RVgapyearJessie, Author at RVgapyear

Sleeping Well on the Road: Tips and Tricks

15/11/03 at 6.40pm / by Jessie / 0 Comment

We were asked recently about dealing with insomnia on the road by someone who is interested in RVing but has a history of insomnia while traveling, which impacts the energy available to actually enjoy the places they go. The reader asked if we’ve ever had this issue.

I love this question for many reasons: Jason and I both love good sleep; I can definitely relate to having insomnia; and professionally as an occupational therapist, I love the topic of sleep hygiene, as sleep is so essential to all of our other daily activities and to our general livelihood and enjoyment of life.

The importance of sleep for Jason and me cannot be overstated. Our moods and energy levels depend on consistently good sleep more than the average person. We’re both somewhat high-maintenance sleepers, meaning that we need certain things to be just-so in order to sleep well, no matter where we are. So, here’s what we’ve learned about sleeping on the road:

Insomnia Does Happen and It’s Okay

Over the past several years, I’ve struggled intermittently from insomnia, whether or not we’re traveling. The frequency and severity of my insomnia episodes have actually decreased exponentially this year. I think this is due to several factors: I have less daily stress, especially since we aren’t working this year; we spend more time outdoors in natural light and fresh air; we generally have busy, active days with a good bit of exercise built in; and I put less pressure on myself to sleep well because I know our days are mostly flexible (e.g., I don’t have to wake up at a certain time and perform at work all day). When I have suffered from insomnia this year, it’s usually been after long travel days when we’ve spent a lot of time sitting. Occasionally, it’s happened when we’re staying some place strange or noisy (more on dealing with this later), and sometimes, there’s just no explaining insomnia – isn’t that one of the wonderful things about this affliction?

But, no matter the reason or severity of my bouts of insomnia, I feel much less stressed about it now. The beauty of flexible travel and generally not having plans that we HAVE to stick to is that I can usually sleep late or take an afternoon nap (or both) if I sleep poorly one night.

As an aside, we’re fans of post-lunch family naptime. A short afternoon power nap can do wonders for me, regardless of how I slept the night before. We generally don’t let our daily plans or activities stand in the way of naptime if we really feel like we need it. Naps have happened in many places: on our picnic blanket, on a trailside rock outcropping, in the front seats of the truck (parked in a safe location, of course), or in the RV when we have it in tow – it’s one of the many advantages of a home on wheels.

A Familiar and Controlled Indoor Environment Helps

Home: Another huge advantage of a home on wheels (aka an RV) is that we have a consistent and comfortable indoor environment. We aren’t tent-camping or staying in different hotel rooms, rental houses, or guest rooms every few nights. We spend every night in our RV, which now feels like (and is) home. Compared to some full-time RVers, we haven’t done any major decorating or renovation projects, but we have made the space inside our RV ours and have turned it into a homey environment where we feel comfortable and relaxed. Simple things like sofa throw pillows can go a long way toward creating a homey atmosphere.

Comfort: A comfortable bed is essential to good sleep. We know RVers who have upgraded their mattresses, a worthwhile investment, especially if you plan to travel for long chunks of time. We decided to buy a memory-foam mattress topper (we bought the same kind we used previously at home, as our old one was worn out and needed to be tossed), which has worked great and allowed us to avoid investing in a whole new mattress.

We also use our good (read: favorite) sheets, pillows, and blankets, which are familiar and well-liked. It seemed silly to leave them in storage, and even on shorter weekend trips last fall, we made the effort of using these items in addition to our memory-foam topper from our bed at home (before we bought a duplicate). Yes, I told you we’re high-maintenance sleepers, and it was definitely worth the effort of moving the heavy topper into and out of the RV even for weekends.

Sleeping Temperature: We have a variety of blankets and comforters for different nighttime temperatures – everything from a lightweight queen-sized throw to a heavy down comforter. Having the house/RV at a comfortable temperature is essential to good sleep. This is often challenging in the RV, as we’re usually boondocking without hook-ups. When we have hook-ups, we can run the AC, a tabletop fan, and/or our oil space heater. When we’re boondocking, we do the best we can to regulate the temperature by using our roof vent fan or propane heater, which we run only enough to prevent frigid temperatures, as it uses a ton of propane. So, we mostly compensate and create comfortable temperatures by adjusting the amount and types of blankets and clothing that we use at night. We also compensate by adjusting our sleep schedule when needed; for instance, when the RV stayed hot until late at night this summer, we simply went to bed later and slept through part of the cool of the morning and napped in the heat of the afternoon.

