Tour de Montana. Day 2. Woke up around 9 or 10. I decided I would only attend the arm wrestling portion of The Big Sky Games. Most of the events were happening simultaneously and all over town, so I thought this would be the most entertaining. I ate a little continental breakfast (cereal) at the Rimrock Inn, showered up and headed to the holiday inn across town for a taste of arm wrestling. I walked in to a well lit banquet room, quiet, guys on stage warming each other up. This basically consisted of arm wrestling, but both guys allowing each other to win, and so on. They announced the rules, I wish I would have videotaped that. After the rules came the announcing of the weight classes for each hand each wrastler was wrastlin with. They announced the left handed (Im left handed) 199 – 242 lb (Im in that weight range). Only 2 people. Quick math: Bronze medal up for grabs. Free. Just have to lose 2 matches and possibly a limb to these mutant men, but its worth it. TOO LATE TO REGISTER. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! BRONZE MEDAL FOR ARM WRESTLING????? NO?!! Had I known, I would have signed up and I would have at least a bronze medal (definitely a bronze, one of the guys I would have faced is in the video below, yikes, and the other guy was no one to sneeze at, or arm wrestle for that matter) for arm wrestling. I am seriously gonna call the guy who was running this deal and see if I can fill out the forms and pay the fee or whatever and see if I can get my name on there and get that bronze mailed to me. I doubt it, but its worth the call. I am soo pissed that I didn’t know there were only 2 peops in there. Right now I would be explaining the video of me arm wrestling some goliath of a man and how my labrum was torn in 2 places. Taking pics with the refs and the 2 guys who beat me???? DAMMIT!!!! The whole drive to Glacier was ruined bc of that. I was so pissed. I could have been wearing a bronze medal all weekend…….. FOR ARM WRESTLING!!!!! If anybody would have crossed me at all at any point over anything (ever again in my life), I would have violently cleared the nearest table and just set up for an arm wrestling match and said, “This is how I settle things. You see this medal? Big Sky State Games. Bronze for arm wrestling. Im ready for your apology unless you wanna do it my way, boss.” I got on the road a little after 1pm. Glacier Nat Park or bust. Whenever I am thinking of something that makes me mad while Im driving, I start speeding and don’t notice. And in Montana, its mostly flat, speed limit usually 70 or 75, so its easy to lose track of your speed, especially when your cruise control is on the fritz. I didn’t notice I was going 93, but that Montana Hwy Patrol officer sure as shit did. Bronze medal dilemma = compounded. He was cool, they offer $70 on the spot, so I did that. I gave him a look before I gave him the cash and said, “You probably get this a lot, but you’re gonna give me a receipt right…..?” He did. And I was back on my way. As I got closer to GNP, the absence of my rightfully deserved bronze medal and speeding ticket steadily became less consuming. The views and the excitement mounted, and around 730ish, I was in East Glacier, a small town just outside the park. Immediately, in my opinion, I knew it was going to blow Yellowstone out of the water. It was just….wow. The first place associated with the park that I stopped was I guess just called east lodge. If there is a heaven, and this heaven has a lodge, this has to be it. It is gorgeous. The thickest, greenest lawn, magnificent building and landscaping, unreal. I went in for info and ended up walking around for about 30 minutes and somehow buying some stickers. After that, I left in a hurry bc I knew I was losing daylight quickly at this point and still had a ways to drive before I could stop to camp. Once I started driving, I didnt want to get anywhere fast. It was unreal. It reminded me of pictures I have seen of Fiji. My dad is right, you dont need to leave the US for vacation, we have so much right here. The pics above are of that drive, I wish I would have taken more pics. Every turn was something as beautiful as the last. I got to the gate and the ranger was super cool. I showed her my Yellowstone pass and she let me in free, I didn’t even have to give her the, “my roommate got arrested,” or, “I was too late to register and got cheated out of my bronze.” She just let me in free, saved me 25 - 50 bucks. I drove the rest of the way to a location called Rising Sun. Campground = full. Shiz. I went in to the restaurant and got some dinner totally at peace with the fact that I was going to sleep in my car that night. I figure, I save $ on a campsite, its safer, no bugs, and it’s a guaranteed flat, dry surface to sleep on. I talked to my server and asked her a lot of question about hikes, what to see/do, etc. She was very helpful. So, over an emu burger and a couple Moose Drool Brown Ales, I figured out what hike to do, where I would drive for the most part, and had more maps than Rand McNally to guide me. I fell asleep easily that night to the strong scent of fresh pine trees and campfires from the full campsite next door.
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