We had an early flight from Sacramento to Spokane during Labor Day Weekend so I figured a Mimosa was in order. LOL. I had a lot of Southwest Drink Coupons for this trip!
Joy wanted to stop at an Ivar's Seafood for lunch after getting into Spokane. We had experienced Ivar's when we went to Seattle.
Our first stop after picking up our rental car at Spokane International Airport was the mining town of Wallace, ID. Wallace had "legal" brothels until the 1980s. They were not technically "legal," but they were not underground either.
We took a tour of the old Sierra Silver Mine near Wallace after checking out the downtown area.
The silver mine tour was really cool. I can not imagine how hard the daily routine was of a miner back when silver was first found in that area.
My "local" welcome HHonors Diamond snack at the Hampton Inn in Missoula was Huckleberry popcorn. Huckleberry flavored ice cream and other treats are very popular in this part of the country.
After checking into our hotel in Missoula, Montana, we had dinner at Cracker Barrel. This was my first time trying one. The food was great!
We stopped at Flathead Lake on our way from Missoula to Kalispell for lunch. The views were amazing from this little restaurant. The food was not bad either. I tried emu for the first time!
This vista point on the way to the St. Mary's Entrance to Glacier National Park was just spectacular!
After entering Glacier National Park, we hiked around St. Mary's Lake. The water was an amazing shade of blue color.
Our hike took us down to a really nice waterfall.
Here is another great view of St. Mary's Lake.
The famous "Going To The Sun" Highway inside the park was amazing. It was partially closed due to the wildfires, but we got spectacular views still.
Glacier National Park is probably my 2nd favorite park after Yellowstone.
This was one of the visitor's centers inside the park.
This is another great vista point on the Going To The Sun Road inside the park.
The Jackson Glacier is in the background. It is one of the many glaciers inside the park.
Here is a picture of Joy and I near Lake MacDonald, which is on the other side of the park.
There were lots of wildfires all over Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington that summer. Part of the park was closed because of large wildfires. One can see the smoke from Lake MacDonald.
Joy and I had dinner at the Stillwater Fish House in Whitefish, Montana after touring the park. The food was delicious!
We enjoyed Happy Hour and the views from Beverly's Restaurant at the Coeur d'Alene Resort on our way back to Spokane. Unfortunately, the views were smoky because of the wildfires. The food was amazing!
I drank my "lunch" to Sacramento from Spokane. LOL.
Joy and I decided to go
explore Glacier National Park in Montana during Labor Day Weekend in
2017. Since we had to fly up to Spokane to begin our adventure,
we mapped out some stops along the way in Idaho and other cities in
Montana too. Our first stop after arriving into Spokane was
Wallace, Idaho. Wallace is a historic mining town in the
panhandle of Idaho. The town was booming during the mining days,
and there were even brothels out in the open throughout town even
though it was not legal technically. We toured the downtown area
before taking a tour of the old silver mine outside town.
Afterwards, we checked out a local flea market too where I found some
cool souvenirs. Moreover, I got to try huckleberry ice cream
which is very popular in that part of the country.
We continued our drive
through Idaho into Montana. I booked a hotel in Missoula, Montana
for our first night. After checking in, we had dinner at a
Cracker Barrel Country Store and Restaurant. It was my first time
there, and the food was amazing! That night, we explored Missoula
including a park on the Clark's Fork River. We also checked out a
bar near the university. The people in the bar were so
friendly. One guy even invited us to a Labor Day BBQ at his
place, but we were not going to be in town that night. Another
random guy bought us a round of drinks too. Small towns are
awesome. The people are so nice!
The next day, we drove
through the Flathead Lake area to Glacier National Park. Along
the way, we stopped at the Raven's Bar, which is a nice restaurant on
the lake. The views were amazing despite all the smoke from the
wildfires. I tried an Emu Burger for the first time. There
were lots of cherry orchards around that area too. When we got to
the park, we were disappointed to learn that part of the Going To The
Sun Road was closed because of a major wildfire inside the park.
As a result, the only way to explore the park was to drive all the way
around the Eastern side of the park to the St. Mary's Entrance.
Since it was getting late, we decided to wait until the next day to go
explore the park. We just headed to Kalispell to check into our
hotel and explore the small town.
We drove out to the St.
Mary's Entrance the following day. The other side of the park was
not smoky at all. The views that we saw during the drive were
amazing. Glacier National Park is definitely worth a visit!
After we entered the park, we stopped by the St. Mary's Lake Picnic
Area to have lunch. We bought some food from the local general
store for lunch. Afterwards, we hiked down towards the lake, and
we ended up at a beautiful waterfall.
Afterwards, we headed
out on the Going To The Sun Road. Along the way, we saw the
famous Jackson Glacier. The drive up to the visitor center was so
cool. I took my new 4K action camera with me so I could capture
the amazing vistas. The road was closed at the visitor's center
so we walked around and took in the views before heading back to
Kalispell. That night, we had a great dinner at the Stillwater
Fish House in Whitefish, Montana. We even checked out a cool
local brewery in Whitefish that night.
The next day, we drove
back to Spokane. We stopped in Coeur d'Alene and enjoyed a visit
at the Coeur d'Alene Resort. They have a restaurant on the top of
the resort called Beverly's with great views of the lake.
Unfortunately, the air was so smoky still. The food was great
however.