#beingbearaware

When one teacher, one school speech pathologist, and two nurses have Fall Break, they escape to Montana in search of their mountain men. In the end, they visit Glacier National Park, sans the men. And here is the result...

It was the middle of October and we HAD to get this trip in because my National Parks Pass expired at the end of the month and I wanted to convince myself that I am outdoorsy and that I put my pass to use. [How unfortunate that we never actually had to show it anywhere].

Despite the drive from Utah to Montana being 10 hours, which thankfully was ONLY 10 hours and not longer due to Kristen's mad driving skills, we all decided it was worth it. Here's why...

A lot of our 96 hours together were spent like this:

#nothinglikequantitytimeinacar

and pouring chips into Kristen's mouth

or like this...

Remember how it was the middle of October?...on the Canadian border? Yeah, bundling up wasn't an option. 

But look at the beauty we found...

Needless to say, we were quite excited about it!

#nofilter #pureH20

This is on the "Road to the Sun" that my parents made me promise not to drive on. What they don't know...

That one time we decided to go on a hike because, after all, we were in a National Park...but Kristen had a slight panic attack since it was "Grizzly Bear" season. Apparently, she didn't trust us to operate the bear spray. As you can tell, we made it real far away from civilization on the 'hike.'

Ironically, all of us were "faux" scared here, except for Kristen. Don't let looks fool you; she says she was petrified though her face says nothing but serenity. She swears this truly is her "freak-out scared" reaction. I think she looks like a model when paralyzed by the threat of Grizzlies. Maybe that's not a bad tactic?

Heidi dutifully attempted to make noise to ward off the bears as we walked to ward off the bears. However, we quickly learned that wood on wood is not the most effective technique. 

Since our hike didn't last that long, what else do you do? Photo shoot!

And then we ended the evening with some beautiful vistas...

The next day we figured we would go to Canada, aye?

First thing you do when you are in Canada? Celebrate that you got to use your passport! And lament that they didn't actually stamp it. #wefeltjipped

Along the way, we also 'needed' to get out and 'shake it off' like Taylor Swift in an open field.






Why do Americans hate Canada so? It was breathtakingly beautiful. Maybe it's the wind.. 

One pro of Canada was that it gave me my Sound of Music moment I've always dreamed of. 

In the middle of this lake is the divide between the US and Canada! 

Our second and final hike of the weekend...I give you 'Big Bertha.'

 

All in all, since we did so much driving, I will rate it as a 5 out of 5, two thumbs up. If you have to be stuck in the car for hours, this is the place to do it!