Graveyard (Sparta, WI)
Talk about a unique experience…hundreds of old-looking molds in a grassy lot…now I know why they call it a graveyard!
They also had people in a garage restoring + painting some of the molds to look new again!
It was neat, because now I know where some of these come from! For instance, this past weekend I was in Memphis and they had a bunch of guitars lined down the street. They were the same molds we saw at the graveyard! Makes me wonder if Memphis got them from the FAST Fiberglass Graveyard?!? Hmmmm!
COULDN’T BELIEVE OUR EYES:
We had just pulled off the interstate to make our way to the FAST Fiberglass Graveyard and began seeing cop after cop. Roads were shut down. We began seeing firetrucks and ambulances blocking off all the side streets from the main road we were driving on. We couldn’t figure out WHAT was going on. We starting looking at the news to see if there was a shooting or murder (it almost seemed like they were blocking everyone IN so no one could leave). After tons of searching and no dice, we were perplexed. Until…
We kept driving down the road and saw a sign for an Army base. That’s when a light bulb went off — “I wonder if the President is here!” Turns out, it wasn’t the President but it WAS the Vice President! Apparently Mike Pence was in town! He had lunch with family in Eau Claire before going to the Fort McCoy. Mystery solved!
LODGING:
AirBnb in Sioux Falls
Good place to sleep. Nothing over the top, but we didn’t need anything fancy.
MEALS:
Breakfast: Coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts + Bacon and Grapes (From cooler)
Lunch: Cafe at the Cheese Castle (Just OK — might have had better luck in their restaurant instead of the cafe. For a cheese castle, you’d think the cheese they served with their meals would be top notch but it was more of a bland nacho cheese.)
Dinner: Kept is simple! PB&J sandwiches + Cider + Homemade HoHo (Ate at our AirBnb)
Day #2 — BADLANDS
(Sioux Falls, SD to Rapid City, SD)
DRIVE TIME: 5.5 Hours Total
(1 hour from Sioux Falls AirBnb to Corn Palace —> 3 hours to Badlands —> 30 min to Wall —> 1 hour to Rapid City)
ACTIVITES:
Sioux Falls Park (Near AirBnb)
The perfect way to start our day! The waterfalls were mesmerizing. We actually saw a similar (but smaller) waterfall on our first trip. So cool to “relive” our experiences.
Porter Sculpture Park (Off I-90 in SD)
Sculpture Park we saw from the side of the road. It was “closed” but we saw a car up there, and went ahead and drove in! It was actually the guy who made all the sculptures! Fun place that’s honestly a little eerie. Many cow pies all around! (Cows roam this side of the pasture when it’s cold out).
World’s Only Corn Palace (Mitchell, SD)
What a funny stop — the World’s Only Corn Palace! The neat thing: they redo the outside of the corn palace every year. The upstairs had a wall of photos of what the corn palace looked like each year. This year’s theme: Salute to Our Military <3
Badlands National Park
Here we hiked “Notch Trail” — the name (I’m assuming) comes from the notched ladder on the trail! We had to climb up + down the latter to get to a higher evaluation in the Badlands. It was honestly a tad scary, especially with the rain that was coming down, and I’m SO proud of us for doing it!!! I did GoPro the hike with a chest strap, which was neat to rewatch :)
Our first Wildlife encounters! We saw a deer near the campsite we were suppose to stay at. And then it just kept getting better and better. Mountain goats were next! The first group we saw, I thought were stabbed in the neck. But zooming in with my camera, I realized that they had on tracker necklaces. Then, when we turned the corner of a mountain, Alex shrieked. I thought I hit one! Nope! They were ABOVE us. Climbing the top of the mountain. How! Freaking! Cool!
Wall Drug Store (Wall, SD)
Wall Drug Store was a HUGE drugstore in a small town called Wall, SD. It takes up at least 5 or 6 blocks! There’s ANYTHING you could ever want or need inside. Fun pitstop while driving through — especially to get out of the car and stretch legs. We decided NOT to eat here, though, because the reviews on Yelp weren’t stellar.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY:
Going up the ladder at Notch Trail — Quite exhilarating!
