new summer blockbuster: killing melissa

we got up and at em pretty early by our vacation standards monday. this mini-breakfast is starting to grow on me. raisin english muffins are tasty. if you like english muffins. and raisins. one other random note. we get the spokane, wa local tv stations here. on sunday, i noticed that the news program we were watching on kxly had a news show where two of the anchors had the same last name because they are married. funny how we often don't think about things until it's presented to you for the first time. kind of reminds me of a story john stocil did on critical thinking. i can't find the link to that story right now, but good news: here's the link to rick lukens bio and his wife teresa lukens bio also. it just struck me as odd when i saw both of their names printed on the tv screen.

on to the fun...

we went straight to glacier national park and did not pass go (or spend $200). ;) stopped at the alberta, canada visitor center just inside the entrance to the park. not much to see there but the staff are very friendly - and we had to pee, eh? i'd like to go over the border just to do it, but i'm not sure if we'll get to. it's kind of far, but would be a good rainy day trip (which is supposed to be wed-fri), so we'll see.

stopped at the park's official visitor center too and got some guidance and and another map. the old guy at the counter recommended 2 hiking trails since the middle of the "going-to-the-sun-road" is still closed due to heavy winter snow and ice. it won't be open this week :( but we're going to make the most of the park. (the bad part is, you have to drive all the way around the park just to see the other side.)

we decided to go as far as we could up the road and hike from there up to avalanche lake. the hike is not as easy as they make it out to be. the trail was muddy and slippery much of the time. i would hate to go there in july or august after all the tourists have used it all summer long. regardless, the scenery was awesome and the view of the lake and waterfalls was definitely worth it - at least from my perspective...

melissa keeps telling me we can do whatever i want to do since it's my vacation... so we went hiking. luckily we both have our hiking boots, but i think mine work better for me than hers do for her. she says they're heavy. i dunno. they're rockports and mine are some knockoff brand that i've had for several years. anyway, the trail is 2-3 miles long, but when we got to the lake we walked halfway around the lake and took some more pictures. that had to add at least another half mile - but this was a "secondary trail" so it was much more difficult terrain (jumping streams and rock-hopping). so we probably walked 6 miles monday. we both got short-winded but melissa said her asthma was not a problem. i think that's because God starts the "fresh air" up here. ;) we saw a few deer, a rabbit, and some chipmunks, but no bears. maybe better luck next time. anyway, words do not do justice to the hike, so check the pictures.

melissa managed to drive us home without falling asleep while i studied the maps to try to plan our next hike. got some food from the "authentic mexican food" restaurant down the street, los caporales. it was not authentic and i did not see any mexicans. i tried to be safe and got the super nachos and quesadillas - but they were not that great. the meat was ok, but the cheese seemed off. the hot sauce was not hot and tasted like tomato sauce with onions. i would rate it on the same level as pancho's... but i don't like pancho's.

anyway, i was too tired to blog it monday night, so fell asleep before 10. it was the most tired i had been in a long time. the end. or something. (til next time)

p.s. pictures aren't uploading right now for some reason. will post them later.