Vacation and Staycation

It has been forever since I have taken a true vacation.  What time I was able to get off work last year was basically all directly related to moving myself or my parents which is decidedly un-vacation like.  Before that I typically used my time to visit family and with my dad's health it wasn't exactly a relaxing vacation.

Breakfast on the deck

But this year my mom and I went on a real vacation.  She has a long time friend that lives up by Flathead Lake in Montana which is really close to Glacier National Park and Rebecca Farms (for all of you eventers).  Sadly we were there during the week and there was nothing going on at Rebecca Farms.

Somewhere before St. Mary's Lake

Originally, my plan was to hike from Logan Pass (at the top of the going to the sun road) because my mom is obsessed with mountain goats, but we didn't get up early enough to get parking up there.  Plus by the time we made it up there in our borrowed behemoth vehicle I was kind over going to the sun.  The road is narrow and the drop offs are steep steep steep.  I have been over some narrow winding steep roads, but this one beat them all.  The views are stunning and well worth it, but I don't suggest doubling your vehicle size for the trip.

Starting up the going to the sun road

Once that plan was shot, I decided to try and find a place to park along St. Mary's Lake and hike from there.  We were lucky enough to secure a spot at Sun Point and hiked along the lake to the falls.  It was only a little further to Virginia Falls so we decided to go there too.  The trail was packed and there had been a fire in the last couple of years (actually allowed for more viewing).

St. Mary's Falls

The next day, we were too late to park at our original plan (my mom really really really wanted to see Quartz Lake because she loves rocks I think?).  I am really not sure at the reasoning behind it, but I aim to please.  We headed down another road that had several trails coming off of it and didn't look like much traffic had been down it.  Eventually we settled on the Logging Lake trail.

St. Mary's Lake and a shuttle boat dock

There was basically no one on it, which was a nice change but I was also quite nervous about bears.  We did see some sign that horses had been up the trail not too long before us.  The mosquitoes were so so so terrible and my hands (the only part showing) had tons of bites.  Sadly, there were not the amazing views because the forest was quite dense.  We ended up hiking for about 4.5 miles before we turned around.

There were tons of flowers along the Logging Lake Trail

I actually wore my mom out that day, so our final day we hung around Flathead Lake and actually went out on the boat.  I love boats, but my mom can't really swim and doesn't love being out on the water.  Luckily she is a good sport and after the initial nerves I think she had fun.  I was too big of a baby to actually get in the water and try out any of the toys.

Restaurant on Flathead Lake

After we got back, I did boring things like routine maintenance on my car, laundry, sleeping.  I did squeeze in a lesson and a trail ride.  I did not give my horse a bath or get all of my tan cleaned like I had planned.  I am very glad I went ahead and took the extra time off to recharge from my vacation.

Lake house on Flathead Lake