Ten days, one SUV, four adults, one baby, one dog. Nine hundred million gas station and fast food stops, two hotels, three thousand miles, one overstuffed car topped covered with bungee cords and a ripped plastic tarp.
Four days of BFF-couples woodsy cabin time, three miles of walking trails for the girls, nine games of Madden for the boys, 4 people x 10 days drive-through chai tea lattes, four+ hours of daily explore-around-and-be-amazed time, at leeeeast twenty thousand iPhone pictures.
Four pairs of hiking shoes, one mild hiking trail in Glacier National Park, an overwhelming number of breathtaking views, five false-alarm bear sightings, zero real bear sightings, not even close to enough cans of bear spray, seven hundred different times that my friends almost killed me for my paralyzing fear of bear attacks. SERIOUSLY THOUGH.
Thatās about how this week was! Thanks for following along on Instagram ā your comments and recommendations for experiencing the best of Montana made me want to hug your face. Youdabomb.
Just one more thing. MONTANA FOR LIFE.
Places We Ate (and Luv-Ed)
(and what I ordered, because I just have to tell you)
The Palette CafƩ in Columbia Falls (spinach bacon artichoke salad and pumpkin soup // I wanted to order the whole menu)
StormCastle in Bozeman (Mexican breakfast scramble)
Sir Scottās Oasis in Manhattan (steak and shrimp)
Pescado Blanco in Whitefish (tacos verduras with butternut squash and mushrooms, and yes I could live the rest of my life on their chips and salsa)
Caseyās in Whitefish (black bean soup plus a goat cheese and beet salad)
Ciao Mambo in Whitefish (eggplant parmesan with homemade herbed ricotta that rocked my world)
Wheat Montana in a small town on our way somewhere (wheatberry chili with sausage)
Places We Visited (and Luv-Ed)
Flathead Lake
Whitefish
BigFork
Bozeman/Manhattan
Glacier National Park
Hungry Horse Reservoir
Want to see more trip highlights? Check ’em out here!
I baked at 350 for 9 min and they were not done. What did i do wrong. I made a 1 fourth cup ball.
I’m from Montana and have been to most of those places. ā¤ļø This made my heart swoon! My parents still live in Columbia falls!
Very nice photos. So I like it . Thanks
I started following you on Pinterest because your recipes and photos and blog and worldview are just excellent. Thank you for sharing your gift with us!
Since I randomly stumbled on your blog, I was surprised to see a familiar (and beautiful) face in this post! I believe your best friend is Angela, an old family friend of my family’s. Please tell her Cori McCusker says hello š
I love how small this world is!
Hooray! How fun! I will definitely tell her!! Thanks for the sweet comment Cori!
Is the top single photo a shot of Flathead Lake?
My grandparents used to own a large cabin on Flathead that we’d have a family reunion at every year growing up. They sold the cabin a few years ago, as they are now too old to maintain it themselves, and I miss it so!!
Yes! it is. I think. š We love Flathead Lake!
So glad you loved Montana. I live in Missoula, which has some yummy eats, but I’ll have to try some of those other places (especially the one in Columbia Falls…oh, my tasty!)
It was AMAZING. Great place for a foodie/hipster. They served kale chips with the sandwiches and source a lot of food locally. š
I am dying to visit Glacier National Park. On my bucket list, and moving up quickly after seeing your pics!
It’s amazing. You won’t regret it.
Lindsay,
I was born in Montana, but my family moved to California when I was three. I visited Missoula and Glacier National Forrest when I was sixteen and was swept away with the beauty of it all. After seeing your photos, I think it’s time for my own family to make that trip. Thanks for posting !
It was fun to read about your trip to glacier. I lived in kalispell for 5 years and have frequented many of the restaurants that you wet to and loved. Brings back good memories of my old home, especially having moved away from kalispell just a year ago. Glad you enjoyed the natural beauty of the Rockies, glacier and the fun small towns with great food!
We just went to Olympic National Park and Glacier is definitely on our must-go-to list. Hope you didn’t run into any issues with the government shutdown. We only saw one ranger in Olympic, and it was right before the shutdown (so that was fully staffed)! And then it doesn’t matter which national park, we only ever see wildlife when we’re in a car (bears, elk, eagles, etc)… wildlife while hiking has been limited to squirrels and crows… no bear spray needed.
