2021 Idaho Trip. July 22nd-August 7th

SkunkWorks

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Sep 13, 2018
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1,733
Location
Colorado
Day-11, Sunday August 1st
215 Miles

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With the previous evening's Shower, Fresh-Laundry, Clean Helmet, and comfortable Bed, I woke up refreshed and reset for the next week of this Adventure.
We made breakfast at the Cabin, and then loaded the bikes for the day's ride.
We refilled all our extra water containers, and got ourselves ready.

My fore-arm was really sensitive where the Yellowjacket got me the day before. It had a decent sized redness around the sting site that had become swollen and warm.
Ron had some Benadryl with him, so I took one in hopes that it might help a little.

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We geared-up and set off, riding through town and then north on Moon Pass Rd.

I had been looking forward to this stretch, and was the main reason I planned the route through Avery.
This road follows an old Railroad Grade. The Tunnels are all still there, as well as the High-Trestles.
You ride through them and over them as you make your way along this fork of the St. Joe River. It is an awesome Route!

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It was along this stretch where, at one of the Trestles, I stepped off the bike to take a couple pictures.
As soon as I started walking I could feel something wrong with my right Boot.
I turned around to find the entire SOLE laying next to the Bike.........................UGG!
Can't fix it right here, so I quickly strapped it to the luggage with my Sneakers, got my pictures and we continued on towards Wallace.

This section of the road was fast-gravel!
There was no traffic whatsoever, so I could open it up and blast down the straights and get a little sideways throttling out of the curves.!
It was a fun section up and down through the Forest.

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I waited for Ron where the road becomes paved again, and we rode together the rest of the way into town.
We planned to get fuel in town, and the first gas station we came to was chock-full! Each pump had another vehicle or two queued-up in line waiting.
This wouldn't do, so we rode to the other end of town to try the other fuel-station.
We had better luck, as there was one pump open. We stacked the Bikes to save time and fill them both together, as there was now other people waiting.

I pumped first, and was in the middle of a conversation with Ron on Comms while fueling, when a Gentleman walks up to me and starts asking questions about my Bike.
I answered a couple of them politely, whilst also paying attention to Ron's conversation in the middle of trying to pump gas.
I think I confused both the Gentleman and Ron with my answers.................Hell, I think I even was confused myself.
I don't know if it was a combination of being slightly frustrated at having to ride to the other end of town, coupled with people waiting to use the gas-pumps and me wanting to hurry up and finish.
I turned to the guy and simply shook my head and said "I'm sorry".
He replied "I can see you're in a hurry" and he walked away.
Ron finished topping up his bike, and we left the gas station headed back to the other end of town to continue heading north.
As we rode away I could see the Gentleman who came to talk to me was standing next to another Blue Super-Tenere.

I later felt bad that I didn't take the time to pull over to where he was parked and chat with him for a bit.
That is my one and only regret of the entire trip!
So if you are on the Forum, Mr Blue Super-Tenere Guy, that I crossed paths with on August 1st in Wallace Idaho, I truly am sorry....................I wish I would have taken the extra time to talk Bikes with you!
I do regret not doing so.
 

SkunkWorks

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Sep 13, 2018
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Location
Colorado
After riding north out of Wallace, we missed a couple forest-fire closures on our way to Prichard and then headed east on Thompson Pass Rd.
We met up with Hwy-200 at Thompson Falls and continued north.

We stopped for Lunch in Trout Creek at the "Naughty Pine Saloon"

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The Pizza was absolutely delicious!
I finished mine!
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Wheel of Mis-Fortune?

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After our lunch-break we continued north.
A little farther up the road we decided to check out Noxon Rapids Dam.
It was Dam-Impressive!

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After that we turned onto Hwy-56 and rode on to US Hwy-2
We stayed on our northerly heading

Cap'n Ron had no clue where we were going to end up.
I kept it a surprise.
Once we reached Moyie Springs, we stopped for Fuel once more and then I took the lead.
We didn't have much farther to go...................
 

SkunkWorks

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Sep 13, 2018
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Location
Colorado
Just up the road from there we turned on to Meadow Creek Rd, and followed that until turning onto Deer Ridge Rd.
It was gravel the rest of the way, and began climbing up the ridge.
It was slightly steep in spots but decently maintained. It became more narrow the higher we went.
Eventually we reached our destination for the night...............What a treat this was!

