After cruising over the Beartooth highway, we made it all the way to Bozeman for the night, where Jen had strategically booked us a sweet little B&B just outside town for my Birthday! Way to go, babe! The place was really a house, where a woman had two rooms she let out and made people feel right at home. A cat, a couple of dogs, some horses, and some miniature donkies! The views down the valley to Bozeman were superb, and we just wanted to sit on her porch and watch the sunset forever... We checked out Bozeman and really dug it. Little college town in the middle of nowhere but surrounded by the big boy mountains. Fun year round for those outdoor types. The had a sweet new library that was really well built and attractive in a LEED certified kind of way ; )When we left Bozeman we made our way up the east side of the rockies, north towards Glacier Park. The rolling hills with their watercolor foregrounds and little red barns sillouhetted against the massive rocky mountains made the day's drive oh so glorious and relaxing. The mass of the range here was quite impressive, and we couldn't stop shooting photos... We arrived at the park and got a nice spot to camp for the night, in time for ANOTHER amazing sunset (How do we forget that this happens every single day?)
The park itself was a trip. One main road through the center called "Going to the Sun Road" because these crazy dudes thought it would be cool to build a road up and over the massive glacier carved valleys and sheer cliff faces of the range. Why not? It'll be a great place for a park someday! they must have thought. Well, it worked! One small road means traffic, but its a place that is so breathtaking, you don't mind at all. Once we found another place to camp for the night, we were free to roam around the rest of the day. Its always stressful to me because it is crowded, and you can't wait till dark to find camping, so we drive out of our way to be staged for the next day. After the tent's up, I can relax and enjoy my time, but before that, I'm a little uptight. Ask Jen.
We picked a dayhike near the pass so as to get up and see some really sick views. We climbed a trail up a stream and into a thin forest, headed for one such view. Not many people on it, as they all were down the road a mile at the visitor's center trailhead. Nice! Up, Up, UP, a couple thousand feet gain, over about 4.5 miles, and despite the huffing and puffing, it only got better and bigger and more breathtaking. To imagine that ice once covered all of it, and then receeded, taking whole sides of mountain with them, leaving unbelievable bowls and faces and exposed rock that drops thousands of feet to maybe a little moraine or lake... What can I say: nature just does it for us. So, we made it to the pass, where the other side was even more amazing (yes its possible) and we sat and stared for a while, played in some late season snow, and teased the marmots with our rocks-not-food game. Well played, sir!
I had hoped that Glacier would be a high point on our trip, as I had always heard the myth of its beauty, and wanted to see her. It was short and sweet, and did not disappoint. I could come back here and hike these trails for weeks, and will someday. Too many twist and turns to never return. So, as a highpoint, and literally the crest of the country, we started our long and ardurous decent from the mountain, out of the park, easing down the western slope and cruising back down to the flat dry lands of the west. Idaho was a quick peek of the panhandle, Spokane was a great little downtown for a snack and some internet, and then we ended up in some weird city in SE Washington where all the hotels were built in the 70's and they all cost $100. Why? Because: where else are you going to stay in the high desert next to a river and the golf course? We felt jipped, but what can you do? We longed for our tent in the forest already...
Next stop was Eugene, OR, where I'm really considering going to grad school. Got accepted, defferred, now i just have to make up my damn mind. So we give it another shot. Jen again finds us a really REALLY nice B&B to top off our trip. We splurged, and end up getting a brand new, first day open, we the first ever guests in a riverside 8000 ft2 home, complete with elevator, jacuzzi tub with light therapy (?) and a gourmet teaching kitchen. Whoa! Score! We blow the budget and stay two night instead of one, and floating the McKenzie river the next day in their kayaks... So nice! Eugene treated us well, with some old friends to visit with, an amazing Saturday Market of hippies and their wares, cute neighborhood we could see ourselves living in, and (unfortunately) an empty Architecture building but a good vibe nonetheless. Made us think: This is doable. We could live here, and the setting was all the more resonant given that we had just got the whole Berkshire groove on for 6 months. The big question remains: What will Jen do for work?? Otherwise, we are looking to Eugene as a place we will be moving to sometime next year. Wait for it.... wait for it....
So, nothing remained on our trip but to come on home, back the Bay Area, back to our old life and seemingly past life of highway traffic and congestion and people people friends and strangers... We've slipped right back in even though we're still couch surfing. We know it, and I've already gotten used to the traffic again. Bridge tolls, now that's another matter! Still catching up with people and visits and dinners, and watching everyone gear up for the Playa. Got a couple leads on jobs and back teaching a class at City College SF. I have to say, there's plenty to do, and tons that calls out. Trails to hike, and mouths to feed. All with a view to our future, maybe in another place, maybe forever, maybe not.