COULDN’T BELIEVE OUR EYES:
All of the billboards for Free Water + 5 cent coffee leading up to Wall Drug.
It’s funny what people do to get you to stop by their “tourist” town!
LODGING:
We planned to camp at Cedar Pass Campground in the Badlands. However, there were storms moving in (lightning / thunder) and that doesn’t work well when you are tent camping. We had actually bought the campsite ahead of time — and didn’t know we weren’t going to stay until the day-of, so we lost the $23.32 we paid for the site. We considered it a donation to the park :)
Instead, we got a hotel room in Rapid City. I found a room at the Fairfield Inn & Suites for $68.50 and it actually worked out well because we were closer to Mt. Rushmore for the next day!
MEALS:
Breakfast:
Pistachio Muffin (From the bakery at Mars Cheese Castle)Lunch:
Buffalo Chicken Wraps at Sinclair Gas StationDinner:
Murphy’s (I got Buffalo Chicken Mac ‘n Cheese + Alex got chicken tenders)Pretty hoppin’ place! Had a great atmosphere. Food was decent!
Day #3 — MT. RUSHMORE
(Rapid City, SD to Deadwood, SD)
DRIVE TIME: 3ish Hours Total
(30 min from Rapid City hotel to Mountain Coaster —> 20 min to Mt. Rushmore —> 1 hour drive through Custer State Park —> 1 hour drive to Deadwood)
ACTIVITES:
Mountain Coaster at Rush Mountain Adventure Park ($15)
Talk about an ADRENALINE RUSH to start the day! Pulling into the attraction made my heart race. It was raining when we went, so we weren’t sure if the ride would be running. (To be honest, it made me want to back out even more. Haha) But the people in the shop were super sweet and convinced us to go — And we did it!!! It was SO. MUCH. FUN. Check out the GoPro video!
Mount Rushmore ($10 to get in — Can NOT use National Park Pass)
I’m seriously in Awe with Mt. Rushmore <3 I didn’t think it would be as fascinating as I found it to be but it FAR surpassed the expectations I had. I learned a ton of history there — from the signage as well as the video in the bottom part of the Visitor’s Center. There’s also a brisk trail you can walk around the base of Mt. Rushmore. This was neat because you could see the statue from different angles!
Custer State Park (FREE WEEKEND)
My goal for the day was to see a BUFFALO and the Mountain Coaster folks told us no better place to go to see that than Custer State Park. We actually had this park on our list, too! When we got to the entrance, the ranger told us it was the weekend of their 100th Anniversary so the State Park was actually FREE to get in. I will say, when we went, (and it could have been the weather)…there were much fewer animals than we though we would see. Plus, we saw PLENTY of buffalo at Yellowstone. In hindsight, I might have skipped going here to do something else. But it was still a pretty drive!
Crazy Horse Monument ($24 — We did NOT pay to go in. Too pricey!)
Holy smokes, this stop was expensive. Pulling up to the gate, Alex and I made a quick decision that if it cost more than $10 total (what we paid to go to Mt. Rushmore), we weren’t going to go. It ended up being $24 total (12 bucks a person) so we PASSED. And actually, when we went to turn around, we could actually see the Crazy Horse sculpture from where we were at! I’m sure there was a lot more history down below — but again, we decided to skip this!
COULDN’T BELIEVE OUR EYES:
On our way from Mt. Rushmore to Custer State Park, we drove through Iron Mountain. There were several tunnels you would drive though — and then when came out of — you could see Mt. Rushmore in plain sight! It was so neat!
COULDN’T BELIEVE OUR EARS:
Hearing that Mount Rushmore was carved using dynamite!
I thought it was hand chiseled. Nope, 90% was carved using dynamite!