Light: Another way we’ve always controlled our sleeping environment is by eliminating any obnoxious lights from electronics or appliances. We’ve continued this practice in the RV by covering lights on appliances (e.g., the fridge and carbon monoxide detector) with a small piece of electrical tape.

More Tips and Tricks to Compensate for Outdoor Environments Out of Your Control

While we have almost complete control over our indoor environment, we obviously can’t control our outdoor environment, which changes constantly. Everything from noise, light (natural and artificial), and overall “feel” is unpredictable and variable. Sometimes we’re stuck in loud campgrounds, noisy truck stops or Wal-Mart parking lots. Sometimes the moon or sun comes in the windows at odd angles. And sometimes a place just feels weird or literally stinks. For all of these possible circumstances, we control everything we can in order to compensate.

White Noise and Noise Blockers: Due to tinnitus, Jason has always been a big fan of white noise via a small wind machine. Historically, we’ve taken our wind machine everywhere we go overnight. When we’re plugged into shore power, we use said wind machine; when we’re not, Jason uses a white noise audio track that plays on repeat on his iPod or iPhone. I generally do fine without white noise, and I’m a pretty deep sleeper most of the time. However, when we’re at noisy truck stops or the like, I use foam ear plugs gifted to me last Christmas by my thoughtful and wise sister-in-law.

Keep it Dark: Again, a dark sleeping environment is something we’ve always practiced, and it’s become essential on the road, especially when we’re parked overnight in public places or in campgrounds with bright bathhouse lights. My mom sewed room-darkening curtains for us for the windows beside our bed (we ran out of time to get them installed as planned before we left, but clothespins work quite well when we need the curtains), which have been invaluable. In really bright places, we go to even greater lengths: we cover up the windows above the sofa with our throw pillows and blanket (we call this “building our fort”), we hang a piece of dark clothing over the door, and we sometimes put the sink cover/cutting board in front of the kitchen window. We always keep the bathroom door closed at night to keep out light that comes in from the skylight and roof vent.

Create Ambience: Sometimes places just feel weird; I can’t explain it. Or, actually, I can explain it when we’re parked at a truck stop or weird Wal-Mart, but sometimes even nice campgrounds have a strange sort of feeling. I’m definitely more sensitive to this than is Jason. In these places, I do what I can to create a nice indoor ambience. I close the blinds, play music, and sometimes simmer a little water and cinnamon on the stove – this trick also works well when camped in a rural area that smells like chicken manure.

General Sleep Hygiene and Other Considerations

Sleep Hygiene Practices: Keep your bedroom space clutter-free. In our RV, this generally means the entire RV since there is no real defined bedroom; no problem – it doesn’t take long to pick-up a 168 sq. ft. house. Remember that the bed is for sleeping. It’s tempting in a small space to sit on the bed to check e-mail, read during the day, talk on the phone, write, etc., but it can interfere with sleep at night. It’s important for your brain to associate the bed with sleeping and not much else. Avoid caffeine and exercise late in the day. Enough said. Avoid electronics or anything too emotional right before bed (e.g., the news). I make an exception for my Kindle app since we didn’t bring paper books with us, but I do keep the backlight as low as possible. Avoid sleeping in too late or napping too long during the day. A 20-30 minute power nap is usually the perfect amount.

Showering/Bathing: We usually shower at night because we’re sweaty and dirty from the day, but showering can also help trigger sleep. The warmth of the water temporarily raises body temperature, which results in the body working to lower its core temperature, which promotes a feeling of sleepiness.

Unwind Before Bed: I prefer reading and/or journaling before bed. Journaling isn’t something I practiced regularly before this year but now I understand its benefits. For me, journaling helps me process the day and let go of it. Even just a quick 10-minute session can help tremendously. I don’t write anything profound; it’s usually just a record of our day’s events and our basic reactions.

Don’t Risk Hunger: I have naturally low blood sugar, and Jason has a naturally high metabolism. He always has a small bowl of cereal before bed. I often eat some sort of small snack (preferably something with a good amount of protein) before bed depending on our activity level that day, so that I don’t wake up hungry in the middle of the night or super hangry the next morning.

