Day 15: Polson, MT to Seattle, WA

After a fun filled afternoon rafting down the Flathead river and eating Indian tacos for dinner, a 5:30 a.m. loading time came extremely early. Good news is, the travelers were able to get some rest on the long trip through Montana, Idaho and into Washington before reaching our final destination of Seattle. Once in Idaho, we gained an hour, which puts us 3 hours behind North Carolina. We did make a few pit stops at rest areas, one that included coffee, cookies and popcorn for a donation to a Veteran. Our lunch stop was in Ellensburg, WA where we were all on our own for lunch. McDonald’s, Subway, Carl’s Jr., Arby’s and a local Mexican restaurant were the most popular choices.   

When we arrived in Seattle, we stopped briefly at the hotel where we picked up Bob, a local guide who provided loads of information about the city including the location of the Greys Anatomy hospital, Safeco Field, Century Link Field, the Space Needle and many more popular buildings on the way to the Museum of Pop Culture. The architecture of the MOPOP building was fascinating but the exhibits in the museum were just as amazing. Two special exhibits were devoted to Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana, plus they had exhibits for Indie Games, Horror, Science Fiction, Fantasy and an exhibit where travelers could play different instruments and make their own music video. 

Day 14: Big Sky to Polson, MT

We started our morning with another delicious breakfast at the ranch. It may have been raining a bit, but we still enjoyed seeing the horses brought across the road before heading to Polson Montana. We enjoyed a picnic lunch at a rest area on our way to Polson. Upon our arrival at Polson we got ready for a thrilling white water rafting trip. While rafting we took on three rapids. The two main rapids were called the Buffalo and the Eagle. After tackling the rapids some of us took a refreshing jump in the water. We ended our day by having dinner at our hotel. The dinner was a delicious Indian taco bar. While eating we sat on the patio overlooking Flathead lake. It was gorgeous view of the sunset that we enjoyed while walking along the pier until time for bed.

Day 13: 320 Guest Ranch, Montana Day 2

After a delicious breakfast in the dining hall the group loaded the buses and got on the way to West Yellowstone. In the little western town we saw an IMAX movie about Yellowstone, visited the Grizzly and Wolf Center, and had some free time. At the Grizzly and Wolf Center the group had the opportunity to see animals that have been rescued from the wild after injury, being abandoned by their parents, or getting into human food. Aside from bears and wolves, the center is home to ground squirrels, raptors, and soon to be otters. 

After our group activities the crew split up; About half of the group went to local laundromats to wash clothes while the other half spent time exploring West Yellowstone. Some had coffee, some decided on an early lunch at McDonald’s, and many checked out the local shops and historic architecture. 

Upon returning to the ranch we had lunch followed by our annual Grand Western Tour volleyball tournament. We had split the teams up before getting to Jackson Hole so the teams had time to get together matching uniforms. Team “HawaiEEEE” came out on top as tournament champs! 

Team A: America

Team B: Bougie

Team C: Cats

Team D: Dad

Team E: HawaEEE (tournament champs)

Team F: Freedom

Team G: Gushers

Team H: Hunters

By dinner time the group was extremely hungry and therefore demolished some beef and chicken tacos homemade by the ranch chefs. It looks like another year where we leave the ranch with satisfied palates and full bellies!