Glamping In Glacier National Park

We made a last minute decision to go camping in Glacier National Park over Independence Day.

It was the best decision -- Glacier is amazing and we had a wonderful time.

It took us about 5 hours to drive there, we took a scenic route that took us through some rolling hills and along Flathead Lake.  I've seen Flathead from the air when we fly to MSP (thank you Delta pilots for pointing it out!) but never been there.  It's really beautiful, and we stopped for a nice casual outdoor lunch at a place called The Docks in Lakeside, MT. 

The stop was unplanned (I basically just said "pull over there!" as we were driving through town) but it was perfect.  Sunny, cool, breezy - the best way to start off a vacation!

We finally made it to Glacier a couple hours later, drove in the park and began looking for a campsite.  We pulled in to the Avalanche Creek campsite, which turned out to be the perfect launching point for us.

D and I had never gone camping together before.  And camping is one of those things that can either go really well, or not -- depending on your expectations and whether or not you are all on the same page!  =)  For us, we had a blast.  It helps of course that D is mister eagle scout, former professional camper and all that.  And we also brought along our giant air mattress, pillow and even the comforter off of our bed, so we weren't exactly roughing it!  Hence, glamping!

See?  Not really roughing it.

 M and I basically explored and relaxed while D set up our camp. 

Tough life, right?  The campgrounds had regular flush toilets and running water, so we were definitely not back-country camping.  It was a little nerve wracking because there were signs everywhere about how we were in bear country and needed to keep food packed up in the cars (including all toiletries too!). 

We had delicious Aidell's sausages for dinner and took a short hike around Avalanche Creek that evening.  The water was just rushing so fast, and it was so, so green. 

You could hear it all night long, it was magical.  The campsite was pretty full, I think D would have preferred more privacy/remoteness but I thought it was kind of neat to walk around and see everyone's different camp set-ups.  There weren't any hobos out there, these people knew how to camp!

The only downside was that M was so excited about everything that he could hardly settle down to go to sleep.  I basically walked him up and down the path until he fell asleep in the Ergo, then I put him in the pack n play.  He woke up in the middle of the night crying, so he got to snuggle the rest of the night.  But he was so cute because when he woke up in the morning, he just starting laughing and bouncing around on the air mattress -- clearly he was a fan of camping!

More to come on our day on the Going-to-the-Sun Road!