LODGING:
We stayed at Tru (new hotel chain for Hilton) in Deadwood, SD. I have actually been wanting to try out since they came out with this new chain last year. It was very modern and fun! Their front desk was at a circular shaped desk in the center of the lobby. They had hanging chairs I have been DYING to get — we ate breakfast on them!
If you didn’t know (which we didn’t until we got there), Deadwood is a HUGE casino town! Our hotel actually had a casino attached to it — on the first floor. When we checked in, they gave us $15 in “free” casino cash. We played a couple slot machines before we left and won around $25! Score!
The only downside, which is totally my fault, is that I left my camera batter / charger plugged into the wall :( However, I called them and they were able to locate it. They told me they would ship it back to me. Just waiting on its arrival!
MEALS:
Breakfast: Hotel breakfast!
Lunch: PB&J Sandwiches (In the car at Mt. Rushmore)
Dinner: Taco Salad at Cheyenne Crossing
#4 — DEVILS TOWER + DRIVE DAY
(Deadwood, SD to Cody, WY)
DRIVE TIME: 6.5 Hours Total
(1.5 hour from Deadwood hotel to Devils Tower —> 5 hours to Cody)
ACTIVITES:
Spearfish
When Alex and I met at McClure’s Apple Orchard to plan our trip, we ran into a couple that had taken this trip recently. They gave us some recommendations, one of which was to check out Spearfish — said it had neat trails that went around in a circle.
It was a place we stopped, but the weather on our trip was so dang cold for being a “Summer Road Trip.” We drove by taking the “Scenic Byway” but didn’t get out. It had been snowing so we think we made out the area where the trails were! But couldn’t quite tell. Might have better luck stopping when it’s a bit nicer outside.
Devils Tower
This place we DID stop! We weren’t sure if we would have to pay for it or not, since technically it’s a National Monument (Mt. Rushmore was too and we had to pay $10). However, we learned that Devils Tower is also a National Park and because of that, we could use our National Park Pass to get in! Wahoooo!
There’s a trail that goes around Devils Tower that we completed. It was very peaceful! We saw many things: from the tower itself, prayer flags / bundles, the countryside, birds, Pokemon stops and more.
Fun Fact: People can actually CLIMB Devils Tower! It is a bit controversial because in order to climb, holes were drilled into the tower. Several Native Tribes consider this a sacred site — so the park does do many things to be respectful to them. (Ex: For the month of June, climbers are asked not to climb to respect the American Indian ceremonies).
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY:
Started off the day great — Won money at casino!
Ended the day great — Massage chair at the AirBnb!
The middle part? Hahaha….keep on reading :)
LODGING:
HaHaHa — wellllll we had planned to stay at Buffalo Bill’s hotel in Cody, WY. A friend recommended it and we thought we would give it a shot! But guess what I did? Oh, I booked the WRONG Buffalo Bill hotel :) The one I booked was in Primm, NV — 898 miles away.
On our drive to Cody, with the very little cell signal I had (seriously, it took like 2 hours to do 20 minutes of searching), I was able to finally able to find a cute cabin near Cody! It was actually 30 minutes past Cody….but 30 minutes closer to Yellowstone! Which would be nice for the next day when we headed to the park! And let me tell you…our little cabin was INCREDIBLE!!! Not only the cabin, but the owners of “WOW — Wheels of Wonderment” (the cabin village) and the experience as a whole, was oh so wonderful. Just what we were looking for! Highly recommend staying here.
MEALS:
Breakfast:
Hotel breakfast!Lunch:
Salami + Cheese + Veggies picnic (Picnic in car at Devils Tower)Dinner:
Chinese (Take out and taken back to our cabin)
Day #5 — YELLOWSTONE
(Cody, WY to Yellowstone back to Cody, WY)
DRIVE TIME: 5ish Hours Total
(40 min from cabin to East Entrance —> 1 hour to West Thumb —> 30 min to Old Faithful —> 15 min to Grand Prismatic —> 1 hourish to Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone —> 1.5 hours back to cabin)
Note: You will spend a LOT of your day DRIVING. It takes a LONG time to get into and get out of Yellowstone. We actually originally planned to explore the park over a two-day time frame, but since we didn’t book lodging in advance (one year out), prices were astronomical. If you don’t plan on staying in the park, plan to drive! Although, I do think we saw a GOOD amount and had a FULL day with everything we were able to see! Plus, some things weren’t open just quite yet. (Weather and when you go can be a big determining factor). If it was nice, we planned to actually camp inside the park, which would have been much affordable than the $400+ rooms at the various lodges in the park.