Know Your Limits: Even when traveling full-time without jobs or other commitments, staying too busy and overscheduled, especially for too long, can lead to feeling stressed, burned out, and overly tired. For me, this almost always leads to insomnia. Know when to slow down the pace, take travel breaks (e.g., stay in one place for a few days without any expectations for sight-seeing, etc. and have some mandatory R&R and veg time).

Are you dreaming of deep sleep now? What tips or tricks do you use to promote better sleep either at home or while traveling? We’d love to hear!

Catching Up

15/10/09 at 1.39pm / by Jessie / 0 Comment

Greetings from the Eastern Sierras in California!

Seeing as how we’re woefully behind in our blogging, I think it’s time for another Glee-like update. Since we visited North Cascades National Park in Washington and misadventured our way south toward Mount Rainier National Park in mid-August, here’s a quick run-down of what we’ve been up to:

-My parents flew in from North Carolina and joined us for 10 wonderful days in which we were thoroughly impressed by their ability to hike some tough, long trails at high altitudes while we explored Mount Rainier National Park (one of our favorite parks this year), Mount Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument, Olympic National Park and the greater peninsula area. It was a full, fun, great visit with nearly perfect weather (Mount Rainier was out for us all week!).

-Thanks to my parents, we learned a new game called Quirkle, which we’re enjoying mastering. It’s sort of like a less sophisticated version of Scrabble with colors and shapes (you know, like for 4 year-olds).

-We’ve been reading some great books, including The Measure of a Mountain: Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier (Bruce Barcott), All the Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr), and The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (Daniel James Brown). It’s been especially fun to read books set in places we’ve recently visited (e.g., Mount Rainier and Seattle/the Olympic Peninsula in Boys in the Boat).

-We got chased off the Washington coast by hurricane-like winds and rain. Literally, we got evacuated from our campground and then from a picnic area where we were trying to wait out the storm in an open area away from super tall, old trees. It wasn’t our best travel day.

-We thoroughly enjoyed a few weeks in Oregon. We visited and explored the beautiful northern OR coast, Mount Hood (who refused to show herself after many, many attempts) and the historic Timberline Lodge, the Columbia River Gorge, Portland where I got to see an old college friend, the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum where we celebrated Jason’s birthday, the cool town of Bend and surrounding outdoor recreational areas where we did some tough mountain biking and enjoyed the beauty, and Crater Lake National Park. Oregon was good to us.

-We spent a weekend in the Lake Tahoe area where we had fun watching hot air balloons from our campsite, eating overpriced Mexican food, and cheering on athletes at Ironman and 70.3 Lake Tahoe.

-We popped into Nevada from rural eastern CA to get the truck and trailer serviced. When the trailer had to spend the night in the shop, we were grateful to be in casino country where it’s possible to find a nice hotel room for $40/night.

-My sister and brother-in-law flew out from North Carolina and joined us for a week in Yosemite National Park and a quick trip to San Francisco to visit dear cousins. It was fabulous to spend time together, as we’ve missed them like crazy, and to hike up a storm with them in such a special place.

-We took a quick drive down part of Hwy. 1 in California and thoroughly enjoyed the beauty despite cool, rainy weather.

-We cruised back through Yosemite on our way east and got snowed on up on the high mountain passes. Gorgeous!

-We visited Death Valley National Park where we experienced flash flooding, lots of rain (a year’s worth in about 24 hours), and virtually unheard of cool temperatures and humidity. Despite many road closures due to the floods, we made the most of our time there and enjoyed feeling very small in the expansive desert surrounded by big skies, high mountains and canyons. We also met up with dear family friends whose travel path crossed ours.

-And now, we’re back in the eastern Sierra region finishing up our explorations of unexpected treasures like the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, Devils Postpile National Monument, Manzanar National Historic Site, the Alabama Hills, and Mount Whitney (the highest mountain peak in the lower 48) before heading to Joshua Tree National Park.

Whew! There’s your whirlwind update. We really do hope to return to more regular posting (and to posts that aren’t written in bullet-point format). In the meantime, don’t forget that you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more regular updates and lots more photos (links on the right). We also regularly update our Travel Log (Oh, the Places We’ve Been – link under “Pages” on the right) so that you can follow along in relative real-time.

As always, thanks so much for reading, following, and supporting our adventures!