We only made it one day because of the shut down, but one is better than none!!
Awww how fun! And how did I not know about bear spray cans?!
Um, yeah. I didn’t either otherwise I would have brought 5000 of them.
What! You were practically in my backyard and I didn’t even know it. Found your blog today off of 48days.net. Next time through stop in Ashton,Idaho for a taste of Big Judd’s as seen on Man vs. Food? I’ll split some onion rings with you and talk blogging etc. Or we’ll cook you up some awesome food. Leg of lamb? Corned beef and cabbage? We’ve got a huge table and we’re not afraid to use it.
Thanks for the recommendation! We’ll have to keep some ideas written down for next year. š
Wow, this post just brought back memories for me. My husband is from Minnesota (Iron Range) and moved out to Whitefish where he lived and worked for 6 years before we met (and I lured him off to Southern California). But I remember visiting him and seeing the beauty of Montana and Glacier National Park. Whitefish was such an amazing and quaint town. Imagine, a town of only about 8,000-ish residents! (But then again in SoCal I’m from a city of millions of people!). It surprised me to learn that so many people from Minnesota love to go to Montana on vacation – in fact, the first time I visited Minnesota, I was driving by Target Field and there were huge “Visit Montana” billboards all around. Looks like you had a great time and picked a terrific time to visit Montana!
How funny! We went there because my friend’s husband grew up there. š He was kinda our tour guide for the week.
Wow! Beautiful pictures! Love the laptop-in-car situation (glad we’re not alone in that) AND I would so buy the print on the right-hand side, third up from the bottom and put it on EVERY MONTH OF A CALENDAR. Gorgeous!
You are too cute. Have you ever used your phone as a wifi hotspot? We set up one for the long trip and it was awesome having wifi in the car! š
Glacier National Park is our favorite! Our kids’ favorite hikes are there – Avalanche Lake and Iceberg Lake. I would highly recommend visiting Moose’s Saloon in Kalispell for ambiance and great pizza (where, shockingly, adding sauerkraut to their pizza makes it even tastier).
We ALMOST did Avalanche Lake but 1) too far for the boys, and 2) too many possibilities of encountering a bear. š š
Best picture in the whole collage = bottom, right-hand corner š
Things got real.
Wow, these photos are absolutely stunning! Who knew Montana could be so beautiful?! I’m from Idaho and no idea… oops! š Glad you had such a wonderful time!
This sounds like the best road trip. I need to find new friends who will take these adventures with me.
Gorgeous photos! An AMAHZING sounding trip!
Oh my- you were so close to us here – just a couple hours from Glacier to Coeur d’Alene. It’s gorgeous there isn’t it. I am SO loving the beauty that is all around here in the inland NW.
So happy you were able to get up here & experience it. (before the snowfall) This is truly one of the more beautiful times of the year here.
It was indeed! the colors were spectacular.
Beautiful pictures! Would love to go there sometime. You guys were very brave to bring a baby along on a 10 day trip!!
Ha! True that. He’s a cutie though! He actually ended up staying with his grandparents during the middle part of the trip, so we did get some baby-free time. š
So fun! So beautiful! So glad that you had a good time! Looking forward to hearing more about it. š
Can’t wait! š See you soon!
I am so thrilled to hear you had a good trip to Montana! I’m a native and love showing off our state! Thanks for the pictures.
I didn’t mention in the post but seriously every person we encountered was truly “Montana cool”. You people are awesome. š
Lovely photos! What a fun adventure. š
Yes, YES, to Montana Forever! That’s my home state, grew up there, and seeing your pictures makes me wonder how in the world I’m living in the middle of Northern Minnesota when I could be soaking up the beauty that is Montana (not that I don’t love Minnesota, it’s just not Montana). Truly there is no other place like it and I guess I’ll be content and grateful we go back several times a year. Your pictures are stunning, congrats to surviving the road trip with a baby and a dog (we do it with five kids and it’s, well, special) and so glad you didn’t have any mad encounters with bears.
Hahahah! š it’s a great state! MN just… well… it’s not the same. š