ACTIVITES:
In AWE at everything we saw at Yellowstone! Such a PERFECT day <3
Yellowstone Lake
So LARGE and pretty — both in the morning and at sunset
This is where we saw our first GRIZZLY BEAR. Near a cliff by the water!
Was a bit of construction on the road near Fishing Bridge. Traffic slowed a little!
West Thumb
Saw geysers + many LARGE elk here!
I actually got enough signal here for Tru to call me back, saying they found my camera battery charger! The signal didn’t last long though, the call was soon dropped. There’s very limited signal in National Parks! Be prepared to stay off the grid for a little while :)
Old Faithful
What everyone thinks of when they hear Yellowstone! We got to Old Faithful 2 min AFTER it erupted and just missed the show. The next one wasn’t set to go off for about 90 minutes, so we walked around to the lodges and gift shops!
When it was going to erupt (3:34PM), we made it back outside! The benches began to fill and by the time she erupted, hundreds of people were watching from both outside and inside. (It was raining so many people were up against the windows in the Visitor’s Center — that was a funny sight — seeing them “smushed” against the glass LOL).
What a spectacle! The “show” lasted for a couple minutes. My favorite part? When we watched it, the skies were pretty dull and gray. But after, they soon turned to baby blue skies. It was almost as if the geyser pushed the gray skies away!
Grand Prismatic Spring
A short drive from Old Faithful. I was really looking forward to seeing this because of ALL THE PRETTY COLORS! In fact, I had bought a puzzle while we were at Old Faithful of the Grand Prismatic Spring. There’s a wooden boardwalk that takes you around several springs, including the biggest there, the GPS! It was a tad foggy when we went, but we were still able to make out the spring and many of the colors! It was also very WARM near because of the lava underneath. Truly amazing <3
Uncle Tom’s Trail
This trail is near the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone! In fact, the trail allows you to see the waterfalls here (Upper and Lower Falls). The trail goes two directions <—to the left was the handicap accessible trail. Nice and paved! The the right —> more of a wooded trail. There was a lot of snow on it, which was also melting (sludgy and lots of puddles) so we did part of the trail before turning around. We also knew that part of Uncle Tom’s Trail had a staircase you had to take — and we didn’t want to risk it with the weather conditions. But I imagine it’s a super fun and pretty hike, again, when the weather is a bit warmer :)
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (Upper and Lower Falls)
Gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous! Alex and I took our first ever road trip to the Grand Canyon so this was a very special sight to see. There’s a road that takes you right up to a parking lot, where you can get out and see the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone + the falls. Now I can see where they get name “Yellowstone” from — all the yellow stone, here!
Mud Volcano
These reminded me of a pool of poo! Haha. We didn’t spend much time here, as the sun was setting and we wanted to get on the road before it was 100% dark.
There were a TON of bison near here, though! Apparently they like to hang out in the field right next to the mud volcano. We even saw BABY BISON! Adorable!!!
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY:
Feeding goats at AirBnb! Our AirBnb host Pete welcomed us to feed them breakfast. It was so fun, and truth be told, goats remind me a lot like dogs!
Also, midway while driving through Yellowstone, we came across a buffalo crossing the road. It was so cool to see him up close and personal. They are HUGE!
COULDN’T BELIEVE OUR EYES:
Seeing a Grizzly Bear!
