Opposites Attract

Travel nursing forces you to rethink your friendships. On one hand, you learn who your true friends are, because only a true friend will continue to keep in touch when you rarely get to see each other. On the other hand, you learn to develop relationships with people you never would have made the effort with before.

The fact is that travel nursing gets lonely. Phone and internet are great, but they can’t make up for face to face contact and personal conversations. You can take your phone with you to the movies, but it won’t give you the same feeling of camaraderie that sitting beside a friend, laughing together at the punch lines, will give you. So in the quest for human contact, travel nursing forces you to think outside the box.

Here in East Glacier, I have found myself developing a friendship with someone I never would have become friends with before. She and I are almost total opposites. She thinks Wal-Mart is from the devil. I just drove two and a half hours one way to visit a Supercenter. She would never put toxic chemicals (read: make up) on her face. I don’t leave the house without it. She would never waste energy on a hairdryer. I blow dry my dog. She’s a die hard feminist. I like to be feminine. She thinks it’s better for a few humans to be mauled to death than to shoot an aggressive (and endangered) grizzly bear. I say carry a firearm at all times, therefore ensuring that you are on the winning end of “survival of the fittest.” She owns a big dog that runs freely around her house. I own a little dog that goes outside on a leash, usually dressed in a sweater to keep him warm.

We disagree on just about everything, and we will never discuss politics or religion. But we have one thing in common that makes our strange little friendship work—we are both completely in love with Glacier National Park. So while under normal circumstances we probably would have avoided each other, somehow we became friends. She is learning to accept me despite the fact that I go against just about everything she believes in. I am learning to accept her even though she really needs to bathe occasionally. And I believe we are both the better for it.

Life in East Glacier

I've tried several times to write a post that would give you a glimpse into our life here, but I've realized that it's impossible to generalize Glacier into a single post.

Everything here is continually changing. The population, the weather, the scenery, the wildlife-- before we get a chance to soak it all up, it changes.

We arrived in blizzard conditions, to an almost empty town. Houses and businesses were boarded up. One diner was open and two motels were the only signs of life. We could go days without seeing another soul.

It was harsh. Two days into our time here, a blizzard shut down everything, trapping Brandon and I in different towns. He was stuck at the hospital without a place to stay for the night. I was stuck at the motel with only a can of peanut butter and two apples to eat. I had three bottles of water, not much considering that the water here isn't safe to brush your teeth with, much less drink.

But then things changed. The sun began shining again and the weather warmed. The snow began melting and people started moving back to town.

We fell in love with the small town atmosphere, where everyone knows our names. The town is so small that everyone walks everywhere, and we all gather for coffee at the diner to catch up on the local gossip.

But while the warming weather brought the locals out of hiding, it also brought a few things I could live without.

One afternoon, Brandon and I were at the trading post buying supplies. I casually asked Mark, the owner, when I should start worrying about bears.

He gave me a strange glance and replied, "Today."

I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. I expected to hear "June" or "July", considering the vast amount of snow still covering our foothills.

Mark waited for me to to recover, then continued. "Today we had confirmed spottings of two different grizzly bears, and some grizzly tracks right outside of town. But you probably don't have anything to worry about. Where are you staying?"

I described the location of the house we had just rented.

"Oh," he stuttered. "I thought you were on this side of town." He went on to describe where the second grizzly was spotted, less than 1/2 a mile from my house. Hmmmm.

"Don't go outside without your bear spray, and don't take any food outside. Just be careful, keep your eyes open, and make a lot of noise when you walk your dog."

To say that I was stunned would be the understatement of the year. I stumbled over to the book section, picked up a book entitled "Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance," and went home to huddle safely underneath the covers with my bear spray.

No, I wasn't eaten by a grizzly bear!

Hi everyone! I again find myself apologizing for the lack of updates. In my defense, we’ve been completely without internet service since arriving in Montana. We’ve been without a few other necessities too, like running water, and safe drinking water…

Our 2 ½ weeks here have been an incredible adventure. I’ll admit that I wasn’t very excited about this assignment. Yes, it is in an amazing location, and yes we’ve always wanted to come here. But leaving home was much harder this time around, and I really struggled with it. We felt God leading us this way, but we didn’t understand why. It was difficult. But now, I am so thankful that we are here. I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.

So allow me to catch you up:

On our drive up here, we stopped in Kansas to spend the night with Levi and Julie. Julie and I have been friends for five years now—hard to believe, but true. Brandon and I hadn’t seen them since our wedding, so it was great to catch up and spend some time with them.

From their house, we drove to Wyoming, where we got caught in a blizzard. Yes, that’s correct—a blizzard. Our plan had been to spend a night in Cheyenne, then take I-25 N to Billings, MT the following day. But the blizzard kept us in a hotel for a few days, along with hundreds of other stranded motorists. Every room was booked, and people without rooms huddled in the lobby. I-25 N was closed, as was I-80 W and I-80 E. Our choices were to turn back the way we came or wait it out. We stuck it out, living on canned soup and crackers, then hit the first interstate that opened: I-80W.

So rather than driving straight to Montana, we drove to Utah, then headed up through Idaho. It was a 200 mile detour, but it was worth it. The scenery was amazing. Idaho was new territory for both of us, and we marveled at the mix of snow covered mountains, luscious green hills, flat farmland, lava beds, and volcanoes.

Southeastern Montana was even better. We drove through miles and miles of mountain passes, often going hours without seeing a single car. Near the Continental Divide, the snow was deep and gleaming white. As we descended through the Rocky Mountains, the snow became less and less, and we found ourselves in desert plains. We also found ourselves in another blizzard.

We had no choice but to keep moving forward. We were on a back highway, with no cities or hotels to bed down for the night. Luckily, we had blankets, bottled water, and leftover provisions from Cheyenne. We contemplated pulling off the road and spending the night in the car, but instead we kept inching forward, hoping for the snow to end.

Visibility was so low that we lost all sight of the mountains. We crept along for hours, knowing the mountains were near, but unable to see them. Finally, less than a mile from the base of the mountain, the snow let up and we got our first glimpse of the East Glacier mountains. My heart nearly stopped. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

Next update: life in East Glacier.