4 Days in Bozeman, Avon, and Glacier National Park, Montana
Day 1: Bozeman
We stopped in West Yellowstone for brunch before going to Bozeman. It’s a small town with gift shops at every door, so we didn’t spend much time there.
Bozeman wasn’t originally on our list, but we decided to leave Yellowstone a day early and it was on the way to our next stay in Avon. We honestly smelled pretty bad from days of camping and were exhausted. Our hotel room wasn’t ready when we arrived so we just sat in the lobby and waited until it was.
The first shower after returning from a camping trip is always so amazing and I made that last as long as it was comfortable. We chilled for a bit in our room before going to explore the downtown area. We went to a taproom which had some awesome chicken wings and beer. Downtown Bozeman is a really cute area which a lot of shops, restaurants, and bars. Many places closed early on Sunday so we couldn’t go in and out like we usually do. But we imagined it to be a fun spot if you go on the right day and during the right time. We settled on dinner at a restaurant called Revelry. Highly recommend this spot for a meal in Bozeman. The brussels sprouts caesar salad hit the spot and the pizzas were phenomenal. This may be coming from two hungry people who only ate pasta and PBJs for days, but the crowded tables at the restaurant would suggest that a non-deprived palate would enjoy this food too.
We spent the rest of the night doing some research for Glacier National Park since we were headed there next. And I’m pretty sure I knocked out as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Day 2: Avon
Over the past two months, we’ve changed our minds about some of the clothes we’d originally planned to pack for the international portion of our trip. This domestic road trip was a good test run for some items and also helped us realize that we needed a few extra things and could actually forgo some others we thought we couldn’t do without. So we’ve been checking out and “researching” in REI stores and other sporting good stores whenever they’re conveniently around. There was one in Bozeman so we went there before getting gas and groceries at Costco and leaving for Avon.
Avon is a small town with not much around it other than vast farmland. We chose to stay here because it was about halfway between Yellowstone and Glacier and the Airbnb was a fun-looking farm stay. The property was large and the guest suite was cozy. The hosts own highland cows, a yak, chicken, roosters, ducks, and turkey and we saw all of them hanging around during our short time there. Our host was so kind and messaged us as soon as we checked in to see if we wanted to feed treats to the cows. Of course we did! We got settled then met her outside where she told us about each of them and helped us feed and pet the cows. They were extremely adorable and I continued to go back outside every now and then when they’d approach the fence just so I could interact with them. We loved experiencing this farm stay and would a hundred percent do another one.
Day 3: Glacier National Park
We checked out first thing in the morning and went to Glacier National Park. There was a lot of construction so it took us a little bit longer than we expected and we had to stop for a few groceries and some ice.
Our first stop was the Avalanche Lake trail. We were originally going to save this hike for tomorrow but the weather forecast was projecting some rain and we didn’t want to chance it. It was an easy hike that led us to a beautiful lake. The water was cool and so clear, which made us excited to go to the lake near our campsite, Lake McDonald. We pulled over in the picnic area and went in the water which was even more beautiful than Avalanche Lake in our opinion. While it didn’t have the turquoise glacial water that Avalanche Lake had, this one was extremely clear, exposing the colorful rocks, and had a great backdrop of the mountains. We hung out in the water for a while but went to our campsite as the sun started going down so we could cook dinner before it got dark.
It was pretty cloudy so we didn’t wait up to see any stars. We got cozy in our tent and watched some TV on Keon’s phone since he had a little bit of service.
Day 4: Glacier National Park
It started raining at some point during the night and we thought that it would lighten up during the day. It did not. We stayed in the tent for a long time after waking up and waited for the rain to slow to a drizzle before we got out and got ready for the day. Once we did, we sat in the car and played some good old-fashioned pen-and-paper games using the park’s newspaper (think Tic-Tac-Toe, Hangman, Connect Four). We went to the visitor center for a little bit before heading out to the town of West Glacier where we grabbed lunch and a little bit of service to download movies. We knew it was going to be a long and wet day so the least we could do for ourselves was download some entertainment.
We drove back into the park and went back to Lake McDonald to check out some more of the colorful and cool rocks. We skipped them, tossed them, and tried to keep ourselves busy while the rain was a light sprinkle. But, of course, it picked up and got heavier so we went back to our car and drove back to the campsite. We stayed in the car and played some more pen-and-paper games and watched one of the movies we downloaded. Then we went into the tent to try to change it up. It was cold, a little damp if you moved the wrong way, and not enjoyable. But here we are, going to brave it out for another night. We turned in extra early tonight, trying to make the time go by faster, and hope that we wake up to no more rain.