glacier national park

Current destination: Columbia Falls, Montana (about 30 minutes away from the entrance to West Glacier)

Next stop: Spokane, Washington

Mood: Anxious

*****

We finally made it into Glacier National Park on our third day in the area – after we visited the waterpark, a nearby brewery, a visitor’s center, and went on a white water rafting adventure. I know, I know, what took us so long, right?

Well, cancer/chemo nausea, young children, timing, and the whims of four very different grown ups all played a large role in it, but it was definitely worth the wait. On Thursday Casey and I rode the bike in and up a very winding, very cliffy road to Logan’s Pass, while Dave and Teresa (anxiously) followed with the kids in the truck. Fortunately, most of the haze and smoke from surrounding fires had blown away so it was a beautiful, clear ride.

Yesterday Casey and I took Zoey to an adventure park for a special day. She’s been struggling a little bit, unable to listen or control her temper, so we thought it was time for some solo time without the baby.

We went back to the park this afternoon (in both trucks) in search of a creek for Teresa to put her feet in the water. On the way, Dave (in his usual impatient way) left us behind and we took a wrong turn down a narrow, gravelly road where I was sure we’d either see a bear or be murdered, but neither fate befell us. By the time we finally met back up, everyone was a little grouchy, but that didn’t last long because it’s really quite hard to stay grouchy when your view is this spectacular.

We drove a little further in (while Charley screamed her head off) and found a spot to park. Honestly, I was kind of annoyed, a little bit tired, and my head had begun to pound, so I almost didn’t even want to get out. But I am so glad I didn’t miss wading around in this freezing cold, crystal clear water.

We leave tomorrow and while I’m ready to continue our journey, I’m bummed we’re leaving this gorgeous wonderland, especially since I don’t think anything in Spokane will compare. But I’ve been wrong before, so here’s hoping!

On a separate note, I have a confession to make: I had no less than two anxiety-related, non-panic attack meltdowns this week. So far we’ve done a pretty good job compromising when it comes to where we’ll go next and what we’ll do when we get there, so that’s not really the issue. The trouble is that next week is going to be…weird. Casey flies to Houston on Wednesday for a brain MRI on Thursday, Charley and I fly into Fort Worth Thursday for a sort of funeral service for my grandma*, and Zoey goes with my in-laws to Mt. Rainier one of those days, and I don’t think I’m handling the stress of  separation and scan results and all the very heavy things on our own(ish) very well. So if you could, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers, and I promise to keep you all updated.

*Shoutout to Kevin Underwood and Wendy Messenger for giving us their airline miles so we can fly to important things since airfare is hella expensive and we’re jobless nomads now. YOU GUYS ARE DA REAL MVPs! xx