Day 20 147 miles*
Kalispell is very close to the Glacier National Park and although not on the route plan. A seven car posse decided to drive through the park and cross over into Canada about fifty miles more to the east than recommended.
The Glacier NP has a very steep and winding road going through it called the “Road to the Sun”, which has fabulous of mountain peaks, rivers, valleys and lakes. We were very fortunate in many ways; the weather was good; the snow had yet to melt and there were frequent road works, yes this was a plus as well! The Road to the Sun is very narrow and busy and in normal circumstances there would be no time to stop and admire the views, but the resurfacing work gave us plenty of opportunity to pause and take photographs. On leaving the Parks east gate we headed north looking for a customs post. We found one on the Chief Mountain Highway, not a very busy spot. We were rather sternly greeted by customs officers wearing very dark sunglasses and stony expressions. All the formality quickly evaporated once we were all cleared and the afore mentioned guards dashed over to us at took photos of the cars.
Once in Canada we went to have a look at the Prince of Wales Hotel that occupies an idyllic position overlooking the Waterton Lakes. Unfortunately we were not allowed to line the cars up in front of the hotel for a photo. At this point we all decided to press on to Cranbrook, which because of our meanderings was still about one hundred and twenty miles away; off we shot “pedal to the metal” and Fiona got stopped for speeding – no ticket just a warning. It was the start of a national holiday weekend and the main roads were very, very busy, busy and slow. Our brave party of seven Morgans all arrived in Cranbrook completely frazzled. We showered and managed to get a meal in a restaurant just before it closed.
*I think we nearly doubled the mileage for the day.
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