I'll Be Your Huckleberry...

So I continued north to Flathead Lake, Montana. What a gorgeous place! It was so pretty here – especially when you climb up to the highway rise just before you see the size of this monster lake. This has got to be one of the nicest lakes… I thought… I could live here. I found myself saying that a lot throughout Montana. I didn’t say that in Idaho. Don’t get me wrong… Idaho has spuds and stuff, but it just didn’t feel the same way. On top of that, Montana lets you drink. They have packaged their booze in handy to-go caring cases, the great selections of beer started reappearing on the shelves… they didn’t have special stores to go for beer. It was everywhere, so where cork screws. So was the wine. They also cover everything in chocolate! I also noted that we came across an espresso store that sold guns! Now there is a new way to look at coffee! So strong it can blow your lip off? There were cherries and huckleberries growing everywhere. Now, I always thought huckleberries were a phony made-up fruit referenced in cartoons, but no… my mistake. Montana is Huckleberry Country! Everything is huckleberry… huckleberry pies, pancakes, syrup, cheesecakes… and you guessed it huckleberry liqueur.

Huckleberry Syrup on my pancakes. I also had Huckleberry Cheesecake and Huckleberry Ice Cream! I really really like huckleberries!

We rolled into Glacier National Park at the end of a long day, and a staff member of Glacier had the steaks ready, along with his secret recipe of Huckleberry Lemonade… it was wonderful (although it was a good thing we walked to his place)! The next day was work at the park, but it is a beautiful place and it was fun meeting with all the good folks there at headquarters. The following morning we traveled the Going to the Sun Highway, and it was spectacular. We stopped at the McDonald Lodge and admired all the dead animals nailed to the wall, and the continued all the way to the Logan Pass Visitor Center. I was surprised at the amount of people visiting. Most of our parks in Alaska (except for Denali) tend to not be crowded with visitors. I could see that it was a challenge to keep the road open, surely it closes for the winter. (Can one you fine Glacier folks put my mind at ease and confirm that road is closed in the winter?) We slipped out the East end of Glacier and headed south.

Glacier National Park was wonderful! If you haven't been there, check it out! It's even better by motorcycle.

After crossing the Continental Divide, the landscape became less dramatic, and more of the rolling hills type variety. Don’t get me wrong, it was gorgeous in a different way. I kept thinking I was in a Robert Redford movie – I couldn’t decide if it was A River Runs through It, or the Horse Whisperer. Either way, the scenery was very peaceful, and after leaving the crowds behind I was back to roads where only 6 cars pass you an hour. Montana bugs are something to deal with! They take two wipes to clean off the helmet face shield, and I have bug slim from one end to the other on my jacket an pants.

Need I say more?

The smell of pine, and the coolness in the air changed to the sweet smell of hayfields. I found myself wondering why they call this the “Big Sky” state… is there sky bigger than say … Idaho’s? I’m no sky expert, but I couldn’t tell the difference.

I told you they cover everything with chocolate in Montana!