RV Summer

Chapter 6

"Last chance, Dad. Gas is there and a grocery store's just up the road," Alexis warned and watched as Rick stopped at the Sinclair gas station and filled up. He skipped the grocery store since they really didn't need anything yet.

"Okay down Going to the Sun Road." Alexis pointed the way that would take them past the gas station and onto a small road.

To the right they saw a Saint Mary Visitor Center but didn't stop.

"Oh, I see Saint Mary Campground Glacier National Park." It looked a little small for them but Rick was betting that was the place.

Alexis shook her head. "Nope, just follow the road." Rick turned left and saw a lake on their left through the trees and more trees to the right. The road was actually paved though it was barely two lanes and a little rough.

"Hey!" Rick saw a sign and thought this was it. "Rising Sun Campground." He even saw a motel called Rising Sun Motor Inn.

"Nope, keep going, Dad. That's tent camping only." They weren't stopping there.

"Boat ramp." Rick was going really slow just to be careful so that afforded him time to see around him better. "Maybe we should add a canoe next time."

"So long as it has a motor on the back." Alexis wasn't paddling anywhere.

"Wild Goose Island Lookout." Rick decided to stop so they could at least look. There really wasn't any place for them to stop since they were far too big. So Rick parked partially on the road so that if anyone came past them they would have to be careful and go around.

Alexis hooked Dixie up and they went across the road with a camera to take some pictures.

Then they were back on the road and just kept driving though Rick went slow partly because of the road and partly because he wanted to see where he was going. He pointed at a new sign. "Go for it, Dad." It looked like a nice enough road.

"Going-to-the-Sun-Point." It sounded interesting. They found the place to be totally empty, not so much as one single car, though to be honest they hadn't seen too many cars on this road.

They found a really good place to turn around and stop. Getting out with Dixie on her leash they found a sign that said it was Sun Point Nature Trail. They walked the trail for a little ways and took more pictures. Then they were back on the road.

"There should be a parking lot coming up soon." Alexis was studying her binder. They soon saw it and found it full of cars. "We couldn't park there anyway." She hadn't thought that they could. "There should be a side area just a little ways up on the left." It meant parking pointed the wrong way but it would work if it was empty enough.

Rick watched as they went past a spot on the left that was very established. It also gave him a clue as to why they were here.

It wasn't. "There's another one a little farther on. It's a bit bigger." It was also a little more out of the way which would mean more walking for them. "There, Dad, and no cars."

Rick liked it. It was a lot bigger than the last one. It even allowed him to start to go past it, turn around and come back and park just far enough away from the edge that they could get the slide outs out and set up camp.

"This is the spot, this is where we stay," Alexis informed him as she picked up the pad and started pressing buttons.

"So what's here?" What made this place so special?

"We have to walk back that way a little down the road but there are walking trails all over this place. Also there's Saint Mary Falls and Virginia Falls, the two best falls in this area. We can also use the mountain bikes. If we had a tent we could do some tent camping." They didn't and Alexis wasn't really interested in tent camping. If the place didn't have even an outhouse, she didn't want to camp there.

"I thought you didn't like tent camping," Rick remarked in surprise.

"I don't. I'm going to sleep here and but you could have the tent if you wanted." Alexis already knew the answer to that.

"No, thanks." Rick was even worse than Alexis when it came to tent camping.

"We can let Dixie out and look around, then get the bikes out and start exploring." They had hours before it got dark.

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Dixie had been allowed to do her thing while Rick got out the bicycles. Soon they were biking down the way they'd come. They went past the side parking that was now a little less full but not empty enough for them. Then they reached the established area Rick had seen. It was also full of cars.

"Maybe before we set up camp for the night, we could try coming down here later and see if the cars are all gone." Alexis would have liked to have parked here. It was just that if there were too many cars here they had no way of turning around.

Neither of them saw signs telling them there was no overnight parking but parking here might be a risk if anyone took exception to them parking there.

They had to carry the bikes down the first set of steps to make it to the trail.

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They hadn't made it to Saint Mary Falls yet which was the first one before Rick stopped.

"The trail is 5.2 miles in length. There are a total of 5 waterfalls in this area alone," Alexis told him.

That had Rick looking back the way they had come and he groaned. Getting to this point had been only a small challenge since most of it was downhill.

Then she told him the kicker for this trip. "Elevations change of 770 feet in total." She heard her dad groan again. She had to admit that biking up and down 5.2 miles that went up or down 770 feet wasn't going to be all that much fun.

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They finally made it to Saint Mary Falls. They saw that it fell in three separate tiers that were maybe about 35 to 40 feet in all. Once they reached it they felt it. The valley they were in had a bit of wind that picked up the water spray and sent it everywhere. It was like standing in front of a mister. Both of them stood there and let the water hit them.

They also weren't alone, though they were the only ones using bicycles to travel the distance. "We should have brought bikes," one of the men said to his wife.

Rick was done for today so they started peddling their way back up the hill where they carried their bikes up the steps and then back to the RV. Once there Rick got started on dinner while Alexis went for a walk with Dixie and picked up after her.

