What I Learned on Vacation.

In no particular order:

1. Happy (one of our dogs) is Houdini incarnate. Night one of vacation- George and I grabbed a bite to eat, the dogs stayed in the car-- also in the car was all our food and plastic jugs of water. Now mind you we have a Subaru Outback with the dog guard, so they were in the hatchback area-- food in the backseat. When we came out from the restaurant, Happy was in the backseat in the middle of devouring the food--- Cliff bars, trail mix, fruit snacks, dog treats, etc. She also stepped on and punctured one of the water jugs, thus causing water to pour out all over the backseat. How was Happy able to knock the seat down and get out of the hatchback area? Why did she enjoy Cliff bars more than the trail mix?

2. Just because the calendar says August, doesn't mean it won't snow.

3. Bugs; I don't like them. I try to act like bugs don't bother me, but the honest truth is I get a bit squeamish. Especially with flying ones that remind me of a big ass tick and make a thud sound when they hit the car. One day when we were driving through the Many Glacier area of Glacier National Park-- we had pulled off to the side of the road. We were told a grizzly and her cubs were expected to come through the meadow we were at. So there we sat waiting. I was standing up through the sun roof, when I started to hear "thwack"-- couple seconds later "thwack"- few seconds more-- "thwack" and so on. This flying-beetle-tick bug was all over the place and the hair on the back of my neck started to stand up. I started to panic a bit (on the inside), but managed not to completely freak out. A bit later when we were back in the car driving, I felt something on my neck and practically went into a panic convulsion. George- who nearly drove off the road due to being startled from my body suddenly jerking, pulled over. He barely had the car stopped when I whipped open the door and practically ripped my shirt off to get the bug off of me: there was no bug.

4. Leave the dogs at home. While, overall I enjoyed having them on the trip. They are limiting. In National Parks you can hardly have them anywhere and though we managed to find places both outside Yellowstone and Glacier to day board them so we could go enjoy the parks, we always had to make sure to be out of the park early enough to pick them up.

5. Don't be afraid to have lunch with people you don't know. We had lunch one day at a little cafe known for their pie. The place was packed and there was a wait. The restaurant asked if we wouldn't mind sharing a table with two other couples-- we said "sure"-- though a bit hesitant. It was a great lunch-- one couple in their fifties was from Alberta, and the other couple, late sixties, was from the area. We had a great conversation. The Alberta couple had recently climbed Mt. Rainier and was in town for a wedding, and the other told us about Huckleberry Ice Cream. A couple times a year this couple makes the trek from their home to Glacier (about 2 hours)-- they stop for Huckleberry Ice Cream on the way over to the cafe for lunch, they then head back. They were adorable, they were what I imagine George and I to be at that age. Still razzing each other and thoroughly enjoying spending time with each other-- still.

6. It's not nice to scare older people. I scared the crap out of that adorable couple I mentioned above. The gentleman left his jacket at the cafe and left before we noticed. We turned it in to the cashier. While in line to get back into Glacier, I saw them in the line next to us-- I jumped out of the car and ran up to their window from behind, when I placed my hand on the car and started talking to them they gasped and recoiled as if they were about to be car jacked-- I'm lucky I didn't cause any heart attacks. He did, however go back to retrieve his jacket.

7. When going hiking in grizzly country, it is best not to read about Timothy Treadwell aka "Grizzly Man" the night before. For whatever reason, George read quite a bit about Timothy Treadwell in particular, details of his death--which in case you're not familiar with his story-- was due to a grizzly attack. So, when we went for a hike a bit off the beaten path in Glacier and saw the "warning, you're hiking in grizzly country" sign at the trailhead, he started to get a bit concerned-- unbeknownst to me. When I asked the Ranger about bear sightings, he said the rule of thumb is you can see a bear (black or grizzly) on any trail in the Park. He mentioned to talk real loud and make noise on the trail. Off we started on the trail, within a few minutes George started clapping his hands and making a "woot, woot" noise. A couple minutes pass-- "woot, woot" another few, "woot, woot." He finally fesses up that he's a bit freaked due to what he learned of Treadwell the night before-- which he shares with me. A few minutes later, I'm clapping and wooting. Never did see a bear.

8. Yellowstone is cool, but Glacier...Glacier is my new favorite place.