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Deer Ridge Lookout.

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It was nice and cool up there on the Mountain, and the beds were plenty comfortable.

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40-feet above the ground!

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Luckily there was a Bucket attached to a rope and pulley at the top.
It made hauling up our gear a breeze!

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The views were a bit smoky, but that was to be expected with the season that Idaho was having.
We did hear a thunderstorm rumbling over the next ridge on the Montana side, but it stayed away and we ended up having a peaceful evening up above the trees.

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The whole area around the base of the Tower was filled with wild Huckleberry bushes.
I picked a bunch of them and ate them as I went. They were ripe and sweet!

After dark, as we were gazing off into the distance from the Balcony, we could hear rustling in the bushes and some twigs snapping.
It took awhile but eventually a couple Deer emerged to feed on some plants in the clearing. Don't know if they were eating the berries but they stuck around awhile.

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This was an amazing experience! I've always wanted to stay in one of these, but they are almost impossible to get. I got lucky when I booked this one.
I spent a little time reading the Binder of historical info about the Tower, and we enjoyed the peaceful solitude.
We were pretty sure we were the only people up on the Mountain that night.

Here is the "Relive" Video of our Route today.
Stay Tuned!

 

SkunkWorks

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Sep 13, 2018
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Location
Colorado
Yeah, the schedule of the trip didn't really work out for meeting up with people.
With the advance reservations that were booked, a lot of the days were about riding to the next destination.

I have a good friend who apparently lives in Salmon. We ate lunch in town and apparently rode within a couple miles of his House.
Didn't meet up with him either.
 

AusTexS10

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Jan 24, 2020
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Location
Austin, TX
That cabin looks fantastic. Did you find out what those numbers on the hill sides in Arco meant? The sail of my sub (USS Boston/SSN-703) ended up in Buffalo NY. No telling where they're going to show up.
A drier fate than my brother's boat (USS Redfish/AGSS-395) that he served aboard in the early 1960's. It ended up getting sunk by another sub in 1968 while serving as a target.
 

AusTexS10

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Jan 24, 2020
Messages
732
Location
Austin, TX
Any bladder will work. You can get generic bladders at Wally World for about $15. I used to have a Geigerrig bladder in my CamelBak carrier. I prefer the Geigerrig due to the huge opening for easy filling. It can also be pressurized, but I never did. But, I wore the CamelBak instead of carrying it in a saddlebag. It was easier access, and I got used to the feel.
I loved my Geigerrig for mountain biking and used it pressurized so I could drink when I didn't have any suction left in my lungs after a climb. Also great for a face rinse to get that Texas humidity off the face. I'd usually fill it halfway with ice first, so it would stay cool throughout my ride.
 

Sierra1

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14,812
Location
Joshua TX
. . . . I'd usually fill it halfway with ice first, so it would stay cool throughout my ride.
Almost the same. I'd completely fill it with ice, put two Propel powders in, and fill with water. By the time it was loosing it's cool, it was gone.
 

SkunkWorks

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Sep 13, 2018
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1,733
Location
Colorado
Day 12, August 2nd
157 Miles

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Since the previous night's reservation to stay in the Fire-Tower was the last one I had made for this trip, we now didn't have any set destination or direction for the day.
This next week of the trip we had planned to just "wing-it" and see where we end up!
We originally talked about maybe spending some time exploring the Hells Canyon area and along the Snake River, maybe popping over into Oregon for a bit, but it was just too damn hot in that area.
We were tired of riding in 100-plus degree temps!

We did have some cell-signal up in the Tower, so that night we looked at the "Heat Maps" and figured out which way to go to avoid the worst heat the following day.
This strategy ended up pointing us east, and heading over into Montana towards Glacier National Park.

After a great night's sleep in the Tower, we decided to just be leisurely about our morning duties, and run right up against the checkout-time window.
We ate some breakfast and packed up our things. Loading stuff in the Bucket and lowering it down to the bikes made it a breeze!

I got some pictures of the morning Views of the treetops as the low-clouds were silently easing past.

