It's Father's Day, and even though it was nice of my children to remember me on Father's Day, it reminds me of my own father that I lost a long time ago, but who I still miss. So, I hope all the fathers out there had half as much fun as I am having on this Father's Day, in spite of being away from my family.
     Today was just another travel day, with no planned stops between Great Falls and the West Entrance of Glacier National Park . The ride was just a continuation north on US-89N which by now was rivaling North Dakota for boring. The particular section of US-89N between Great Falls and Browning is mostly straight, with a few hills, and ranches with a little farming on both sides. So we cranked up the tunes, and headed north on what was supposed to be an uneventful day. It was a little colder and windier than the forecast, so we kept our rainsuits and gloves on for most of the day.
     But then about 50 miles outside of Great Falls, we saw the dreaded sign - "Road Work Ahead - Motorcycles Consider An Alternate Route". Very funny, we're in Montana where ther are no "alternate routes" to go anywhere. After yesterdays experience with the gravel, we were hardened veterans of Montana road work and knew what to expect. Sure enough, about 10 miles later the sign said "Road Work - Next 5 Miles". It didn't look too bad at first until you see the "Pavement Ends" sign. It wasn't as bad as yesterday, the gravel was mostly hard packed though the 5 miles was actually more like 6 miles, the really loose gravel didn't appear until the last half mile . After that it was clear sailing and mostly boring, until we turned west onto US-2W towards Glacier National Park.
     Once we turned onto US-2W, the scenery improved dramatically. The mountains started to get much closer, and there were overlooks and turnouts to take pictures along the way. There was a railroad track on the side of the mountain above us, and there were freight and oil trains running almost constantly, There were these odd buildings along sections of the track that we couldn't figure out what they were. It turns out they are called snow sheds, and they are built over the tracks, and the trains pass through them, and the roof is slanted to deflect avalanche snow from accumulating on the tracks. Learn something new every day!
     By the time we made it to Glacier National Park, it was about 2:00, and the temperature had risen dramatically also. While it was in the 50's most of the day, it was now in the upper 70's and approaching the 80's. They were actually doing river rafting rides! We checked out the Visitors Center, checked on the road work on the Riding to the Sun Road, looked in some of the Gift Shops, and had iced lattes at the expresso stand .   It was really a great afternoon. About 3:30, we decided it was late enough, so we headed to the hotel. It was an odd hotel, called the Meadow Lark Resort. It's really part of a time-share on a golf course with a small inn that has 24 rooms. It was close to the park, and reasonably priced, so we're here for 2 nights. the room turned out to be very nice, with a little balcony overlooking some ponds and the golf course.
     Unfortunately, the hotel restaurant was under reconstruction so we were left to fend for ourselves for dinner. I checked with Tripadvisor, and there are a number of good restaurants in the local area, but when we looked at the menus, it was all arugula, goat cheese, and toasted pine nuts. Prices were from $29 to $44 for an entree. There must be money in this area. So we looked a little closer and found a local chain called MacKensie River Pizza in the next town over called Whitefish, MT. I had the lasagna, and Jody had a Thai chicken salad and both were excellent and considerably less expensive than the upscale places. More our style.
     Tomorrow is the Riding to the Sun Road through Glacier National Park. It's fully open, all 48 miles. They have finished plowing all the snow as of Thursday last week, and yesterday was the official opening for the season. It should be great fun! We will also try to get in some hiking before the day is over.

245.0 miles today
6618.1 miles total

5.625 gallons today
158.307 gallons total