Introduction

Before I begin this story, I need to give you fair warning. I plan to write and publish this in segments. Normally, I tell stories after the fact. This time, I’m writing somewhat in real-time. As a result, the details may be more accurate – that’s the good news(?). “What’s the bad news?”, you ask. If you want the complete story you will have to check back later. As I write this we’re in Salt Lake City, Utah and the journey has just begun, so let’s begin!

In the beginning…

No, this is not that profound but it does have a beginning, so… When our last international trip was canceled because of the Chinese virus, we began talking about where we could go in the U.S. A couple of places came up immediately, Destin and Santa Fe. Both are places we’ve been to before but are also places you just can’t get too much of. Another spot quickly rose to the top, Glacier National Park. We talked about logistics – have you looked at renting a car recently? Well, we did (look at renting a car) and we didn’t (rent a car).  

Well… “we could make a road trip”. For those of you that didn’t pay attention in Geography, Glacier National Park is in Montana – Northern Montana. It runs right up to the Canadian border where it becomes Waterton Lakes National Park. Pretty cool that we share a national park with Canada, but it’s a long way from the woods of East Texas. Of course, you know by now that the #OldManInTheWoods is not prone to overthinking things – “let’s do it!”.

All of this theoretical “planning” was happening in early 2021, around the time of the Great Texas Snowstorm. So, about all we did was make some reservations in and near Glacier – those are always the hardest to come by. And… time marched on. Spring arrived, and going anywhere near Canada began to look more appealing every day, and every degree. And then we went on the bike ride.

3. On a tour, they have a “Sag Wagon”. One of the tour guides drives it while the other guide rides with you to show you the way. The sag wagon is really neat. They will pass by you every so often and shout encouragement and every few miles they’ll pull ahead and set up a refreshment stop, which is basically a combination grocery store/coffee shop/Dairy Queen. If you get tired – no problem. They load your bike on the sag wagon and you ride with them to the next stop (or the hotel if you want). On a “ride”, the sag wagon is a guy in a mini SUV with a sign that says “Sag Wagon”. His main job is to stop whenever he says a bike on the side of the road say, fixing a flat tire. He says “You got everything you need?” If so, you guessed it #TCOY!!

4. On a tour, you go back to the hotel at the end of the day, shower, and go out for a nice dinner. On a ride, you go back to wherever, take a shower, and… head off to the Cajun Dance Lessons, or the street dance. Laissez les bons temps rouler!!!

Would I do it again? Absolutely! Now I know the difference and really enjoyed both.

Why are you telling me all this? Good question. Something that happened later in South Louisiana is relevant to our story about Glacier and as I got ready to tell you about it I remembered Cycle Zydeco. So… no rabbit hole goes un-explored on this site.  

Back to Cajun Country

On our way home from the somewhat-annual trip to Destin, this time with #EagleScout and his family, #ShoppingBeauty and I stopped in Covington, Louisiana. She had mentioned this stop to her cousin, and lo-and-behold, she was there on the same day. We met for dinner and a nice visit and, during the conversation, our Glacier trip came up. #ShoppingBeauty said during the conversation that we would like to spend more time with #SweetCuz and her husband. Well, a few days later we got a text from #SweetCuz asking if we were serious about spending time with them – “Sure”! Glacier is on!  

When #SweetCuz and her husband, bought plane tickets, we knew we were committed. So, the man in the brown truck began delivering books; books on National Parks in general and Glacier specifically. We started talking about this road trip, our route stops, etc. #ShoppingBeauty had one request. She wanted to stop and visit a friend from her previous life that lives in Boise, Idaho. Now the route is beginning to take shape and what a shape it is! We planned to drive through Salt Lake City on the way to Boise, then on to Glacier to meet #SweetCuz.