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The "Outhouse"..................... Yes I did use it, but it appeared some squirrel or chipmunk had found the toilet-paper and took most of it for bedding. Luckily I always travel with some!
As I sat on the Throne I felt like "Lord of the Flies". There were lots and lots of them in there.
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As we were packing the bikes, a Forest-Service pickup-truck pulled up nearby and parked a short distance away.
We finished the last of that and then rolled the bikes over to talk with the older gentleman inside the truck.
It turns out that he is the guy who restored and remodeled the inside of the Tower-Cabin!
He was coming to work on restoring the outside and prep it for paint. He said he comes every day to work on it for a couple hours until the next visitors arrive.
We chatted with him for a few minutes, and asked him some questions about the Tower, and then left him to his business. It was great to meet the actual person that was responsible for all the work on the Structure!

We made our way down the mountain and plotted a route through the forest in a general easterly direction, attempting to get onto Yaak River Rd.
There were a few course-corrections trying to navigate the forest roads, and at one point we ended up on a fun little narrow-overgrown two-track path.
The farther we went in, the tighter the brush grew into the road.
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Ron's NAV showed this connecting to another forest-road just up ahead, but we were "Rock-Blocked" and had to turn around and find another way.

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Eventually we found this semi-paved road leading us down the mountain-ridge toward the direction we wanted to go.
It had some great views through the mist as the morning clouds were lifting.

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SkunkWorks

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Colorado
We eventually found our way to Yaak River Road and headed east.
There was not a lot of traffic, so it was an easy ride.
We weren't in any kind of hurry either, just a general direction and a "Take it as it comes" attitude.

A quick picture at a roadside stop to check the NAV.

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When we passed through Yaak, we contemplated getting lunch. It was a Dirty-Shame that this place was closed!

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Deciding to try and find something in Eureka, we continued our easy ride in an easterly direction.
Eventually we came upon Lake Koocanusa.

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We stopped farther down the road to get a couple shots of the Bridge also.

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Ron was making some adjustments, so I made a couple passes back and forth across the Bridge. There was NO traffic at all.

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It was a short ride from there to the town of Eureka.
We needed to get lunch. and I also needed to sort out what I was going to do about possibly fixing my right Boot.
We ended up at the North Point Bar-Grill-and Casino, where another awesome Burger was consumed!

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I had asked our waitress if there was a Hardware Store in town, and sure enough there was one right down the street.
We stopped in there on our way out of town, and I bought 2 tubes of "Shoe-Goo" to attempt a fix at our next overnight stop.
Speaking of which, while we were having lunch we discussed options for possible locations to shoot for to find a Campsite.
We ultimately settled on heading to Whitefish Lake and seeing if the State-Park had any sites available, so off we went.

It was a short ride down US Hwy-93 and we arrived late afternoon.
Upon discussing with the older Woman in the entrance-booth, there were a couple campsites left...................BUT, only for one night!
This would pose a difficulty for our plans the following day.
During lunch when we decided to head for Whitefish, we also decided we were going to try and get a Campsite for two nights, drop all our luggage and visit Glacier NP the following day.
This Campground was all booked up the following night................There was a possibility that a site would open up the following day, and we could then move our tents to another site, but not until 10:00Am when the online reservation system closed for that day. (seemed like a strange system to us, since we were standing right in front of them and willing to pay for two nights on the spot!)
Nevertheless we accepted the dilemma and took a site for just one night.

We quickly set up our tents and started mulling over what to do about the following day.

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For some odd reason, we were really close to the town of Whitefish but there wasn't any cell-signal at the State Park?
We decided to take a short walk towards town to get cell-service, and look online to try and figure out a move for the following day.
On our way past the entrance-booth we noticed a different person stationed inside. A younger kid named Forrest.
We chatted with him for a few minutes and discussed our predicament with him, and then strolled towards town.

While checking online we came to the realization that there were no sites available anywhere in the immediate area. Everything around was all booked up.
We resigned ourselves to having to pack up Camp in the morning and just carrying all our luggage with us the next day.
On our way back to the Campground we passed by the Booth once again. We stopped and I bought some "Shower Tokens" to get a hot shower that evening.
While we were chatting with Forrest he had to accept a phone call in the Booth, so we made our way back to our site.