Lessons Learned on the Road: Chapter Six

15/09/23 at 5.00pm / by Jessie / 0 Comment

Welcome back to our series “Lessons Learned on the Road”! If you’re new to this series or just need a refresher, here are the basics: Each post corresponds to roughly a month of travel (or two months, as the case may be). Posts are random-ordered lists covering a range of categories and topics, some specific to RV life, some related to travel, and others simple observations and knowledge obtained along the way. We hope you enjoy our musings!

You can read earlier posts in this series here, here, here, here, and here.

-We’ve written before about our preference for traveling without campground reservations or an itinerary (sometimes we wake up and really don’t know where we’ll go that day or where we’ll spend the night) and the many benefits of first-come, first-served camping. Traveling without reservations or firm plans has proven to be ever-helpful while traveling in the Pacific Northwest, as we’ve had to pack up and move on a dime several times due to wildfires and smoke. Flexibility has been our friend.

-If you’re going to be hauling around full or semi-full tanks with any regularity, it’s a really good idea to reinforce your tank supports under your RV. We learned this the hard way when our fresh water tank support worked its way loose while driving down a rural highway. Handyman Jason reattached it with a new bolt and then added a second piece of bent-angle steel under the fresh water tank. It seems to be doing the trick.

-For several months now, we’ve been using concentrated all-purpose camp soap (‘Camp Suds’ or a similar brand) for dish detergent. It works really well and suds much less than traditional dish detergent, so we can use less water when doing dishes (I found myself using a ton of water to rinse dishes before we made the switch). However, I will note that I still use Dawn when washing our metal grilling spatula/flipper because Dawn cuts the grease faster than camp soap. I also use Dawn occasionally when we’re in a developed campground with hook-ups and a dump station because we think it helps cleanse and cut grease in our grey tank.

-Weather forecasts in the Pacific Northwest are rarely accurate. It’ll be beautiful and sunny when rain was forecasted for the day and vice versa. But most of the time, you should err on the side of planning for a grey, rainy day.

-Another water-saving strategy we’ve been using for a while: We often collect sink and shower water in plastic tubs/bins and repurpose the water for flushing the toilet. On occasion, if I do a fairly clean load of dishes, like washing our water bottles, I’ll even repurpose that water for mopping the floor or cleaning the shower. When we can’t repurpose all the water we collect, we’re often able to dispose of it in designated areas within campgrounds or dispersed camping areas (e.g., utility sinks, grey water drains, pit toilets). Collecting some grey water makes a huge difference when boondocking/drycamping and/or staying in a campground without a dump station; we can usually stay put without dumping our tanks for 5-7 days when we’re able to collect and repurpose or dispose of some grey water (our grey tank is 30 gallons).

-Always turn off the water pump before traveling. Jason usually asks me at least three times, “Is the pump off?” before we pull out of a campground. I usually roll my eyes and say, “Yeeess, worry wart.” But no more. I’ll never roll my eyes again, as we know some full-time RVers through social media who had a bad experience recently when their pump accidently got left on during travel.

-Unless you’re buying diesel, it’s illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon. It’s like New Jersey. We’re not fans of this law.

-Cell phone service anywhere around Mount Rainier, including towns outside the park, is close to nonexistent, and it’s even worse with an old iPhone.

-You may be more likely to see a black bear in Mount Rainier while walking on a paved path near an inn than while hiking in the backcountry. The bears know where the dumpsters are.

-It’s not uncommon for price ranges on Allstays to be grossly incorrect in either direction (sometimes camping areas are free or less than advertised, and sometimes they’re more than advertised). Despite this, we still love this app and it’s our go-to for most everything related to our travels. We’ve found that it’s helpful to call campgrounds or look at specific websites to verify prices.

-Salt and Straw ice cream in Portland is delicious! They have the most unique ice cream flavors, and the employees are super nice and fun even when you’re being painfully indecisive. When I told our server I’d never been before, she let me sample probably 10 different flavors. The best part? The samples are served on cold metal spoons. Bliss.

-A trip to Mount St. Helens is worth it.

-There are LOTS of visitor centers on the western side of Mount St. Helens: one operated by a town, another by the county, and then another that’s a Science and Learning Center. While these may be worth a quick stop, keep driving and save your time and energy for the Johnston Ridge Observatory, located closest to the mountain and at the very end of the road. It’s operated by the US Forest Service and is first-class. They offer a multitude of ranger talks frequently throughout the day, Junior Ranger programs, lots of exhibits and trails, and two movies. Don’t miss the movie on the geology and eruption of the mountain. It’s one of the best park/monument films we’ve seen all year.

