Having decided to leave North Cascades park a day early to avoid some predicted inclement weather, Beth and I needed to arrange lodging for our unexpected travel day. Our next planned park was Glacier in Montana, so we reviewed our maps and decided that we would break up the 14 hours to Glacier over two overnights and 3 travel days, making it a bit easier on us.
We chose to shoot for the small town of Kellog, Washington for our first overnight. There were no convenient campgrounds nearby, so we looked for hotel as we got closer to Kellog. Besides, it had been more than a week since our last shower, so it was time. It was definitely time.
At our lunch stop, I googled lodging in Kellog and found the Trail Motel, a 2 star establishment that had a very attractive price – $60, only $30 a star. My kind of place. I read a few reviews online and they were about what I expected for the price. I did not book a room, telling Beth that I would hold off until we arrived and had a look at the place ourselves.
We arrived in Kellog around 6:00 p.m. I drove to the Trail Motel, which was right across the street from Tractor Supply. We parked in the Tractor Supply parking lot and sized up the place from that vantage point. From the outside, it met our expectations. A two story older property which could use a little touch up. As I debated our next move, I was struck by the fact that I was actually being a bit snooty about this place. I mean, we had been staying in National Forest campgrounds with pit toilets, no running water, and no electricity. It appeared the Trail Motel had all of these things, and they offered free wifi. They also had an indian on a horse on their roof to add some ambiance. It was a replica, of course. Besides, it was only $60 a night.
Having come to my senses, I got on line and booked a room for our overnight. We drove across the street and I proceeded to the office to obtain our key. And yes, it was an actual key. No fancy cards for the Trail Motel, an old fashioned key opened the door. I stopped short of carrying Beth over the threshold, allowing her to enter at her own pace.
The room was fine. Dated, yes, but relatively clean, with no smoke or other odd odors emanating from it. The bathroom needed a facelift, but it was a great improvement from the outhouses we had been using. And it had a shower/tub combination, meaning Beth could get a hot bath and I could get a much needed shower. What more could a camping couple ask for? PIzza, that’s what. And wouldn’t you know it, Kellog just happened to have a Dominoe’s only five minutes from the motel. We hit the jackpot and we were going to splurge on some pizza for supper. Beth wouldn’t be cooking tonight, and I was happy she was getting a break.
We enjoyed pizza, a bath and shower, and then sat down to plan our next day’s travel. Before doing so, I checked the weather for Glacier and was very concerned when I saw “Winter Weather Advisory” pop up in the forecast. According to multiple weather sources, the Glacier area was in the path of a powerful cold front that was to bring up to 6-12 inches of snow and temperatures in the low thirties overnight and only highs in the 40s during the day. As a matter of fact, the predicted weather for the 4 days and nights we were to be at the park included rain, snow and cold weather for everyone of them. What to do? As much as we dearly wanted to see Glacier, it didn’t seem to make sense to travel another 9 to 10 hours to spend 4 days huddled in our tent trying to stay warm and dry. Our experience has been that parks close snow covered trails so we couldn’t hike in the rain even if we wanted to. We were, as the old expression goes, “in a pickle.”
For the next hour or so, I checked and rechecked weather forecasts and debated with myself and Beth about what we should do. At the end of the day, we decided we would continue on in the morning in the direction of Glacier, but check the weather on our way to see if anything had changed before committing to anything concrete. With that settled, we laid down in our comfortable double bed and slept with a roof overhead for the first time in over a month. LIfe was still good.
In the morning, we checked out of the Trail Motel and drove for about an hour before stopping to check the forecast for Glacier. It hadn’t changed overnight, still rain, snow and cold temperatures predicted for the time of our stay. I like to stick to a schedule, and the thought of straying from our itinerary was gnawing at me. Also, I really wanted to see Glacier, it was one of the parks I was most excited to see. We had two choices: we could drive up to Glacier, get our Passport stamped, try to find a trail to hike before the foul weather hit, then high-tail it out of there to warmer, dryer conditions; we could abandon Glacier and revise our itinerary accordingly for the four days we were going to spend there. I was leaning strongly to option one, more from my heart than my head.
