Flights: Philadelphia to Chicago - I got moved into the exit row. Don't remember the rest of the flight - hope I didn't snore too loudly!

Chicago to Salt Lake City - Found my parents, gave them each a muffin for breakfast, got on the plane and went back to sleep.

Salt Lake City to Chicago - Wow! Did we get through Security and Boarding fast. United boarded the window row people first. This novel idea really sped up getting everyone seated.

Chicago to Philadelphia - Ooops. United switched aircraft and forgot to reprogram the computer. Rows 22-25 didn't exist, so we left Chicago 50 minutes late after playing musical chairs.

Rental Car: Dollar tried to tell me that the reservation only included 150 free miles per day. I walked down to Enterprise who rented us a great Toyota Camry without the nonsense. (Enterprise also gave the AAA discount plus an additional 5% discount on the final bill. Then they dropped us off at the United Terminal. While we were waiting for the paperwork on the car, we each got a nice cold bottle of water to guzzle in the dry SLC air.)

Hotels: The Comfort Inn in Woods Cross, UT was easy to get in and out of from the highway, after we found out the exits had just been renumbered and were each off by about 3. It served a really complete breakfast. The only problem was they screwed up the two reservations and showed us as having reserved smoking rooms. On the last night we ended up being put in a room with a king size bed and a roll-away in order to get into a non-smoking room.

The Days Inn in Jackson, WY was ok.

The Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone (I booked this one) was fun. We had a great view of the geyser basin and could see some of the eruptions from our room. We also got bear shaped soap each day. The Old Faithful Inn is undergoing a major renovation project, so Dad had fun watching the progress on the roof.

The Best Western in Gardiner, MT really did have a river view. We watched the rafts and kayaks come down the Yellowstone River. I also noticed the young families got the upper floors, and the older guests got rooms on the ground floor. The entire motel is non-smoking; they discovered they couldn't sell smoking rooms! (I made sure to ask when we checked in.)

The La Quinta in Great Falls had the best complimentary breakfast. Not much of a view, but a great breakfast.

The Many Glacier Hotel (another one I booked) made up for the lack of view in Great Falls. When we checked in, the desk clerk apologized that he just had to give us a room with a balcony. The facade on this hotel was restored last year. The interior is scheduled for renovation in 2007.

The Red Lion in Spokane, WA was the most comfortable we stayed in. I complimented the front desk clerk on the beds when we left. She said, "I know; I bought one." The hotel is on a pedestrian walkway along side the river. The walkway connects to River Park. Spokane was a real treat. We really enjoyed our night there.

The Courtyard by Marriot in Boise, ID on the other hand, I would not recommend to anyone. The room featured the two most uncomfortable beds I have slept in anywhere in the world. They were lumpy with unpredictable peaks and valleys. Housekeeping didn't bother to remove a Kleenex left on the floor by a previous guest. The floor lamp was broken. I unplugged it so we would not try to use it and get hurt. The breakfast was very over-priced. The second morning we went across the parking lot to a Perkins and got a much better breakfast for less cost. Very friendly staff, but a truly bad hotel. The only good thing was we got both USA Today and the Wall Street Journal on Friday morning.

Train: My Dad enjoyed the train out of Horseshoe Bend. It's not the scenery of Colorado, but it was a fun ride. (For a more adventurous group, you can book the train one-way and come back down the river by raft.)

We saw lots of bison, some moose, bears, elk, and mountain goats - plains, mountains, geysers, glaciers, and a snow storm.

Oh, if you're booking some one for Glacier National Park, make sure they know about high tea at the Prince of Wales Hotel on the Canadian side of the park. It was a very elegant experience.