Rick was still cooking and Alexis was on the floor trying to teach Dixie how to play tug of war. "So there are 5 waterfalls in this area."

"Yep, that was just the first of them. All the others are on the same trail, just farther out. When we're done here we can move on to see a few more." That was the good part about this section of the trip. There was more to see. "Saint Mary Falls, Barring Falls, Virginia Falls, and two falls that haven't been named," Alexis explained.

"Does that mean we get to name them if we find them?" He was all for that. "Castle Falls." Rick stopped cooking and began daydreaming. Alexis shook her head. He was doing it again

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It took them 2 days to reach all 5 waterfalls and take a few pictures. At the moment Rick was way in the back resting on his bed because his legs ached fiercely. Alexis was outside walking Dixie and mostly felt fine.

He was never going to admit it, but he was getting to old for this shit. "We need dirt bikes." Screw bicycles.

Two more days of doing nothing and they still hadn't been told to move. Right now Rick was checking his tie down straps that held the bikes in place on the rack on the back of the Mini. Alexis had a place they could go that was more trail and promised yet another waterfall.

It meant continuing up the road they were on until they reached a tight 180 degree turn. Alexis had assured him that there was parking for them on the side where they could take the bikes off and start up the trail.

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"Piegan Pass Trail." True to her word, there was a place to park on the side of the road. Four of them actually. Then up the trail they started, going past people that were walking up and people that were walking back down.

"Somebody planned ahead." They were being envied yet again.

They made it to the end and looked up like everyone else was doing. It wasn't so much that it was a single waterfall, as that it was a series of small waterfalls that looked a lot like a shallow rafting river coming down the mountain.

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After two more days of letting her dad rest they packed it all up and got back on the road. They soon went past Piegan Pass Trail and kept on going.

As they traveled they saw that the road was cut right into the side of the mountain. A few hundred of feet up and at least a hundred feet down the mountain. There was eventually another 180 degree bend in the road and a place for cars to park but not space for them since they were too big. "It's just another trail, Dad. No waterfall here."

Not far up the road and up the side of the mountain they came to Logan Pass Visitor Center that had a huge parking lot and lots of space for them to stop and park.

Alexis hooked up Dixie and they started walking to the visitor center. It said no dogs allowed but Dixie was a puppy so Alexis picked her up and ignored the sign. Behind the visitor center they found a trail that went up the mountain that they took a pass on.

Immediately after that they found that the road was again cut right into the side of the mountain. Hundreds of feet up and a hundred feet down. It was not for the faint of heart to traverse. Naturally since they were going up they had developed a line of cars behind them that had no chance of passing them.

Everything was fine until they and their big rig hit the hairpin turn that was really tight. Alexis got out to try and stop cars from coming the other way so her dad could make the turn. It was that tight.

"There, Dad, park there." Alexis saw a spot that was just before the marked parking spots for cars. "Red Rock Point. We can stay here for the night. There's supposed to be a pond but the water is likely to be too cold to swim in. The water comes down the mountain to this pool and then continues on down."

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Next morning they were back on the road. "Avalanche Campground is all tent camping so keep going," Alexis said after he pointed out the sign and the Avalanche picnic area.

"That's McDonald Falls," Alexis responded once her dad had gestured at a sign. "Get ready to turn right if you want us to be all alone or go straight if you want to go to the Lake McDonald Lodge complex. It's two hotels and a grill and pizzeria along with docks for boats." Surprised, Alexis watched him turn right.

The bridge they came up to gave Rick pause since they were big and had some weight, but they didn't exceed the listed weight so he went across slowly. It led to a narrow two lane road that was deep in the woods.

"Okay, keep your eyes open. There should be a dirt road on your left that will take us to the lake." Alexis kept an eye out for the road then saw her dad turn onto a dirt road. "Now go straight until you can't any more. There should be some little side roads that you can use to back up and turn around on." Rick went very slowly since this road was full of bumps and a few holes.

"There, Dad, all the way down there. A little more to the left if you can." They needed space to set out the slide outs and put out the awning or canopy. Right in front of them just as Rick finally stopped was the lake's edge and driftwood scattered all over the bank.

"There are a few cabins around here somewhere but most aren't used from what I read. We might be on someone's property but if they don't like it they can ask us to move if they're even here. Oh, and we can stop at the Lake McDonald Lodge Complex if you want when we leave. They have a horse stable where we can get horses and go out on the trail mounted on horseback." Alexis was going to try and talk him into doing just that. "They also might have gas, but I don't know if they have diesel."

"This is Lake McDonald inside Glacier National Park," Alexis explained as she picked up Dixie. She took her outside and put her down. She did see a cabin in the distance to their right, but she didn't see any cars.

Rick joined her at the water's edge. "That way to our left is Gunsight Mountain, Mount Jackson, and Mount Canyon is back that way that we already passed. In addition there's Heavy Runner Mountain, Citadel Mountain, Little Chief Mountain, and not to be outdone is Going to the Sun Mountain. We're on Going to the Sun Road. It cuts through this mountain range. I thought we might like it."