About 5 minutes later, a Golf-Cart comes racing up to us and comes to a screeching halt!
Out jumps Forrest and says "You're not going to believe this, but that phone call I just had to take was a cancellation for the site next-door for the following night!"
"You guys can have that site for two nights, but you have to move Right-Now!"
Ron jumps in the Golf-Cart with him to head over to the Booth to make the arrangements, and I start moving things in our campsite over to the other one..
Turns out "Road Karma" was still in our favor! We got lucky and it worked out for us once again..

After switching Campsites, I set about figuring out what I was going to do about reattaching the Sole back on the Boot.

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I got a damp rag and wiped as much dirt and dust off both parts as best I could.
Next I used about a Tube and a Half of Shoe-Goo and filled the top of the Sole with a layer of the sticky stuff.
Then I shoved a can of Bear-Spray down inside to hold its shape and strapped it all together using a bunch of Rok-Straps that I brought, while playing that one song from Jewel a couple times for good measure.
We said a prayer to the Road-Karma Gods, and a few incantations as the Goo oozed out from between the two parts and then left it to set until morning.

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We made ourselves some backpacker meals for dinner, and than took a stroll over to sit at the Lake with a couple adult-Beverages.

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It was peaceful, except for one thing.
We were warned about the train-tracks that run along the west side of the Lake, and pass right next to the Campground.
Every couple hours or so a massive rumbling freight train would pass through. It wasn't that bad except for a couple times during the night I was woken up by the noise and vibrations. You could feel it through the ground!

Here is the "Relive" Video of our route today.
Stay Tuned!

 

rodeoclone

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May 13, 2019
Messages
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Location
SE-Iowa
You are a great and funny story teller; and the MacGyver type boot fix has got me hooked. Did you ever joke about strapping the boot to a RR track with the shoe-goo? My mind went there in this storyline Sweet trip, tell us more.
 

SkunkWorks

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Sep 13, 2018
Messages
1,733
Location
Colorado
You are a great and funny story teller; and the MacGyver type boot fix has got me hooked. Did you ever joke about strapping the boot to a RR track with the shoe-goo? My mind went there in this storyline Sweet trip, tell us more.
I didn't think about strapping the boot to the RR-tracks, but I did place my GoPro down on a RR-Tie at a crossing in Montana.
Got an interesting Video of a Train passing overhead.
 

SkunkWorks

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1,733
Location
Colorado
Day-13, August 3rd
242 Miles

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Since we were able to score our Campsite for two nights, we didn't have to worry about packing up all our stuff and the extra time that would take.
I made the usual coffee and backpacker-meal breakfast.
When I checked on the status of my Boot I found that it was now part of the Picnic-Table. The Shoe-Goo that had oozed out of the repair had bonded pretty good with the weathered wood.
I quickly was able to free it using my Multitool. I used the Knife-Blade to cut it loose from its Picnic-Prison, and to trim off all the excess Goo.
I looked it over real good and was pleased how the repair turned out. I thanked Jewel and the Road-Karma Gods, and we got ready for what the day might have in store for us.

During our stroll to town for cell-service the previous day, we learned that Glacier NP requires an advance-Reservation to ride/drive the Going to the Sun Road, of which there are none available.
There weren't even any available into September...............All spoken for!
The good news was that the reservation requirement was only in effect until 5:00PM, and there was no such requirement for the Many-Glacier Road entrance.
Sweet! We'll just alter the day's route to run it in the opposite direction.

We got fuel in town and then headed over to West Glacier. We continued east on US Hwy-2 and would ride this route around the southern end of the Park.
Our first stop was the curious little village of Essex, and it's Railroad themed accommodations.

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We left the bikes parked there by the main Hotel, and took a stroll across the Bridge over the Rail Yard.

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On the other side are offered a selection of restored Cabooses turned into cozy Cabins.

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They also have a variety of other small Cabins and a Bunkhouse over there.

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And a collection of out-of-use Skis.

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SkunkWorks

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Location
Colorado
After wandering around the grounds for a bit, we hopped back on the bikes and took a short ride just down the road to the "Goat Lick Overlook" (You heard me!)
I understand that all manner of strange things happen in Montana, but I was slightly concerned at what I might see when we pulled in there..................This place is gettin' exciting!

