On the Road Again

 Willie had it right when he penned his famous hit:

On the road again

Goin' places that I've never been

Seein' things that I may never see again

And I can't wait to get on the road again

We arrived in Glacier National Park two days ago escaping the heat and crowds of our home State of Colorado for the cool and somewhat-fewer-crowds of this far north National Park nestled in the northwest corner of Big Sky Country, Montana. We took three days coming up with overnights in Casper, Wyoming (great food at "The Hangar" restaurant) and Great Falls. The west winds they were a'blowin' and the camper they were a'slowin' to the tune of eking out a whopping 8 miles to the gallon on the westerly stretches of pavement. Gas in these parts is around $3.29-3.39/gallon and there are some stretches where the pumps are few and far (very far) between which made it tough to keep a half-a-tank cushion but we made it in good order. When we left Denver temps were setting records in the high 90's; up here its long pants and sweatshirt weather and many of the trees are boasting Fall colors in all their splendor already.

We're "camping" at the West Glacier KOA which has been rated the Number One KOA campground for more years than they can count. It's a full service resort for the RV crowd of which I'm now one, at least for the next three weeks, and features full service restaurant, two beautiful swimming pools (one for the kiddos and one for us adults), hot tubs, gift shop (20-40% off end of season specials!), and two gorgeous dog parks featuring lush green grass (how many dog parks have that?) that we can hardly get our two huskies out of. 

They tell us the Park continues to set visitation records even in September but coming from Colorful (and crowded) Colorado we haven't been cramped at all, at least so far. As in our July jaunt to the Tetons we seek out the roads less traveled specifically to avoid the masses. Yesterday we took a beautiful half-day trip to the Canadian border crossing north of the little town of Polebridge. Its a rough dirt road in spots, but the views along the way looking east into Glacier Park are amazing and the farther north we got the fewer and fewer folks there were. In the last half hour of the drive to the border only one car passed us and that was a Border Patrol truck that we let go by as he clearly had places to go and no one to see. This particular border crossing is somewhat unique in that it hasn't actually been open to crossing since the 90's. In fact, on the Canadian side you can still see the Border Crossing 

building now sadly falling into disrepair. On the U.S. side our tax dollars are still hard at work with a nice Customs and Immigration Building (with new solar panels being installed) and a helicopter that flew in while we were there delivering one passenger and two cylinders of propane. Other than that it was just my wife and I, our two dogs, and a handful of Border Patrol Agents enjoying what has got to be one of the cushiest postings ICE offers. I can only imagine that compared to their brethren working the southern border this post must feel like an extended vacation. When we left for the long jaunt back we waved at the helicopter pilot and one of the Border Patrol Agents as they tossed a football back and forth as the sun set behind them. 

My wife and I have been to Glacier many times over the last 30 plus years of wedded bliss. When we first started coming the Park had not been 'discovered' and featured some of the lowest visitation of any national park. Back then it felt there were more grizzlies than people. Now, on the local radio station, they advertise for people looking to harvest free fruit (apples mainly) from peoples yards to help avoid bear/people conflicts as the ursine set moseys in to take advantage of the smorgasbord all the new transplants (of the human variety) have laid out. 

Ordinarily many of the positions in and around the Park would be staffed by young folk hailing from all over the world coming over to spend the summer working in America's national playgrounds. Thanks to COVID there were no J-1 Visas the last two years and the sad reality is that there were not enough Americans needing work to fill the myriad positions available. For example, we went to a Qdoba restaurant last night for an early dinner. As we were leaving at about 5 o'clock a couple was trying to come in but the doors were locked. The Qdoba was closing because they didn't have the staff to handle the dinner crowd. Closer to the Park many of the restaurants and gift shops are shuttered not because its the end of the season but because they couldn't find enough staff to stay open.

We went kayaking on McDonald Lake at the crack-o-dawn and the lakes up here are a paddlers paradise. The water is so clear you can see fish and colorful stones on the bottom to depths of 20 to 30 feet. Like most western States, there is mandatory boat inspection for invasive species but in the Park the process is quick and easy and before you know it you've got a bright yellow tag flapping off the back of your kayak as you make your own ripples on the still pristine lakes in the area.

Well, that's enough for now. Its almost dinner time for me and the bears so I'll sign off and join my four footed friends in the search for fresh huckleberries. Mmm, Mmmm, Mmmmm...