"It's beautiful. You did well." Rick put an arm around her and hugged her. "Pity we don't have a boat."

"So you can get seasick again?" Alexis teased.

"One time, it was just one time and that lake was rough. This one is nice and smooth." Rick barely saw a ripple. "We don't even have any fishing poles." They apparently hadn't planned ahead all that well for this trip. Not that he had any fishing poles.

"You don't fish. Come on, Dixie, maybe I can teach you to play stick." Alexis left her dad standing in front of the RV, looking out onto the lake. If you looked hard you could even see the Lodge farther up the lake on the left side.

"Teaching her to sit might be better," Rick called after her without turning around. "That and stay."

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Parked next to a lake, lacking a boat and fishing poles, they sat outside, staring at the lake, under their awning with their steel fire pit taken out of storage and wood burning in it.

"Dad, we forgot to have Dixie get her next shots. Can we do that today or tomorrow? Take the car to a town somewhere that has a vet and get her shots. …Please?" She didn't want Dixie getting something and dying on her.

"So what's the closest town that's large enough to have a vet?" Rick wasn't even really sure just where they were now. Alexis got up to retrieve her binder and naturally Dixie followed her. The pup came back and once Alexis sat down, tried to get up into her lap.

"Central Valley Animal Hospital. It's about an hour away. If we hurry we might make it." It was starting to get late.

"Write down the address and I'll get the car out." Rick was up and hurrying toward the trailer.

Alexis went into the RV to find some pen and paper. She gave him the address and they were off. "3650 U.S. Hwy 2 E, Kalispell, Montana."

"Did you bring her paperwork?" Rick asked her. Her face flushed and she shook her head. He turned around and went back, watching her run into the RV then back out. With everything and the dog, Rick got on the road and headed for the address.

They closed at 6:00pm so this was going to be tight.

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It turned out to be really simple with the paperwork in hand for Dixie to get her shots. She needed another set in a few weeks. It took them just over 2 hours but they were soon back at the RV and sitting outside yet again and this time they were watching TV on the outside TV using the DVD.

"Do we stay or move on?" Rick inquired.

"It's up to you, Dad. It's all up to you. The next stop is just a little north of Portland, Oregon but in Washington state," Alexis replied.

"Sounds far." He was thinking at least 2 days.

"Somewhere around 700 miles if I remember correctly," Alexis answered.

Rick was thinking he was right. It sounded like a 2 day trip. "So what's there?" he asked, trying to catch her off guard.

She rolled her eyes. "Nice try." She wasn't telling him a thing more than she already had. "You'll like it. It's right up your alley." Meaning it was perfect for kids.

"Does this piece of paradise have a name?" Rick doubted that would help him but he might get lucky.

Alexis decided to tell him since she doubted he had heard of it before. "Toutle River RV Resort."

Rick replayed the name in his head and came up empty. "So it's on a river." Problem was he had never heard of Toutle, either. Portland, Oregon he had heard of.

"So not on a beach." He was looking forward to being on or near a beach this trip.

"That's the next site. You'll like it too." Save for one she thought he had liked all of them so far.

Rick tried his luck again. "Does it have a name as well?"

"Probably, but I don't know what it is." Getting there was likely a week away so she hadn't memorized it. "There is a beach for you, though." They weren't going to be right on the beach, but they could reach it without difficulty.

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Alexis had gotten up in the middle of the night to take Dixie outside so she could do her business. It was as dark as it could get with only the lights of the Lodge next to the lake in the distance being on.

Come morning she was up, showered and dressed, and back outside with Dixie just at the edge of the lake. It was nice and peaceful and they still had a few days before they needed to empty their waste tank and fill their potable water tank. Food wasn't a problem nor was power. The rain was behind them and hadn't followed them.

Alexis liked it out here. Except she saw something and it looked like it was on fire and it had a trail of smoke behind it. Worse it was headed her way. Still she stood there and watched it until it was starting to get really close. "DIXIE!" Alexis began backing up; it was getting really close.

"DAD! DADDY!" Even if he heard her his bedroom was at the back of the RV. Alexis kept backing up. "DAD!" she yelled again and watched whatever it was crash into the lake a few hundred feet from them. It caused the water to expand out from there including toward her.

It was enough that she picked up Dixie and finally started running while banging on the front of the RV and moving to the door just as it opened.

"It crashed, Daddy. It crashed in the lake," she babbled. She had no idea what it was or what it had been.

"What crashed?" Rick looked past her and thought he saw something in the water. "What crashed, Alexis?" The water was starting to approach their edge of the lake.

"I don't know but it was on fire. A plane maybe, or maybe a helicopter. Not too big." It was too small to be an airline plane. Perhaps private.

They both stood there looking out at the lake when suddenly there was someone thrashing in the water. "Dad?" Did he see what she saw?

It was enough for Rick. He was clad only in his boxers and a pair of sweat pants he'd hurriedly put on. He ran for the lake, ignoring the pain of running barefoot over what was on the ground. Once at the water's edge he waded out into the lake before he began to swim.

He was forced to stop; he was lost. Then he heard Alexis yell at him, telling him where to go from there.