-When you drive down lots of lumpy, bumpy roads with your RV, it’s a good idea to periodically check the screws on your water pump. The vibration of the pump itself, plus lots of miles on the road, can cause the screws to loosen and the pump may stop working until they’re tightened up again.

-Don’t skip Sunrise at Mount Rainier. Paradise is THE thing to do, and with good reason, but Sunrise is equally as good, if not better.

-We should have installed a roof vent cover a long time ago. As in, before we left home. The covers cost about $20 at Walmart and take about 20 minutes to install.

-Seattle sprawls for hours north to south. Seriously, hours. Expect lots of traffic, especially on a Friday and/or a Seahawks game day.

-Related: Seattle Seahawks fans take their football seriously. And it seems like most people in Seattle are Seahawks fans.

-It’s almost always worth it to drop the travel trailer before looking for dispersed camping on unfamiliar roads (and let’s be honest, they’re all unfamiliar roads), even if we end up paying for one night of camping in a developed campground. Scout it out first or you might end up doing some of these ridiculous things.

-You might draw the attention of casino security if you stand on the tailgate of your truck to inspect the roof of your RV (see same ridiculous post).

-Many Washington state rest areas have very nice multi-lane dump stations with potable water. Some also allow overnight parking for up to 8 hours.

-There are a lot of Panda Expresses in the Pacific Northwest. This makes Jason happy.

-When there are wind gusts up to 60 mph in your campground and trees are falling, it’s time to go.

-Related: Trees in the PNW are so tall that you can’t tell they’re swaying in strong winds simply by looking out the window of your RV. But if you go outside and look waaay up and see only the whites of leaves and branches falling, you get a good idea pretty darn fast.

-When a big storm is expected in a rural area, it’s always a good idea to fill up anything that can hold water (fresh water tank, water bottles, bathtub in a traditional house) before the storm hits. Well water pumps generally require electricity, so no power = no water.

-Forks, WA is well-known for being the setting of the popular Twilight series. So well-known, in fact, that when you call Coachmen Roadside Support for a problem with your RV, the Coachmen employee may say, “Oh, you’re in Forks! Like the Twilight Forks! So cool!” Yeah, it might be cool if our RV wasn’t broken on the SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY.

-We did like Forks because various local groups set up food tents/trucks in the Ace Hardware parking lot. $0.50 hotdogs while we try to repair our RV on a Friday night? Yes, please! (And we got to support the local high school track team.)

-The Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in Oregon is pricey but totally worth it. Stay until the last hour of the day, and once the families have left, go play in the kid’s area.

-Don’t try to pronounce anything in the WA peninsula. You will get it wrong.

-Sunsets over the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the WA peninsula are some of the very best we’ve seen this year.

-Don’t skip the northern Oregon coast while in the PNW.

-If you end up eating at the highly recommended Pelican Pub and Brewery in Pacific City, OR, don’t skip dessert. Order the Caramel Carrot Cake; it comes with a root beer caramel sauce, a caramel cream cheese frosting, and is topped with coconut English toffee. Also, order one of their craft beers.

-With enough peer pressure, swimming in Crater Lake is totally worth it despite the frigid water – it’s an unforgettable, exhilarating experience.

-We’ve noticed a trend of legal marijuana stores located right next to fast food places. Coincidence? We think not.

-Horses cause a ton of trail erosion, making for unpleasantly challenging mountain bike conditions.

-Volcanos have shaped much of the PNW landscape. In central Oregon alone, volcanos have formed mountains, lakes (including Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the US), deserts, and lava beds, fields, caves, etc, which juxtapose old-growth forests and lush vegetation.

-There is no sales tax in Oregon. This is a beautiful thing when your spouse insists on buying a new bike for his birthday.

Fire and Ice: Glacier National Park

15/08/14 at 7.54pm / by Jessie / 0 Comment

Just a couple of days before we planned to arrive in Glacier National Park, we read the news (a fairly rare occurrence these days) that a wildfire had just started in the eastern side of the park near the town of St. Mary. Initially small, the wildfire grew exponentially over the next 36-ish hours as we continued to monitor the news updates from beautiful Lolo National Forest well south of the park. Fortunately, we loved Lolo and were happy to stay an extra day or two until the fire stabilized (we hoped).

