The energy is different here, in this small town in the middle of the valley on the way to Glacier national park. Time seems to slow down in this sleepy little town. Everywhere you look people are walking, or biking through the town. We pull into the hotel parking lot and check in, the employee tells us that they have bikes that are free to the guests and we are welcome to use them to navigate the town. Kylie excitingly heads to the room to throw her stuff down and we head to sign out the bikes. Now I have to admit that I haven't ridden a bike in about 15 years so I was not as excited as my daughter. As we start heading out of the parking lot I was amazed out how well controlled my daughter was and how quickly my anxiety went up. We headed to the bike path where I promptly panicked and ran into a couple walking past us on the side walk ... several apologies later as I listened to my daughter laugh we were back on our way.
We finally made it down to the small town square in town that was built around a beautiful park in town. Kylie and I have traveled around enough to know that all of the small tucked away towns, normally have a small beautiful town square and that is the location that we will normally find the best food. We head into a little grill with a patio on the back to just soak up the feelings of the town. These moments here, where we can listen to the locals chat and people watch are some of our favorite times. Every town is a little different but the locals are all the same and are some of the best people watching. As the sun begins to slowly dip behind the mountains Kylie casually squeezes my hand which is her way of telling me that she is finally feeling peace against her random bouts of anxiety she has been having lately.
After we finish playing in the valleys of Glacier National Park we head back over to Spokane Washington. Kylie and I were pleasantly impressed with how a town that is so sophisticated is also still grounded in there own history. As we woke up on our last day of vacation Kylie and headed to walk the river and I was impressed with how often she stopped to read the history plaques and then regale me with what they said. These moments where I can lay down the mantle of owning a business, of working a 40 hour a week job, and just be her mom are what I live for. She grabs my hand and giggles, momma lets go ride the sky ride and just like that I am pulled back to the moment and she rushes in to buy our tickets. Its still kind of early so its just us when board the ride and it starts off. The ride makes several stops along the way over the river, and Kylie leans over seeing the waterfalls and I see her breath catch as she watches the waterfall. Momma look how pretty!! Yes my baby girl, just like you.
In the words of Anthony Ramos "Stop, breath it in for the moment, give it a minute, just stop and see what comes into focus. Soon it will almost over so Stop...!"
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