First animal we saw in Yellowstone. How perfect!!!! (We saw 4 bears total — 2 black bears and 2 grizzlies — but this was the closest one. Chillin’ on a cliff right by the road!)I thought Yellowstone would be quite FLAT but in reality, it’s totally not! From mountains to calderas to geysers and everything in between — the diverse nature amazed me.
LODGING:
We liked our “WOW” cabin SO much that we extended our stay by one-night! We were actually going to tent camp in Yellowstone today, but the weather just was not in our favor. It had been raining on and off every day since we started this road trip — and rain and snow (plus the cold temps) were in the forecast again.
The night before, we text Pete from WOW and asked if he had availability for us to stay another night. We would pay him in the morning. He happily let us stay for Night #2 and gave us a deal ($80 vs the $115 we paid through AirBnb) since we paid with cash :) Cash is king!
MEALS:
Breakfast: Mini, homemade muffins from the cabin (They were DELICIOUS)
Lunch: Buffalo chicken wrap (Picnic outside a geyser in Yellowstone)
Dinner: PB&J sandwiches
Day #6 — BOZEMAN
(Cody, WY to Ennis, MT)
DRIVE TIME: 4.5 Hours Total
(3 hours from cabin in Cody to Montana Grizzly Encounter —> 15 min to downtown Bozeman —> 20 min to Hot Springs —> 1 hour to AirBnb in Ennis)
ACTIVITES:
Montana Grizzly Encounter ($8)
If you want to see grizzly bears and support a good cause, go here! The Montana Grizzly Encounter currently has 4 bears they rescued. The bears now live here permanately. They typically have one bear out for the public to see — we met Bella! What’s nice is there’s someone outside giving you fun facts, sharing bear knowledge and answering any questions you may have.
Walked + Shopped Downtown Bozeman
Alex and I hadn’t had a “meal meal” in AWHILE so we were excited for some good food that didn’t come out of the cooler! We got lunch at a burger joint in downtown Bozeman, and then noticed there were so many fun shops around us. We walked up and down the strip! There was a YUMMY ice cream + candy shop where we got Huckleberry ice cream and Huckleberry chocolates. We also came across a cidery — Lockhorn Cider House. Since cider is our FAVORITE, we went in for a flight! Such a cute little town!
Bozeman Hot Springs ($10.50)
On our second road trip to the Grand Canyon, Alex and I stopped at a hot spring in Colorado and it was such a HOT experience. When we saw there was a hot springs in Bozeman, we knew we had to go. What was different about this hot springs though was the water was hot spring POOLS. Whereas the other place was more “hot tub” style hot springs. It was still a lot of fun floating around and soaking up the HEAT on a pretty chilly day. We had fun swapping stories and people watching ;)
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY:
Taking a dip in the Hot Springs! Great way to RELAX + Good conversation with the BFF while in the pools!
We finally broke out the board games we brought — played Racko in our bed in the wilderness! LOL
COULDN’T BELIEVE MY TASTE BUDS:
HUCKLEBERRY ICE CREAM!
I soon became obsessed with everything huckleberry — (It’s the ‘thing’ in Montana)Ice Cream —> Coffee —> Margarita —> Pie —> Mints —> Soap…..EVERYTHING!
LODGING:
Glamping in “middle-of-no where” Montana! It didn’t sink in until we sunk into the bed!
Heard ALL the noises. Saw a dead bee on my pillowcase. Froze until we got under the electric blankets! Played board games in bed. It was quite the experience, quite the experience indeed.
MEALS:
Breakfast: Mini, homemade muffins from the cabin (They were DELICIOUS)
Lunch: Backcountry Burger Bar
Dinner: PB&J Sandwich (In TiPi) + Raspberry Wine (Not the best wine but the funniest part was trying to get it to open — HAHAH)
Day #7 — GLACIER NATIONAL PARK
(Ennis, MT to Glacier)
DRIVE TIME: 5.5 Hours Total
(5 hour to Visitor’s Center —> 30 min to Lodge (normally 15 but longer due to construction)
ACTIVITES:
Drove through Virginia City and Nevada City
Several people mentioned driving through these cities, as they were old mining towns. The streets definitely reminded me of old towns like in the Western movies my Grandpa watches. The mining tours were closed for the season, but that would be neat to do if you’re there. They also had a walking tour guide, but we were on the move to Glacier, so opted to simply do a drive-by.
