Apgar and Avalanche; We Made It!

Sunday, July 22nd - Wednesday, July 25th, 2018

Minneapolis, MN - Columbia Falls, MT

I know at least two of you are wondering, “Why Columbia Falls, Montana?” Unless you’re a long time friend with the fam, you maybe haven’t even heard of Columbia Falls. Well, the first and most important reason we’re here is that this is where my mom grew up, and where we have family. Second, is because we are about two feet from Glacier National Park. AKA the most beautiful place in the entire world. 

Picturesque, amirite?

To give you a little more context, we’re also right by the towns of Kalispell and Whitefish, MT. So more likely than not, you’ll hear me talking about Columbia Falls, Whitefish, Kalispell, and Glacier. 

Usually, as you probably know, we fly standby. Well, not this time. And boy did we regret it. We loaded up the old Suburban, and hitched up the popup camper and drove. It’s a 22-hour drive that we somehow stretched into three days, without making any site seeing stops. Yikes. 

Vlog #77: Three Days of Torture (A Road Trip Story)

However, flying, you do really miss out on family audiobooks... We listened to Amy Pohler's "Yes Please" and "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut. "Yes Please" gets a 7/10, because I had to listen to it with my parents. And because I slept through one chapter and was a little lost for a hot sec. It was hilarious though. I'm gonna be real, I slept through ALL of "Slaughterhouse Five", but in my defense, I've already read it 1.5 times. I like it. But I think Mom, Dad, and Grady wished I'd had a different audiobook downloaded on my phone. Sorry guys! 

And another plus, LOOK AT THIS SUNSET! Doesn't this look like it should be on a throw blanket? 

BeAuTiFuL Sunset

We finally made it, late Tuesday afternoon, just in time to make it to the Whitefish Farmers’ Market. So we popped up the camper in Aunt Tisha and Uncle Jerry’s driveway and ran to the market for dinner. 

Vlog #78: The Whitefish Farmers Market

Wednesday morning, Lisa and Jim woke up early to snag a much-coveted campsite at Apgar Campground in Glacier. They came back down to the valley to pick us up. My cousin, Amelia, and her friend, Lily, joined us. Amelia, if you don't remember, has already made a few vlog appearances last summer, when we were in Montana. She, Grady, and Lily will all be going to camp together next week. 

From left to right, Amelia, Grady, and Lily

But I digress. Together, we four girls walked along Lake McDonald to Apgar Village. 

Vlog #79: We Buy Huckleberry Soda

Apgar Village, as I believe I mention in Vlog #79, is the first little town once you enter Glacier through the west entrance. It's home to Eddy's, one of our favorite ice cream stops (probably more out of nostalgia than any particular virtues on Eddy's part), a handful of gift shops, a few motels, a scattering of restaurants, and Apgar campground. Apgar is one of my favorite places in the park, and it must be a lot of other people's favorite place too because the campground has been BUSY the past few years. (Hence Mom and Dad waking up at the crack of dawn to grab a spot!)

We spent the afternoon hiking the Avalanche Lake Trail. We realized a little late that having Pippin (our dog) with, meant that someone had to stay with him while we went on the hike. While he's allowed in the park, he's not allowed on the trails. And it was just a little too hot to leave him in the car. So Mom and Pippin sat in the shade and read, while Dad, Amelia, Lily, Grady and I hiked. 

Vlog #80: Falling on Avalanche Lake Trail

Avalanche is a very popular hike, and as far as hikes go at least, pretty accessible for most abilities. You're still hiking, and it's about 4 miles round trip. But you could bring little guys on it pretty easily, and you don't need to have all your fancy hiking gear along. It's a good hike to get a feel for Glacier. Dip your toe in the water, so to speak. (And yes, I did take a tumble. But I'm not embarrassing myself anymore by going into details here. Watch the vlog if you want to see it happen.) 

Avalanche Lake Trail

I've got a few more adventures to update you on, but only limited time on WiFi! (I know, I know, camping is SO hard, right?!) So I'll have to save them for later. 

Signing off for now, 

Cristiana