In the meantime, we developed alternative plans. We figured that, at best, our initial plan of spending two-ish weeks in the Glacier area simply wouldn’t be realistic due to the fire resulting in the closure of a significant portion of the infamous and scenic Going-to-the-Sun Road (GTTSR), which bisects the park and connects the West Glacier area with the eastern side of the park where much of the best hiking and best glacier views are found in the Many Glacier and Two Medicine areas of the park. We decided to spend our “leftover” time in North Cascades National Park in Washington. We read in one of our guidebooks that North Cascades NP is home to approximately 300 glaciers (Glacier NP has about 25), so it seemed like a good and suitable alternative. (Coincidentally, a fire would start in North Cascades prior to our arrival and continue to grow, but more on that in a separate post.)

As predicted, the fire in Glacier slowed down after a few days. It became apparent that at least the western side of the park would be perfectly safe. We were situated to enter the park from the west anyway, so we decided to head into the area determined to do whatever we could and to make the most of it. Of course, though, we were disappointed, as Glacier was one of our top priorities from the beginning of this trip and a place where, as aforementioned, we’d planned to spend a significant (for us) amount of time.

Initially, we were worried about smoke, but it turned out to be a nonfactor everywhere we went in and around the park except for the St. Mary area itself, which we traveled through on our way to and from Many Glacier. Despite the smoke, we stopped for a meal at Park Café in St. Mary, recommended to us as a worthy spot for a belated anniversary celebration dinner. The food and service didn’t disappoint, and we essentially had the normally line-out-the-door popular place to ourselves, which made us sad for the business owner and staff who rely heavily on summer park visitors for business.

Our other worry was how we’d be impacted by the GTTSR closure. Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Let’s start with the good.

With a little creativity, we figured out how to access the hikes we wanted to do from the road even though the “best” trailheads weren’t always accessible. We drove up the open section of road twice and thoroughly enjoyed its scenic rewards both times (we took a second drive when the weather was nicer and the road was opened a little further to allow access to its highest point along the Continental Divide at Logan Pass). We don’t know what the road looks like east of Logan Pass, but I can’t imagine that it’s as beautiful as the area west of the pass.

Now, the bad news: Glacier is a big park with relatively few roads. Without the benefit of the GTTSR bisecting the park, the only way to travel between the western and eastern sides is to drive around the park’s southern boundary on roads outside the park itself. From West Glacier, that meant a roundtrip of 3-5 hours to Two Medicine or Many Glacier on the eastern side and of at least 8 hours to Waterton Lakes, the Canadian national park that borders Glacier, as there isn’t a good western route between the parks.

We’d initially planned to celebrate our anniversary with a daytrip to Waterton (we had no desire to deal with the logistics of taking the RV into Canada for a night), and we quickly scratched those plans. Though we really wanted to spend more time in Many Glacier and Two Medicine, we ended up making just one daytrip to each area. The trips were totally worth it in terms of great hiking and breathtakingly beautiful scenery, but we simply didn’t want to spend a bulk of our time in the park driving. All week, we debated moving to a campground on the eastern side of the park, but it was too far to reasonably drive the RV without having a guaranteed campsite (Two Medicine and Many Glacier are first-come, first-served and have very few sites large enough to accommodate us, and St. Mary was closed during most of our visit and then was booked solid with prior reservations. Additionally, the eastern side of the park is bordered by a Native American reservation, so there aren’t good nearby camping options outside the park.).

Although we had a great week in Glacier, we definitely left feeling like it was “undone”, as we wanted to spend more time in the eastern part of the park. We certainly have a longer than usual “next time” list, mostly full of hikes we’d like to do in Many Glacier.

So, what did we do and enjoy during our week in Glacier?

We spent our first few days in a national forest near the park where camping was slightly less expensive, which allowed us to restock on groceries, get a cheap haircut at a cosmetology school in a nearby town, and enjoy a “down-day” of laundry, cleaning, and rest during one of several cool, rainy days. We also visited Hammer Nutrition’s headquarters in nearby Whitefish, MT where we showed up unannounced and ended up getting a personal 40-minute tour of the facilities by the company’s president, who filled up a bag with all kinds of goodies as we walked through the warehouse. Hammer Nutrition makes our favorite sports nutrition (drink mixes, bars, gels, supplements, etc.) and cycling gear. They also make delicious fair-trade organic coffee, which isn’t cheap, but which was included in our “goody bag” nonetheless, along with a pour-over coffee brewer, a simple but genius invention that means no more instant coffee for me! It was a true highlight of our trip.