Visited Apgar Visitor Center + Shopped at Gift Shops
WE MADE IT TO GLACIER!!!
Apgar Visitor Center is the first visitor center when driving in on the West side of Glacier. We stopped in to get a trail map and talk to the park rangers about what was open and what we should do while we were here! The park ranger we talked to was a little unfriendly, but we got a lot of good info nonetheless. They also had a gift shop, and though small, there were several shirts we loved! We actually came back here the next day to buy them.
Took a scenic boat ride on Little Chief at St. Mary Lake in Glacier ($18.25)
Each of the larger lakes at Glacier have a SCENIC BOAT RIDE! I think there are 4-5! (Lake McDonald, St. Mary Lake, Many Glacier and Medicine Bow)
When we bought our ticket, the Glacier Park Boat Company had kid’s passports they could take and get stamped for each boat. I thought that was very neat!
What was fun, was we got a history lesson, while we toured the lake. Learned a lot about Glacier, how many glaciers there are currently, about the forest fires, the wildlife and more!
Hung out at Lodge + Planned next day!
When we got back from our boat ride, we went back to the lodge and got another drink + dinner. We got our plans set for the next day! Decided not to kayak since we just took a boat ride, and instead would hike a couple trails and see the East side of the park, too.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY:
Reaching Glacier!
Seeing the crystal clear waters. Feeling incredibly peaceful. Losing service. Not looking back.
COULDN’T BELIEVE MY EYES:
Saw a bear climb a tree through binoculars while on the ship!!!
MEALS:
Breakfast: Homemade breakfast from B&B
Lunch: None — was saving room for pizza dinner! Alex got a coke + and I got a coffee from McDonald’s, though.
Dinner: Huckleberry Margaritas and Mules + Flatbread
(Jammer Joes was closed until June 8th :( We were really looking forward to their pizza! Next time!)
LODGING:
Snyder Hall Room at Lake McDonald
The lodging inside Glacier was magnificent! Very historic. We stayed in Snyder Hall (set up dormitory style) and I’m pretty sure we had the entire place to ourselves. Our room had Bunk beds! I slept on the top — Alex slept on the bottom. It was tiny, but cozy, and our ceiling was even made of actual wood beams. We had a sink in our room, and the bathroom with shower was right across the hall.
Day #8 — GLACIER NATIONAL PARK
(Glacier to Dickinson, ND)
DRIVE TIME: 11 Hours Total
(20 min up Going to the Sun Road until it was closed off at mile 14 —> 1.5 hour to East Side of Glacier — had to go around since the Going to the Sun Road hadn’t been completely cleared yet —> 9 hours to Dickinson, ND)
ACTIVITES:
@ WEST GLACIER!
Hiked Trail of Cedars — .6 paved trail (loop) with a raised boardwalk in some sections. Many mature cedar trees surround you! We even found a fallen one and walked across it, before making friends with our J family and baby Jack. (Located near Mile 14 of Going to the Sun Road from the West side of the park)
Hiked Avalanche Lake Trail — Starts in the middle of the Trail of the Cedars. We hiked about a mile or so of it before turning around. Pretty water flowed near the edge of the trail. The water is so clear, the colors of the rocks show. It’s absolutely gorgeous! (Located near Mile 14 of Going to the Sun Road from the West side of the park)
@ EAST GLACIER!
Skipped rocks at Two Medicine Lake — We also played a game of “Who can hit the big rock with a baby rock first”. Let’s just say, I need better practice!
