The fastest way to the US border was back through Calgary and then south...and so we went.
We had one final poutine opportunity at the High Five Restaurant in Cardston, Alberta. This place was established in the last six months and it was already a beautiful dive. Score! And smoked brisket poutine for the win!
It was my turn at the wheel and so I was the one to take us across the border.
In addition to destroying public property in the form of sidewalk borders all across the country, Steven may, or may not, have some unpaid tolls in Quebec.
And, I have been on the lamb ever since my near miss with the law...so, I wasn’t nervous, but the Volvo wasn’t squeaky clean either...
The heavyset and stern border guard-lady scanned our passports and gave everyone in the car a good, long, hard eyeballing. Leaning backward and forward in her chair, she stared into each of our souls.
I immediately felt like I needed to confess to something, but I wasn’t sure what.
When she made Steven and David provide additional IDs, I gulped audibly.
Luckily, they were both clean and she handed me back our stack of identification and looked utterly disappointed that she didn’t get us on anything.
Phew! Fooled ‘em again.
We entered the states and made our way to the East Entrance of Glacier National Park.
The plan was to bisect the park on the Going-to-the-Sun road; the same road that’s used in the opening of The Shining.
There was no smoke in the air, but there were some clouds and it was sprinkling lightly when we drove the opening stretch.
Not even five minutes in, traffic. Cars were stopped on the roadway and people were pointing up the hill: a sure sign of visible wildlife...but what?
Throughout Canada we didn’t see so much as a single moose, no wolves, not a bear, no lynx, no elk...we saw a handful of deer and a herd of mountain goats...not so impressive...
This hillside was full of yellow-green grass, spotted with a couple trees and charred stumps from a past fire so the visibility was far and wide.
We climbed over each other and scanned the hillside for movement.
And there it was...a stump with ears...a bear!!!
A happy bear, rolling around in the grass, just chasing butterflies on the hill. Yes, Glacier, yes!!!
Already satisfied, we drove the rest of the road, stopping all along the way to check out waterfalls, scenic outlooks, anything and everything that looked interesting.
It is just an awe-inspiring place, although, we could afford to go back on a sunny day.
We stopped for the night in Columbia Falls, Montana; a drive day coming up and a quick break from incredible sights in otherworldly National Parks.
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