I told Beth what I saw as our options. She listened patiently before telling me she would go along with whatever I decided. That’s a great wife. I knew that Beth had little interest in making a long drive to Glacier for just a quick stop at the visitor’s center. Finally, after much turmoil, we decided to scrap the Glacier part of our trip, and proceed onward to some as yet unknown destination. After Glacier, our schedule had us heading to Utah for stays at Capitol Reef and Canyonlands. We chose to head in that direction, with an overnight in Idaho Falls, Idaho, about halfway to the Utah parks. We would decide what to do with the four Glacier days when we arrived there.
Canceling our Glacier stay was most definitely a disappointment. But in hindsight, it was the right thing to do. It made no sense to subject ourselves to the kind of weather conditions we were likely to face there. We also need something to do in the future after seeing almost all ofthe remaining National Parks on this trip. I took comfort in the thought of planning a future trip to Glacier at a better time of year when we could really enjoy all the park has to offer. Having settled the matter in our minds, it was off to Idaho Falls and destinations yet to be determined.
A quick google search of campgrounds near Idaho Falls revealed a city run park with first come, first serve camping for only $20 a night. We entered the address in our google maps and headed off. Upon arrival we stepped out of the car to be greeted by a fierce wind. Great, we thought. While not quite as strong as the wind we faced in Holbrook, Arizona where we couldn’t pitch our tent, it was still very strong and it was apparent we would not be able to set up in the wind. We also found out there were no tent sites left anyway. So, for the second consecutive night we were going to be staying in a hotel/motel. The cheapskate I am bristled at the thought of spending money on another hotel, but as Beth pointed out, we could afford to do it, so I found a motel online to spend the night.
The Motel West was a five minute drive from the city campground and I booked a queen room for $103 (ouch) and off we went. There was an Arby’s restaurant directly across the street from the motel, so Beth got another night off as we dined on roast beef sandwiches and chicken wraps, with a side order of curly fries. We were living high off the hog.
Dinner was over and we crossed the street to check into the Motel West. It was a 3.5 star establishment (matching the Trail Motel’s $30 per star price), but it looked to be in much better shape. I walked up to the front desk to check in and was given cards for our room, not keys. We were heading up in the motel world. As I completed the check-in process, the clerk said “you’re fortunate, you booked a queen room but we don’t have anymore available so we upgraded you to a suite, complete with a jetted tub.” “Really? That’s great!”, was my shocked reply. “Thanks so much.” I returned to the car and gave Beth the good news. She was equally shocked.
When I opened the door to our room I took a step back. It was twice the size of a standard room, the jetted tub with surrounding mirrors took up a big corner of the wall opposite the door, and there was a fake gas burning fireplace. I couldn’t believe it. When Beth came up to the door, I told her “don’t come in, we can’t stay here.” “Why not,” she asked as I let her in the room. “Because we won’t want to leave,” I told her. The look on Beth’s face was priceless. The struggles of over 40 nights in a tent melted away as she eyed the jetted tub. “I think I might cry,” she kidded.
After we brought in all of our necessities, Beth enjoyed a well-earned soak in the tub. I did some trip planning, and came up with an idea of heading to a campground in between Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks to spend the time we would have been in Glacier. We had seen these parks on our family trip 20 years ago, but they both have a lot to offer and we could easily fill up our days at these gems. Beth was all in and so we reset our itinerary and went to sleep for the second straight night indoors. It felt strange to be in a bed again. Maybe I was ready to sleep outside once more.
While the opportunity to visit Glacier on this trip was lost, God showed us kindness by giving us a great place to stay while we figured out our next step. There’s always a silver lining in most situations if you take the time to look for it. For us, it was the Motel West.
We’re off to Great Basin National Park in the morning, before we head to Bryce and Zion. We are excited about the chance to revisit these two parks we haven’t seen in 20 years. Have a good day and take care.