Glacier- Part 4 – Monday, September 14. Our last full day of vacation – for the 11 of us in a condo at Whitefish Lake Lodge. We had gone into the Park the past two days, how about something exciting and different today? Whitefish Mountain Resort! (or “Big Mountain’). I had done my research. Big Mountain is, of course, a fabulous winter ski resort, but offers fantastic summer fun, too! Take the lift or tram to the top and enjoy panoramic views of all of Glacier National Park and into Canada! Take the 3-hour 7-zipline tour, where you hike and zip across and down the mountain. There’s the alpine slide, or ropes course, or tree top climb, hiking, restaurants, and mountain biking! I pushed hard on the group over breakfast and had them all convinced to go.
I even pulled out my i-phone, Googled ‘Big Mountain’ and read aloud to the group, “Open now!”
So the 11 of us piled into three cars and drove to Big Mountain. As we pulled into the resort I was thrilled to see there was plenty of parking. We piled out – looked around – glanced at the gloomy looking Mountain looming in front of us. No human activity whatsoever. No chair lift ascending the mountain. Empty glass ticket booths. What?
“It’s closed, Jody.”
What the heck. I finally did corner the only other person at the resort as he walked to his car. What’s the deal here? “Big Mountain Resort is only open on weekends beginning in September.” That’s not what my i-phone said!!
So we piled back in. (Okay, so we saved 800 bucks on zipline tickets alone…) Our 3-vehicle caravan pulled out and drove back, past our lodge, into downtown Whitefish. Parked by the Whitefish Depot. “Hey, let’s check out the trains! And I hear there’s a free museum in the Depot.” Eric had taken charge. I didn’t take any pictures, of Big Mountain or of the Depot. I was out of the mood for pictures!
Here’s a link to the Whitefish Train Depot which contains a nice photo of the Tudor Style Depot. The train station is the busiest Amtrak stop between Seattle and Minneapolis. It is also home for the Stumptown Historical Society Museum featuring railroad and community artifacts. I was fascinated with the kerosene powered iron (no ironing for me, I would for sure catch myself on fire) and the fish in the display case with a coat of beaver fur (labeled as one of the first lake trout (!!) you know, it had to keep warm somehow…)
In the lobby between the depot and the museum you could enjoy a Nordic ski experience, just right for Ben and Rhonda:
Hey, What’s that orange arm doing there?
Megan joined in too, having her best skiing experience ever
hey, couldn’t you have edited out all that i-Phone garbage?
Try your hand at fishing!
Ben, you caught that huge fish with a stick?
Way to go, Rhonda…
The depot was just two blocks from all the shops and restaurants downtown so we left our cars parked where they were and headed in that direction – in different groups. Ben was looking for a place to play pool. Don’t know where the others headed to, but all that money we didn’t spend at Big Mountain (the cost of chair lift, plus zip lines, times 11, plus bike rental, alpine slide, food and drink, plus…) was burning in my pocket. So Megan, Rhonda, Meredith and I went shopping. Fine souvenirs (mostly clothing) were purchased by all! Very happy! We dumped our loot off at the car and are running to meet the others now, for lunch.
Megan and Meredith in downtown Whitefish
Shopping makes you hungry! So, where to eat a late lunch? Let’s see… there’s 11 of us. Hamburgers sound good. Scott was Googling restaurant reviews on his phone. We asked merchants in the stores for suggestions.
So where do you get the best burger in town at 2 in the afternoon? Why everybody agrees… Bulldogs!
But, please don’t use the public restrooms in Bulldogs.
Just like, while sitting on the toilet in the stall, don’t open this box right next to you …
I absolutely am (not?) going to open this box.
Of course I opened it…
Is that you, Fabio?
Ah, but of course, this encounter with Fabio and his friends had no lingering affect on me whatsoever, nor did it make any difference in how the rest of the day played out…
Right?
Tags: Bulldogs in whitefish, downtown Whitefish, Stumptown Historical Society Museum, Train Depot in Whitefish, Whitefish mountain resort
The Decompression of a Boomer 
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