Natalie Vartanian's Blog

Moseying in Missoula, MT

Coach sharing the Passenger seat with me

Monday, July 18 –After our morning ritual of tea, apples and peanut butter and filling our water bottles at the water fountain, we were back on route with the ultimate destination for the day being Glacier National Park in Montana. My intuition was saying we should stop for a hike at some point in the day and it was being called to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Plus we wanted to experience at least a little bit of Idaho during our trek of the Western US! We picked a spot near Lake Coeur d’Alene called Miracle Mile Trail and man did we do a great job of finding the most beautiful path to go hiking. We got to a point in the hike where we had a view of the lake near the freeway, then another point where it overlooked the lake in what appeared to be a bay with boats docked for the day. Of course because the world is small, we came across a couple that lived in the area and the woman was born in Oakland of all places! That is one of my favorite things about traveling: meeting people and being open to their stories and experiences and noticing how interconnected we all really are! Once we got to Montana, we had the pleasure of driving by Flathead Lake. Turns out Flathead Lake used to be a big glacier that melted in to what is currently one of the largest fresh water lakes in the Western part of the country. Parts of the lake reminded Sally of Rhode Island, i.e. not what you would expect of Montana. After a long day of traveling, we decided to stop in Kalispell, Montana. Parked it near a park, went for a walk and saw the quaint little town that is Kalispell and then called it a night.


Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho


Kalispell, Montana

Tuesday, July 19 – Bright and early we set out to explore to Glacier National Park. Once we arrived to Glacier, after an hour drive, we were promptly rejected because of our big ass RV and our big ass dog. Apparently vehicles over 21 feet are not allowed in the park and absolutely no dogs. We would have had to board Coach and then get shuttled in. So we said fuck it, let’s just go to Missoula. That was one of those make or break moments in the trip. Instead of being upset at each other (or ourselves) for our lack of research, but more specifically wasting time and money, we literally laughed it off and kept on going. We made the hour and a half drive to Missoula, passing Flathead Lake again but this time on the opposite side off it and found a spot to go on a hike in town, which was the L hike near Loyola High School. Literally hiked up the side of Mount Jumbo to a big Cement L poured there to represent the high school. Made it just in time as it started raining and then hailing like crazy soon after we got back from the hike. We found a street near Higgins and 5th to park, outside of some apartments obviously belonging to college students as University of Montana is nearby. We walked around downtown Missoula and passed by an event in the park near the river. Such a cute little town. So beautiful too since the Clark Fork River runs through the city. We grabbed some frozen yogurt before bed since the sweet tooth was a’callin.


On the drive from Kalispell to Missoula, MT


Flathead Lake, Montana


Clark Fork River, Missoula, MT


Wilma Theater, Downtown Missoula, MT

Wednesday, July 20 – The morning was spent going for a run. Thought it would be a good opportunity to check out the University and the streets nearby. There were some awesome houses we passed by. Saw one for $300,000 for 3,600 square feet, some homes look like mini-mansions. Missoula was described as more of the Berkeley of Montana. I’m assuming they are referring to the diversity and the chill energy of the whole town. The remainder of the day was dedicated to work for both Sally and I, so we found a super cool café (Liquid Planet) to park ourselves since it was free Wi-Fi and we could charge up our laptops. We have been so creative about not having to use the Generator (since it’s loud as hell) and not using the battery either. While we were eating dinner in the RV, the college kids whose house we were parked right outside of were having some beers on their front porch. They noticed us as we were sitting near a window and waved. So obviously we waved back. We must have been such the sight. They asked if we wanted to have a beer, so after we gave them a tour of the RV, we decided to hang out with them the rest of the evening. They invited us over to their place where we chilled for a bit, and then took a walk to a nearby park where Coach raced us around the football field. Okay, I did too. They were sweet kids from northern Montana and as fate would have it, told us about the activities going on in Butte so we knew it was time to continue on our way the next day!


University of Montana, Missoula, MT


You tell 'em U of M!

posted by Natalie Vartanian @ 9:40 PM