Like Grand Teton National Park, parts of Glacier feel like a resort. There are lakes with overpriced boat rides, gorgeous historic lodges and inns with restaurants, bars, and expansive back porches/decks, at least one reading room with a gas-log fireplace (I know because I enjoyed warming myself there on a chilly day), and guided tours in antique red cars called “jammers”.

In an extended belated celebration of our anniversary, we treated ourselves to a ranger-guided historic boat ride on Lake McDonald after enjoying a tasty microbrew with a lakeside picnic (nothing says class like PB&J and beer). While we thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon of “luxury” (for us), it’s hard to believe, and quite sad, that some 50% of visitors to Glacier National Park never take a hike in the park.

True to our MO, we went on some great hikes. Our favorites were Granite Park Chalet (we started at the Loop trailhead because Logan Pass was still closed at this point), Grinnell Glacier, and Scenic Point.

The 360-degree vista from Scenic Point was a true highlight of this trip for me. Situated on the eastern edge of the Rockies, the point provides a high-altitude view of expansive prairieland to the east (which would have been enough for me to fall in love with on its own), and in a quarter turn, a view of prairie-meeting-mountains, and in another quarter turn, breathtaking views of glaciated mountains and lakes. It was simply spectacular.

I also fell in love with Avalanche Gorge on the way to Avalanche Lake. The whole scene left me spellbound – something about the clarity and color of the water, the forest scenery, the slot-like canyon formation and shape of the gorge, and the moss- and lichen-covered rocks was simply captivating. This was the silver lining of the fire and subsequent road closure: it forced us to spend more time in the western part of the park where we went on some shorter hikes that we otherwise may have passed by, which led us to fantastic and unexpected places like Avalanche Gorge.

Finally, the real highlight of our week was spending time with my sister’s best friend and her boyfriend/partner, who happened to arrive in the park toward the end of our stay (completely unplanned on both our parts). In addition to enjoying hugs sent from home, we loved having travel buddies, which hasn’t happened since Zion NP in Utah. They joined us for a hike and for a magical evening drive up the GTTSR after the road was opened to Logan Pass; we took way too many pictures in the beautiful fading light, marveled at the spectacular beauty of it all, and stood awe-struck at the pass as a nearly full moon rose above the mountains.

The next night, we enjoyed classic camping fun: a big campfire with roasted hotdogs and marshmallows, good beer, and wonderful company with lots of laughter. It was the perfect ending to a not-so-perfect but still very good week.

The Rest of Western South Dakota

15/08/06 at 9.02am / by Jessie / 0 Comment

Our whirlwind seven-day adventure to South Dakota was one of the busiest weeks we’ve had this year. While we weren’t busy exploring Badlands and Wind Cave National Parks we took some time to explore the “other” things to do in Western South Dakota. Here is a quick round-up of our time in order of interest and importance as determined by me, (your mileage may vary):

Mobile Gas Station/RV Campground/Military Museum

Yep, this is at the top of our list. You see, the reason we left Badlands when we did is because a serious South Dakota heatwave was settling in. When the temperature hits 95+ degrees inside your RV it is time to find somewhere to plug into power and revel in the modern convenience known as air conditioning. Usually we end up paying handsomely for this luxury. Enter a very random 24 hour self-service gas station (as in no convenience store, just pay-at-the-pump gas) located in Wasta, SD that also has an 8 site RV “campground” with power, potable water, and a dump station. All of this for a grand total of $15 for two nights. Yes, we spent two nights behind a gas station. This, my friends, is RV road trip gold. And the fact that there was an extraordinarily well preserved A-4 Skyhawk parked out front was the icing on the cake. This place was delightfully strange and we loved every air conditioned minute we spent here.

Minuteman National Historic Site

Located just north of Badlands NP and buried deep underground and sometimes hidden-in-plain-sight, South Dakota has been home to a nuclear arsenal capable of destruction roughly 700 times that of the entire ordinance expenditure of all sides during WWII (including both Atomic weapons). Many of these weapons have been disposed of following the cold war but there is still a very active missile silo and bomber program headquartered at Ellsworth Air Force Base. We took a day to explore the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site.

