Vanagon Diaries: Glacier National Park

In August, Chris and I drove the Van to Glacier National Park in Montana.  We spent a week camping just outside the park at a KOA with some of Chris' family.  

Just to be clear, we didn't exactly "camp", we "KOA'd".  

You know you're not really camping when your husbands' 80 year old grandpa says, "There's camping, and then there's KOA".  You said it Papa.  

There was a pool and a restaurant and everything.  

We did use the pool.  

Fun fact:  We were right next to the Glacier Forest Fire, almost the whole time.  It did cause a little haziness, which you'll see in at least half the pictures.  

I should mention that in these pictures, it looks like I had way too much chocolate cake (which is probably true) but I'm also pregnant ;).  Four months at this point.  

KOA'ing In Montana

This is probably my favorite selfie, taken nice and up close with Chris' GoPro.

Favorite Selfie, also a great screen saver.

Chris and Bella in Lake McDonald. 

Chris and Nana 

From Left: Joanne, Steve, Me, Chris, Nana, Papa.  

Our set-up at the KOA.

A Hazy Logan's Pass

Look at that smoke!  Still beautiful. 

At Logan's Pass, playing with the GoPro.

"Oh hey!"

Our One Day of Sunshine

It rained one night and everything cleared up.  We had to drive the Going to the Sun Road again.  

MUCH better view.

Logan's Pass again, and a selfie stick.  

I look a little disheveled, but those mountains!

Avalanche Lake and Trail of the Cedars

Trail of the Cedars is exactly what you'd think it is.  It's gorgeous, as you'll see in a few pictures.  There's also an off shoot of the trail that leads you on a 5 mile (round trip) hike up to Avalanche Lake, which is the result of melted glaciers and melted avalanches.  Pretty cool.  

Cedars!

We mostly hiked side by side, or with me in front,
but every so often I'd hang back to take pictures of Chris.

Hiking Trail.

Glacially melted water rushing down.

Downed trees, the result of avalanches thundering down the mountain.  

My Hunny.

Avalanche Lake.

More hiking tail.

The Forest Fire

The closest we came to the actual fire was when leaving the park to go home.  

Hwy 2 was actually closed the day before because the fire was too close to the road.  If we had planned on leaving then, we would have had to take a 3 to 4 hour detour driving south around of the park instead of through it.  

"Fire Danger Ahead"

This was actually taken on the East side of the Going to the Sun Road,
but it shows very recent fire damage.  

Fire crews were our neighbors.  They'd leave during the day, some would leave at night,
but more and more kept coming. We probably left at a good time.  

The glow that you see just beyond those trees is the fire.  It became increasingly smokey. 

My breathing apparatus. 

It was a fun trip, and we definitely plan on going again.  Maybe next time when there's no fire...

Camping Tips (These would work...probably)

Camping tips and hacks to make your life easier.   Well, maybe not easier...

(Old) and New Year's Resolutions

Reading an old journal, I found a list of New Years resolutions.  I couldn't help being judgmental, because go figure, I have some of the same ones this year.  

2012 Resolutions 

Here's what I wrote 3 years ago, with judgmental, snide comments in parentheses.  

"Is it realistic to have 5 New Years resolutions?  None of them are small.  In fact, they're real doozies.

Here’s my list so far…

• Become more fiscally responsible (How do you expect to do that while in grad school?! You're just setting yourself up to fail.  Good job.)

• Eat healthier (Ha! Yeah right.  You're not mentally prepared for that challenge yet.)

Why I Lick My Screen Door

Actually, that was a typo.  It's supposed to say "Why I Lock My Screen Door", but c'mon, that totally got your attention.

This is a post about colorful activity happening on our street, not about my intellectual ability.  

Ahem...

There are some interesting people here.  I would love to be able to tell you their stories, but out of respect (and not wanting to get shanked) I'll only give hints.   I've also decided to be vague about where they live in comparison to our house.  

Here we go...

10 Things You Should Never Tolerate

Summer as a Verb

"Summer" as a Verb

We don't do "summer" as a verb in this family.  

"Darling, where do you summer?" - Buffy

"Me? I summer at home, at my job." - Me 

My Odd Car Buying Experience

We recently bought a 1984 Volkswagen Vanagon, and we had an interesting car buying experience.  

It started out pretty typical.  Then it became not so typical.  


Let's begin:

Step 1.  Arrive in Kalispell, MT.  

Step 2.  Spend two hours at Vanagon sellers house, checking out the Vanagon and talking about the Vanagon.  

Step 3.  Next morning, back at Vanagon sellers house, getting to the nitty gritty of Vanagon buying.

...was kind of thinking that'd be it...we'd pay the guy and be on our way...I was wrong.  

Step 4.  Vanagon seller realizes we need a notary.  He also realizes we have time to kill before the notary opens, we hang out in his living room for a while and he starts raving about Cosco.  

Step 5.  Vanagon seller asks if we want to go to Cosco.  

We say why the hell not.  

We go to Cosco.  (Spend an hour eating samples and buying things we hadn't realized we needed.)