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I have to say I was slightly disappointed to learn that sometimes Mountain-Goats traverse these cliffs across the river to "Lick" the minerals in the rocks.
I was expecting something else entirely!
We did not see any however, so we continued on around Hwy-2.


It wasn't long before we reached East Glacier Park Village, where we topped up with Fuel.
Next we rode the twisty MT-49 north, and then US Hwy-89 to Babb where we turned west to enter the Park via Many Glacier Road.

This is where we ran into a slight delay.
Traffic was completely stopped! There was quite a line of vehicles leading up to a Person holding a Stop-Sign.
There was also no pavement, and it was obvious their efforts to finish the road during the previous year's closure had failed.
"Surely this can't be backed-up all the way to the Gate?" We thought...................It's 7-miles to the Park Entrance Booth!
Our concern was heightened by the fact that there was a flashing Message-Board on a trailer next to the road that read "Park Entrance Closed"-"Many Glacier Full"

Traffic had started to move. I had never been to "Many Glacier", and I really wanted to see this part of the Park. We'd come this far, so we continued ahead with the rest of the vehicles.
People were driving really slowly but we were relieved to find there was no "Pilot-Car". That meant we could start picking off cars one by one and move to the front.
The dust was horrendous, so we did exactly that!
A couple more times along this road there was another person, holding a sign and stopping traffic. We also passed a couple more flashing trailer-boards telling us the same thing..........That Many-Glacier was full.
There was a steady stream of vehicles heading in the opposite direction though, so we figured there had to be people leaving the Park and maybe we'll get lucky?

Eventually (after about a half-hour) we made it to the Entrance Gate, where there was a line of stopped cars.
There was a young Park-Ranger Lady standing there at the road. She was turning people around and we could see the disappointment in their faces as they drove past us heading back out the dusty road.
This wasn't good!
One by one we watched the disgruntled tourists turn around and make the "Drive of Shame" past the lengthening line of eager hopefuls waiting our turn to have our dreams crushed.
Some of them would be shaking their heads as they drove past. Some of them hung the "Thumbs Down" sign out the window. Others didn't even dare make eye-contact as they slinked past..........

It was finally Ron's and My turn. We inched forward to receive our punishment, fully expecting to be sent-back to join the others.
The extremely-beautiful, young Park-Ranger shouts to us both - "The Parking-Lots are all full, but you guys are small - You should be able to squeeze in anywhere - Go On In!"
And she waves us through the Gate!

OMG!..............WTF?.............. "Did that just really happen?" we exclaimed, as we rode on in to the wonderfulness of Many-Glacier-Land!
THANK YOU Gorgeous Park-Ranger Lady! And THANK YOU Road-Karma Gods! I believe in you! And you are still with us!

I have been to Glacier NP a couple times previous, but I am Always-Always instantly humbled by the incredible beauty that lay before me each time I see it.
I've maintained that this is my all-time favorite of all the National Parks I have visited...It still is............and I've seen all the Greats!

Once we were inside the Park, our first stop was the World-Famous Many-Glacier Hotel.

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We were both pretty hungry, so the first order of business was to find out where and what-kind of Food was being offered.
That didn't take us long, and lunch was quickly secured.

I had the Huckleberry-BBQ Pulled-Pork Sandwich with a side-Salad.

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After we ate, it was on to exploring this Grand Hotel.

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If you've visited a few of the "Signature" Hotels in the National Parks around the Country, you'll realize that each one holds a certain "Theme"
This one was built undoubtedly "Swiss".

While wandering the halls I had to get a picture of this Door, since I'm partial to older Pontiacs from the 60's and 70's era.

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What an awesome view from the back patio! No-doubt hampered slightly by the smoky conditions.

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Next we rode the loop around the Campground and past the "Motor-Inn"
I did not get any pictures of that, but we did stop at the Boat-Launch to get a couple pictures of the Many Glacier Hotel from across the Lake.

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This message stuck with me the entire rest of the Day.

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Sierra1

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Nov 7, 2016
Messages
14,812
Location
Joshua TX
I've seen pics of that Izaak Walton Inn before somewhere, maybe on here. Love the caboose cabins. Were they single family, or set up as duplexes?
 

Sierra1

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Nov 7, 2016
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14,812
Location
Joshua TX
Oh, I was just picturing an open floor plan. I was hoping that the bed was up in the cupola.
 
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