The Minuteman National Historic Site is located just off I-90 and is brand-spanking-new. They don’t even have their final museum instillation yet. The short film and what is currently available do a good job of giving a historical perspective of the cold war and the nuclear buildup that followed WWII. When the site is complete it will have a replica missile silo and other more authentic displays then the ones currently available. The real heart of The Minuteman National Historic Site is the distributed sites located across the plains and a bit of a drive from the “museum” location. A decommissioned missile silo and control center (different locations separate by roughly 15 miles) give visitors a better, more intimate view of exactly what Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) technology is all about. We took the time to visit the silo and had the opportunity to chat with a retired USAF technician who worked in the silo fields for well over a decade. Unfortunately the ticketed tours of the command center were booked solid the day we were there. This is easily worth the 1-3 hour commitment it takes to visit the site(s). All of the activities associated with the Minuteman site are currently free of charge.

South Dakota Air and Space Museum

As referenced above there is still a very active ICBM and heavy bomber program at Ellsworth Air Force base. Located just outside the main gate to the Air Force base is a fantastic museum with 52 well preserved aircraft including a B-1, B-25, B-26, B-29, FB-111, and the venerable B-52 all housed in a lovely walkable display outside the museum buildings. Inside the facility are historical artifacts and a replica of a missile launch capsule for the Minuteman missile program. We spent roughly three hours touring the free museum although we could have easily spent several more. A one-hour guided tour of Ellsworth AFB is available for under $10 but we were running short on time so we skipped the tour. Located just off I-90 we highly recommend this as a great place to spend a few hours if you are in the area.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial

This one you know. 60+ feet tall faces carved into stone. Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and the other guy (Teddy Roosevelt). The park is “free” but you have to pay to park. So in other words, it isn’t free. We very much enjoyed half-day at Mount Rushmore despite the amusement park feel we got from time-to-time. After walking just about everything there was to walk, taking too many pictures, attending two ranger talks, watching the film about the creation of the carving, buying postcards, and pursuing the museum we took our leave of the park after about three-and-a-half hours with plans to setup camp, have dinner, and return in time for the 9pm “lighting” program. We enjoyed the 60 minute program and it culminated with a nice tribute to current and former service members.

Crazy Horse Monument

Jessie needed a bit of a rest and opted to skip Crazy Horse. I ventured out planning to spend about three hours and wanted desperately to come away from Crazy Horse Monument with a better understanding of the monument and local Native American culture. I got one of my two wishes. I learned a lot about the 60+ year history of the carving and the man who set out to make it a reality. It is truly an interesting story. However, I did not learn nearly enough about the history I went so interested in exploring. In fact, if you were a professional museum curator I’d imagine you’d come away absolutely frustrated by the lack of organization and storytelling that takes place at Crazy Horse. What Crazy Horse has in abundance is stuff to buy. Food, souvenirs, authentic Native American “stuff”, etc is everywhere. The carving itself is impressive and still only roughly 20-25% complete after over 60 years of work. When/if complete it will be the largest rock carving in the world by a large measure dwarfing nearby Mount Rushmore. Crazy Horse is funded exclusively by private money, ticket sales, etc so it stands to reason that is will naturally be different than the likes of Mount Rushmore, but still, I left Crazy Horse a bit sad that there wasn’t more Native American and a little less American. At over $10 per person for the basic entrance fee (more if you want to ride the bus closer to the carving), Jessie was wise to skip this one.

Wall Drug

Not all tourist traps are created equal. Wall Drug belongs toward the top of this list nationally. It is 60 minutes of my life I’ll never get back. The sad thing about Wall Drug is that it is nearly impossible to bypass if you spend any time on I-90 in that part of the country. The billboards stretch for hundreds of miles in both directions and promise an oasis of goodness and fun. There are bumper stickers on cars all over the west. You simply can’t avoid it. That said it is a giant maze of souvenirs, junk, activities, and food (almost all really, really bad for you…our ¼ lbs of fudge was no exceptions). I partook in an exceptionally average doughnut despite a glowing recommendation from one of our guidebooks. This place seems to be designed such that you are supposed to get lost and have to eat and buy your way out. Skip it if your curiosity doesn’t get the best of you. Otherwise plan to leave with a belly ache, an air-brushed t-shirt that will regret the minute you pay for it, and a personalized knockoff Swiss Army knife that falls apart the first time you try to carve up the perfect marshmallow roasting stick. And no, aside from the “food”, we bought none of this.