Throughout the night, I woke up due to being cold. I was in my 19 degree down sleeping bag, but pulled my weighted blanket over me and added a synthetic blanket overtop of all of that. The temperatures continued to drop throughout the night into the morning. It had started raining and continued to remain wet, but I was not going to let that get me down. I would head over to the west side of the park, despite not being able to get a reservation for Going to the Sun Road, and see what I could see.
As I left the campground and headed towards the west entrance, the weather got worse, and the snow began to fly. There wasn't much to see with all the clouds covering everything, although that did give it a magical feeling as the mountains would show themselves occasionally through the clouds. When I made it to the west entrance, I wasn't even allowed in to the visitor center without a reservation to be on the Going to the Sun Road. So, dejected, I headed back to the east side with hopes of at least doing one of the hikes I had planned the night before.
The drive back was slow with the snow and wet roads. Luckily, there were not many people on the road yet, but traffic was picking up. I stopped at the places I passed on the way up, and took photos as the beauty would present itself.
Eventually, I made it over to the East visitor center, where I could get wifi and see about getting a reservation for the following day to drive the Going to the Sun Road. Unfortunately, nothing was available. Between the weather and not being able to do much, I decided I was done with Glacier National Park this trip. So, I headed back to the campground, packed up my tent, and headed back to North Dakota. I was going to go back to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Leaving Glacier National Park area, I again took a 2 lane highway, but I was planning on getting on I-94 once that became available again. The fun of the 2 lane highways is never knowing what one might find along the way. As I was traveling along the deserted highway, I came across a pond with a couple of pelicans just hanging out. Nearby that pond was a fence with teddy bears stuffed all along it; another roadside america curiosity and oddity.
The further I got from Glacier National Park, the better the weather got. I took it as a sign that I was meant to spend time at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Along the route back to Theodore Roosevelt, I once again found dinosaurs and enjoyed more buttes. This time I found another heart butte and also priest butte. My mature self of course had to share all these buttes with my friends and family. I'm not sure they found it as funny as I did. Maybe I should have brought a companion with me to keep me grounded in some form of reality? Having left the campsite for which I had paid for the night, I now had to figure out where to sleep for the night.
As I got closer to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, I started looking for places to camp or sleep for the night. I pulled off one exit, figuring I would just sleep at the rest stop, but it turned out to be a little scary looking. So, I ventured out of there, only to find a monument on the side of the hillside that looked pretty neat. I wasn't going to camp there because it just seemed inappropriate, but I did stop for photos. 
Deciding not to stay at the rest stop, I continued back out onto I-94 at this time. Each exit, I would get off, and look around to see if there was a place I could hide and sleep. One of the times, I pulled off the exit, and there was another car going slow as if they too were looking for a place to camp. As I passed them, I happened to look their way, and saw the most amazing sunset occurring, while I was panicked about where to sleep. So, I pulled over, got out of my car, and took photos and had a snack. The sky was gorgeous pinks, and the rain clouds from the day had given such beautiful texture to the sky. Thanks to the rain, the smell of sage was rich in the air, and helped to cleanse my mind of its concerns.
With the sun down, I was definitely in need of a place to stay at that point. I headed into the National Park again to see if the campground was available. Once again, no luck. Who were these people camping here in a park that didn't seem to have many visitors? Afraid to be found by rangers sleeping in my car at one of the trailheads, I headed back out of the park. At this point, I needed gas. So, I headed to the nearest truck stop along I-94, and pulled into a spot in the side lot near the big rigs and collapsed for the night. It seems weird to feel somewhat safe sleeping at a truck stop.
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