Hello to everyone again. As you can tell from the above picture the pioneers had their travel problems as well.
For some strange reason I have had a tune going through my head since I read a certain blog yesterday. It goes like this: "The Tennessee stud (er is that the Washington stud) is long and lean, the color of the sun and his eyes are green." It escapes me as to why I would think of this but I did. :)
I was thinking of a trip that Cheryl and I took to Glacier Park in Montana. If you have never been there you should try and go it is simply beautiful. We drove to the town of Riggins, Idaho and left the kids with some of our very good friends then proceeded across Idaho via the Clearwater River country. Again the scenery is breathtaking. As we approached Glacier Park we looked at the map and decided we would take this particular route so we could then go into Canada. This meant we had to travel the highway to the sun. (I think that is the name) Now this particular highway was created back in the olden days by Chinese laborers who were dropped over the side of a mountain and they chipped our the road. (Again, I hope I am remembering this correctly) Needless to say the road is still quite narrow and goes very high.
I think I have mentioned before that I have a fear of heights. Well, we started up from the bottom and all was well. I was extremely nervous due to the narrow road, the size of our pickup and camper and all the traffic on the road, some of which were much bigger than me. Naturally we had the side that was along the edge and, according to me, if your car was to go off the road you would fall straight down until you hit the road below you. No side barriers, oh no, just stones that would not stop a large deer.
I was doing fine through the first couple of switchback, looking straight ahead so I would not suffer a panic attack from looking down, when what should my lovely wife sau? "Oh wow, look at that view!" She pointed to her right and I looked; stupid me. I was looking at nothing but blue sky above me, blue sky to the right of me and I swear on my wife's grave there was blue sky below me. I froze right there in the middle of the road. There were no pull outs, the road was soooooo narrow and cars were zooming past and around me which added to my panic attack.
I finally got my composure and we seen a small, and I do mean small, place I could back down to and settle my nerves. Cheryl guided me and I thought I had taken all the space I could possible take before plunging to what I knew was a sure death. As we were sitting there, and Cheryl kept insulting me by asking if she could drive the rest of the way to the top, what should happen but a California car (naturally) zoomed up behind us. They managed to get that car between our vehicle and the edge and out jumped an "old" man. He jumped up on the stone that was keeping me from certain death, looked straight down and made the comment, "Wow, that is a heck of a view!" My heart stopped for at least 10 minutes I know it did.
Another thirty minutes went by before I could regain my composure enough to just get in the pickup let alone drive. Needless to say I got up enough courage to make it to the top. I was hugging the middle of the road so hard that I was getting blessings from the other drivers for being so safety minded. I guess they were blessings for I sure heard the word "God" a lot.
Once on top I could not bring myself to look back down the canyon. I was so shook up. It was simply beautiful country though and I am now glad I went. Some day I would like to go again to see if it affects me that way now.
The rest of the trip we had a great time. Camped in Canada, seen the town of Frank which was buried by a mountain and then back into Idaho via Sandpoint and back to Riggins. I hear that Canada requires passports now so I guess it will be a while before I go there again. Too bad because it is beautiful in the western part.
3 comments:
No no! NO Passports until next year, if I am not mistaken. Go as soon as you can:)
Well, you were brave to do that! I seriously thought I was going to die when Stud (thanks for mentioning him in your post, by the way:)! LOL) took me a Seattle SuperSonics basketball game this past fall. WOW! I was SO SCARED, I was sure I was going to fall out of my seat and die, just because we were up in the nose bleed section. It was totally irrational and I kept telling myself that. I eventually calmed down and all was well. At least you had reason to be upset! YIKES! I was hanging on to my chair and gritting my teeth just reading this!
Been meaning to comment on all your other entries, just been SO BUSY! I have enjoyed them immensely though:) Keep it up! Please.
You really tell nice stories. Your family surely enjoys them a lot.
Hi there. Still catching up on your previous posts. I enjoyed this one!
I have driven (and rode when I was younger) on the Going to the Sun Highway several times. Fortunately the heights don't bother me. However I have had passengers who don't like heights, or getting too close to the edge.
The first time I drove over Logan Pass, we came from the West Glacier side (going West to East) like what you did. I was driving a 21-foot motor home, with my grandfather (in his early 80's at the time) sitting in the passenger seat.
Now grandpa was one who was never shy about expressing his opinions (to put it mildly!) All they way up that road, I received continual uh, shall we say "encouragment", to not get too close to the edge. We made it through OK, and went on to Canada like you did (My grandmother was from Raymond, Alberta) to visit relatives.
The second time was just after my wife and I got enjaged (less than 24 hours after, if I recall). She was still in such a dreamland of being newly engaged, that she hardly noticed the edge of the road. She sat right next to me, all snuggled up. Heck she was already floating above ground anyway that time from all of her emotions.
However, about a year later, after we were married, we went on another trip. This was from Telluride, Colorado to Ouray, Colorado -- on a 4wd trail up and over a 12,000 foot mountain pass. This time, once again, she was on the passenger side, looking over the edge. My truck had a "sissy handle" on the passenger side, which she clung to for dear life all the way up the mountain.
Later that night, she couldn't figure out why her right arm and shoulder were so stiff and sore. As it turned out, she had been clutching the sissy handle so tightly, that she had strained her muscles. I got a good chuckle (too myself, of course) over that one.
Now we have a new truck. It is one of those 4-door ford crew cabs. Next time we go on a road or trail like that, mama is sitting behind me on the drivers side of the truck - in the back seat! (Its either that, or she claims she will just walk along behind the truck, instead of being so close to the edge.)
One thing you might try next time you go to Glacier, is to drive it in the opposite direction -- From East to West. That way you can have your vehicle hug the mountainside, and not get so close to the edge. -- Its either that, or let your wife drive!
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