Portland to Glacier

Portland to Glacier

At the beginning of July we set off on our summer vacation to Glacier National Park and then on to Winona, Minnesota for the "Watts Family Reunion" (i.e. visit Meghan and Ryan.) We attempted train travel and hoped the decision would be free of regret.

We left a rainy Portland (it was July 2nd for crying out loud--enough rain, already!) at 4:00 pm and rolled into Glacier the next morning around 9:00. If it hadn't been announced by the conductor, we would have not known, as the rain arrived with us hiding any evidence of mountains. We laughed at the irony. But as the day wore on and the clouds burned off, we began to see the amazing scenery. WOW! It was about 35 degrees at almost 7000 feet. The waterfalls were everywhere and cascaded down the ENTIRE mountain range. We hiked, were in awe over the CLEAR water and even saw a bear on a bluff. It was a fantastic day.

We caught the train out of Glacier the next morning at 9:00 and enjoyed the scenery on the outskirts of the park. There was a volunteer tour guide on the train that shared a lot of info on the area as well.

The kids were amazed at the tall sky and puffy clouds of Montana. We spent the day in the lounge car playing games and stepped off the train every few hours to stretch and breathe fresh air. After a night on the train, we awoke to the Mississippi River and soon reached our destination.