Today we will be riding out of Canada and back into the USA.
The weather is grey and drizzly this morning and pretty much remains that way the entire day. We are still riding through picturesque countryside and cross over the 49th parallel. We stop for lunch in Fernie and realize that we have missed the turn off to the US border! Damn, how did we do this 2 days in a row? At least it is only 70 clicks out of the way!
We wait in line, behind the line, at the Roosville, US border. With hesitant control we slowly putt up to the officer when flagged. We were pleasantly surprised with a warm "Welcome home"!
Cool, some borders can be pleasant and hassle free. Wow! We are now in Montana, and I can hardly believe it! My first thought is….Damn what happened to the roads?! The roads are now pot holed and quite rough. They do smooth out eventually as we ride closer to larger townships. We ride through Whitefish and onto Kalispell where we have affordable accommodations. Dinner at a nearby restaurant then early to bed in preparations for a 6am ride into Glacier National Park to catch our 8am historical Big Red Bus tour of the park.
It was a very, very rough night and I was in no shape to ride, let alone, handle a day of sight seeing. I became violently ill late in the evening with suspected food poisoning. Luckily, Kev was able to change our reservations for the next day and I slept and slowly recovered the new day away.
Ok…take two! We had to book a different tour of the park that actually had us leaving the hotel at 8am…way more reasonable! We arrived at the meeting area, parked, covered the bikes and waited for our vintage Big Red Bus experience. The 17 passenger canvas rollback convertible red touring sedan hummed smoothly into the parking area. The 16 of us filed into the 4 bench seats very cozily and immediately everyone was friends. The canvas top was rolled back and we elegantly motored through the park enjoying the spectacular views as we twisted and turned up the Going-to-the-Sun Road and from Logan Pass high on the Continental Divide. We sure have had our fill of splendorous glaciers and breathtaking views, and it never gets old. This park links Canada and the US and is the worlds first International Peace Park. The area is still scared to the Blackfeet, Salish and Kootenai people, to this day still sharing common boundaries and diligently protecting this diverse area of the Rocky Mountain West. After our 4 hour Big Red Bus tour we hoped back on the bikes and glided around for a bit before deciding to call it a day and head back to the hotel.
Waiting in line at the Roosville Boarder, Montana, USA
The Big Red Bus
The canvas rolled back on the bus.
Fantastic views
Riding Going-to-the-Sun Road on the Big Red Bus, Glacier National Park, Montana, USA
Hidden Lake Trailhead
A friendly ground squirrel that was very interested in the camera and my legs...gave me a fright!
