I went from the Big Apple to wide open roads in a matter of hours. My husband, Paul, and I just celebrated our second anniversary together in New York and got home at 3 AM. At 6:30 AM I got up and packed to drive up to Glacier National Park with a few of my siblings and my parents. Paul went back to our home in Logan so he could study for the GRE that he is taking in a couple of weeks.
After that we made our way up to Windmill Village Bakery. They are on the side of the highway next to a lake and windmill. They are only open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday until 3 PM. We went out of our way to come to this bakery because they apparently have the best donuts in the world. They only serve glazed donuts and if you want any of their other baked goods you have to ask for them the day before so they can make it for you fresh. They cook their donuts to order so when we got ours they were piping hot and, oh my gosh, they were amazing! We also got a cookie and sticky bun from them. My dad wanted to get a huckleberry pie from them but that is when we found out you have to ask in advance.
At the bakery they had the Phantom of the Opera monkey music box on the window sill. I was so excited because I just saw the Broadway play with Paul the week before. We grabbed some fresh cherries at the fruit stand adjacent to the bakery on our way out to balance out the treats we got.
After our indulgence we went to the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas and walked around these beautiful gardens that were designed for quiet meditation and peace. It was very beautiful.
Then we went to the Garnet Ghost Town and learned about the history of mining there and why the town did not thrive after the 1930's. The town became abandoned for the second time after World War Two and was not inhabited again after that.
Day 1
We were able to make it to Montana by 7 PM. I drove up with my brother and his wife, Andrew and Sierra, and my sister, Eliza. Our parents, Steve and Christine, and my other two brothers, James and Ben, were on a 9 mile hike in Glacier and did not come home to the cabin we were staying in until 11 PM. They saw some mountain goats while hiking. While they were gone we made some yummy pita pizzas. After dinner I went straight to sleep (since I only had 3.5 hours the night before) while everyone else stayed up and watched the Twilight zone until the other car came home. I woke up at midnight to talk to Ben about my trip to NYC before falling back asleep. |
| Pita Pizza recipe: https://therobertshomemade.blogspot.com/2019/08/pita-pizzas.html |
Day 2
The next day we went to Missoula. We stopped for lunch at Five on Black, a Brazilian fast food place. They serve rice bowls there. My dad and I got two big bowls to share with my mom since she sprained her foot on the hike the day before. It was so yummy! I ordered brown rice and romaine, chicken, sweet potato, mango BBQ sauce, tomato vinaigrette, cilantro, and lime. My dad got brown rice, Brazilian stew, collard greens, tomato vinaigrette, lime, and spicy herb sauce. My dads was more savory and mine more sweet because of the BBQ sauce. I prefer the sweet :)
After that we made our way up to Windmill Village Bakery. They are on the side of the highway next to a lake and windmill. They are only open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday until 3 PM. We went out of our way to come to this bakery because they apparently have the best donuts in the world. They only serve glazed donuts and if you want any of their other baked goods you have to ask for them the day before so they can make it for you fresh. They cook their donuts to order so when we got ours they were piping hot and, oh my gosh, they were amazing! We also got a cookie and sticky bun from them. My dad wanted to get a huckleberry pie from them but that is when we found out you have to ask in advance.
At the bakery they had the Phantom of the Opera monkey music box on the window sill. I was so excited because I just saw the Broadway play with Paul the week before. We grabbed some fresh cherries at the fruit stand adjacent to the bakery on our way out to balance out the treats we got.
After our indulgence we went to the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas and walked around these beautiful gardens that were designed for quiet meditation and peace. It was very beautiful.
Then we went to the Garnet Ghost Town and learned about the history of mining there and why the town did not thrive after the 1930's. The town became abandoned for the second time after World War Two and was not inhabited again after that.
Day 3
Today we went up to Glacier National Park with everyone. We hiked to Avalanche Lake, which had all these waterfalls flowing into it. It was a beautiful 5 mile hike (round-trip).
After that we drove the Road to the Sun and stopped to look at the view from so high up. The clouds were so cool as well because they just rested on the Mountains like blankets.
We then did a hike in the clouds. We were hiking to a viewpoint to see over Hidden Lake. It was 1.4 miles to the viewpoint but it was so foggy that we all think that we passed it. We weren't too worried about it though because we came across a grizzly bear on the trail. There were about 40 people there taking pictures. The bear then started walking toward us and a couple hikers started running (you are not supposed to do that) and the bear then started running towards them (super scary!). The rest of the hikers (including us) started yelling, clapping, and blowing whistles to stop the bear. It worked and it stopped chasing those hikers. Then it started wandering up the trail and we started yelling again to warn the hikers up the trail of the bear. They heard us and started yelling too. The bear came back down the trail and wandered into the trees. Then the whole group of hikers were like...Let's get out of here! And we all headed down the mountain.
The center at the trail head had some information about an animal called a marmot that lives in the Rocky Mountains. They sleep for 80% of their lives and the other 20% is spent preparing for hibernation by eating a lot. Along the trail to Hidden lake I thought I saw a couple marmots but apparently they were just chubby squirrels and a couple of birds. It was super foggy though! We are pretty certain we did see 2 marmots on our way up the hill though.
Day 4
This day was Sunday so we went to church with some friends of my parents in Missoula. They had a beautiful guitar collection. We drove home in a huge rain and lightening storm. We saw about 6 deer and had to be very cautious driving home.
Once home we were finally able to enjoy that pie my dad had been searching for. We got the berry and rhubarb pie as well as the peach pie from Bernice's Bakery. I guess the peach wasn't very popular because there was a piece for everyone but somehow I got three over the course of the week.
Day 5
The next morning my dad made us a delicious breakfast of french toast. We then went on a beautiful hike to Morrell Falls. It was also about 5 miles round-trip. We hung out there for lunch, skipped rocks, and found some fish downstream! the rocks in this area are so beautiful! They are red, green, blue, purple, and yellow. They are all over Montana. There is so much natural beauty there.
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| French Toast recipe: https://therobertshomemade.blogspot.com/2019/05/classic-french-toast.html |
Later we went canoeing down a shallow river to Seeley Lake. We had a couple of races between canoes. We also saw a couple of beavers, eagles (one caught a fish in the lake!), and a bunch of turtles. On the way home we saw a baby bear running down a dirt road!
That night my mom made the most delicious BBQ Chicken I have ever had. We had it with salad and baked potatoes and some left over garlic bread from our spaghetti night the day before.
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| BBQ Chicken recipe: https://therobertshomemade.blogspot.com/2019/08/grilled-barbecue-chicken.html |
Then we went out and had a campfire and made some s'mores. The moon was so bright and it was a beautiful night to end the trip.
Day 6
The next morning there was an elk and its baby as well as a deer hanging out behind the cabin. I am sure I have seen the most wildlife on this trip than on any other trip I've been on. We went by another lake on our way home and skipped some more rocks. We had a competition and James won with like 12 skips. Everyone did really good. I even got 2 skips! haha
We drove down and met Paul in Brigham city for dinner at Maddox, which is the best steakhouse in Utah. Their bread is amazing. Paul loves the NY strip and I always get the filet mignon. The beef is so tender and flavorful.
Paul took me home and the rest of my family carried on their way. It was a great trip :)
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