Hiked Running Eagle Falls Nature Trail — When we were at Medicine Lake, a couple recommended we hike this trail. It was relatively short and led to a waterfall! We were HUSTLING on this trail though because we heard there was a Mama Bear and two baby cubs nearby. We didn’t watch to get caught seeing them and having to break out the bear spray! We DID see fresh moose poop on the trail. Was hoping to see one before we left — maybe next time! (Located on the way to Two Medicine Lake from the East side)
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY:
Soaking in ALL of Glacier
Adrenaline Rush —Hiking near a Mama Bear and her two Cubs
COULDN’T BELIEVE OUR EYES:
When driving from the West side of Glacier to the East side, there’s a town called Essex where they have train rooms! Meaning, they have refurbished trains so you can stay the night in them. Is that neat or what?!?!
Also — The amount of DEER (Like 78, seriously) we saw while driving the Montana country roads at night!!! We had to slow down from 80 to 40 MPH. It was hands down the worst decision we made all trip. Driving 8+ hours through Montana in the pitch black darkness! We didd listen to a good portion of our audio book, though :) Michelle Obama helped us through!!
LODGING:
Town Suites in Dickinson, ND — 7,500 points
Couldn’t come soon enough! When we got here, we were BEAT. Fell asleep right away.
We actually passed 2 rest stops when driving through Montana — and was almost tempted to stay there and sleep in car to avoid the deer!
MEALS:
Breakfast: Coffee from Lodge (Out of Order in Lake McDonald Lodge — had to go to main lodge to get a cup of Joe!)
Lunch: Two Medicine Grill — Planned to go to Mexican place (Serrano’s) but they didn’t open until 5PM. This was about the only place open in Two Medicine! It actually was pretty tasty :) Alex got soup + sandwich. I got a bagel sandwich.
Dinner: Snacks from car :)
Day #9 — BEMIDJI, MN
(Dickinson, ND to Minneapolis, MN)
DRIVE TIME: 10 Hours Total
(6 hours to Bemidji —> 4 hours to Minneapolis)
ACTIVITES:
Saw Salem Sue (World’s Largest Cow) and Enchanted Highway (large art sculptures) from the road!
Explored Bemidji, MN — The rain lifted and it was a beautiful evening <3 Felt Grandma’s presence
Saw the Paul Bunyan + Babe the Blue Ox Statue — My Mom has a picture taken with them, too. I want to find it and compare our photos :) She said she was much younger when she went, though!
Walked around downtown Bemidji — Such a cute town! Many of the shops were closed when we went (after 5PM) but would be a neat place to walk around during the day.
Drove around Turtle Lake — Looking for Gram’s Lake House. Holy Red Dirt Roads!
Finished “Becoming” audio book — By Michelle Obama — AMAZING <3 <3 <3
COULDN’T BELIEVE OUR EYES:
Pearl was SO DIRTY from the dirt roads she drove down today!!! Next trip, I need to remind myself there is NO reason to wash her BEFORE we leave. Because she will definitely need a wash AFTER. LOL.
LODGING:
Hampton Inn (Woodbury, MN) — 23K POINTS
Near Minneapolis! Good place to stop that got us far enough along, so we had a “short” six-hour drive home the next morning!
MEALS:
Breakfast: Smore’s Poptart (in the car)
Lunch / Dinner: Dave’s Pizza (in Bemidji, MN) — was OK pizza. Nothing to write home about!
Day #10 — DRIVE DAY
(Minneapolis, MN to Home Sweet Home)
Sad our road trip is over :(
DRIVE TIME: 9 Hours Total
(6.5 hours to Alex’s Mom’s —> 2.5 hours to Home)
ACTIVITES:
Drive, baby, drive!
Finished reading “Wild” book — By Cheryl Strayed
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY:
Kissing my sweet boys!
COULDN’T BELIEVE MY EYES:
Two birds doing the dirty when we woke up that morning!
LODGING:
My OWN bed!
:D :D :D
MEALS:
Breakfast: Starbucks: Coffee and Oatmeal
Lunch: Taco Bell
Dinner: Home cooked meal!
