Kiwis and Fairy Bread

14-15 June 2026

Another bench. Another conversation with interesting, well traveled people. Another truly incredible view.

Glacier National Park, Montana. Wow! Jagged peaks of dark sedimentary rock and pure white snow fill my vision above a lake of teal glacial water. A cool breeze flows steadily. A confident, patient crow stares me down. What a fortunate woman I am.

The journey to get to this idilic spot began early yesterday morning at 8am when Mike, Ben, Ben’s roommate Cary and I got an Uber to Newark airport. Hopped on a bumpy flight to Chicago (Hi Cousin Janice!) and then a much smoother one to Bozeman Montana. We were lucky: many people we met at the airports had been experiencing significant delays.

The Bozeman airport was more crowded than we had ever seen it. It took a full hour to get the bags and pick up our rental car. Apparently since the pandemic this area has seen a big boon in both visitors and new residents.

Checked into the crisp, contemporary and newly renovated Hyatt Yellowstone Airport Hotel. Then headed to downtown Bozeman where we met Mike’s sister Liz and her son Steven for dinner. Steven is the real reason we came to Montana. He is getting married on Saturday and was kind enough to invite us. (Unfortunately our daughter and her husband David were unable to join us due to time and budget constraints)

This is our fourth trip to Montana, and the third for a wedding. In 2014 Steven’s sister Kayla was married. And two years before that, my cousin Elizabeth married, wait for it… a man from Manchester England (they were both studying paleontology at Montana State University with Jack Horner, the renowned paleontologist on whom Sam Neil’s character in Jurassic Park was based.)

Anyway, back to the present. Since on the previous three trips to this state we had gone down to Yellowstone (which we love. It is truly an other-worldly place), we decided that this year, we would go north and visit Glacier National Park.

The six hour drive from Bozeman to East Glacier was a very interesting one. As we headed due north, the Rocky Mountains flanked our west, as we drove through plains and prairie stretching for hundreds of miles to the east.

There is a very distinct line between the two. The Rockies simply rise up sharply from the green grasslands of the plains (which are already at 4,000 feet (300 meters) above sea level. The tallest peak in Montana, Granite Peak, is a whopping 12,800 feet (4000 meters)!

Those Rockies were capped in snow in the far distance. The valley wide and dry with scattered farms. We drove through the city of Helena, and several scattered small towns. Cary, a train enthusiast, watched a cargo train that was almost a mile long. But what was it carrying? Coal? Gravel? Dirt? We would soon find out.

On the hill was a herd of horses. They were blue! Turned out to be a life sized art installation. Very cool.

Mike and I each took turns driving. I was glad that he was at the wheel when we entered “The Gateway to the Mountains” a winding road through The Lewis and Clark Forest (yes, they and Sacagawea traveled through here in 1804). The road was partially under construction and dump trucks were pouring out a material that looked just like the cargo in the train. Through the pass red, gray and yellow rocks towered above us, taking on shapes of animals, faces and even the “God’s thumb” from Holes, one of favorite young adult books. A golden eagle flew in front of us from one rocky cave to another.

Looking for a place to have our picnic lunch we passed through the bleak-looking Augusta, to Choteau (pronounced show-too). Finding a cute little bright green public park right next to series of huge, dusty grain elevators alongside railroad tracks, we took a short break. A small stream ran through the park, full of cool, clear rushing water. Ben and I picked up some fallen branches and played the quickest game of Pooh Sticks ever (do any of our readers know about Pooh Sticks?)

Outside of Choteau the prairie turned to rolling hills of sage green grass and scrubby bushes. Honestly the changing landscape reminded Mike and I of previous trips: the Utah portion of The California Zephyr (see posts 16-18 June 2026), the South Island of New Zealand (see posts 27-30 December 2023) and even the peaks of Derbyshire (see posts September 2025). The world is so different, yet so much the same.

And yet, what makes this area unique is the big sky. There is so much of it. Bright blue, fluffy clouds, and no tall trees or buildings to obstruct the view.

A grazing herd of bison made us realize that we had entered The Blackfeet Reservation. Remote farms with crops and cattle and a sad looking downtown that had seen better days. Fading cabins that may have been a hotel or housing. A concrete teepee with peeling paint advertised espresso (a business before it’s time, I think). There were casinos and stray dogs in gas stations. Rusting trailers and small homes with falling roofs. I expect there are better dwellings and businesses, but we didn’t see them until a sharp left turn had the mountains right in front of us and we passed through the town of St Mary just outside the park. This town clearly caters to tourists and there is a big shiny complex of shops, hotels and restaurants. Up the road another left turn at the town of Babb (another bleak one) and the road got dusty. Not since The Clay Cliffs in New Zealand (see post 23 December 2023) have we driven on on such a bad road! How could this be the entrance to the park?

Pulling over at a scenic lookout we chatted with some park ornithologists watching an eagle nest. This one appeared to inactive, but their job was to watch each of the park’s eagle’s nest for four hours. Cool job!

At the official Glacier National Park entrance we paid our $35.00-good-for-seven-days fee and were told we couldn’t miss The Swiftcurrent Motor Inn, as the road ended right at it. What a great place to stay!

Back in January, when we decided to travel to Glacier, we booked the last three rooms available in the park. It worked out great. The Swiftcurrent Motor Inn was built in 1935 as a budget alternative to the upscale Many Glaciers Hotel, just one mile away. Nestled in the woods, it offers traditional motel rooms as well as little cabins and a campground. The majority of the cabins have a bedroom with a double bed and a small room with table, chairs, a cabinet and a sink. At the edge of the cabin area is a building with toilets and showers. Another building has a cafe, lobby, rest rooms and a shop.

Cary took the cabin originally booked for Emi and David. Ben took the one next door and Mike and I two doors down. It was nice for us to each have our own space. Settling in we had a very nice dinner (smoked trout BLT, grilled cheese and fries) and then drove over to The Many Glaciers Hotel for a ranger talk and great view.

This is the classy (and more expensive) place to stay. And what you are really paying for is the view. Spectacular!

Ben and Cary explored the hotel and the nearby waterfall. Mike wandered and took photos. I sat on the balcony and talked to a well traveled couple named Danette and Larry.

We would meet many nice and well traveled people during the next few days. And we would spend a lot of time at this hotel. For the moment, we were relieved that our journey of two days had brought us to this spot. It would be a wonderful week.