Day 5 August 31 Whitefish to Havre:

How many teeth does an adult human have? 32. With that correct answer to a coffee shop trivia question, I got a free coffee as we left Whitefish today. Yesterday at Glacier National Park was challenging. We drove from Livingston to the East side of Glacier National Park. We arrived there just as it started to rain. After a quick stop at the St. Mary visitor center, we headed into Glacier National Park. The higher we went the harder the rain came down and the clouds moved in, so we could not see much of the park. To make matters worse, once we dropped down heading to the West side, the traffic became very slow. We stopped at Lake McDonald Lodge, but again in the rain, not much to see. Leaving the lodge, we hit road construction. The road was torn up, dirt and potholes for the next 10 miles. The traffic and rain added more potholes than Costa Rica and it was a very slow and painful exit from the park.  

After the day we had, we made the decision not to continue on to Canada to see Banff and Jasper National Parks, too much driving and not enough time to enjoy the beauty of the  parks. Instead, we decided to try and see Glacier again hoping this time would be without the rain and road construction and hoping for some good views.  From our hotel in Whitefish, Montana, (which is a really nice resort town), we headed back around to the East side of Glacier National Park, so we could avoid the dirt road. Today we were greeted by no rain and fewer clouds. We went on a nice hike by the shores of St. Mary’s Lake and viewed a few waterfalls. We drove to the top of the park again for much better views than yesterday. We exited the park to the East, and headed to Havre for the night.