Today I learned that it might have been nice to have brought along physical maps with me. At several points, my GPS fully believed I had decided to go off road (in which case it stops giving any sort of directions at all) and I don't think I had any phone service at all until I got to Missoula (which is where I am tonight.) But technical difficulties aside, this was the kind of day I was expecting to have (a very good one). Here's what happened.
Woke up at 5 am (rather, Hailey woke up; apparently she doesn't sleep well in motels). Put Hailey in a down/stay until 6:15 so I could go back to sleep. She's such a good dog (well, mostly... my hand got nudged a lot). Anyway, then we ran a few laps around the Super 8 before heading out of Spokane to Coeur d' Alene. What a cool city. Very walkable waterfront. We found:
- A burger stand with Paul Bunyan
- Several Moose statues
- A lot of "no dogs" signs (which we ignored; I figured I could feign "Canadian" if need be)
(we didn't find the Hydroplane drivers memorial that is supposedly there, but we didn't look too hard either)
Then, it was off to look for a hike. I had seen Heyburn state park on a map and wanted to find the Indian Cliff Trail. On the drive down, this was when the GPS first went out (it's a big road, but maybe things are nutty on Indian reservations). Anyway, we did find the trail and lots of good vistas, both in the marsh at the bottom and at the top of the cliffs. Also, the nutrition-geek in me saw an odd plant (see picture). Anyone who is better at wild foraging than me know what it is? Looks like some wild asparagus or something. Can I eat it? (I didn't try).
Okay, after the hike and a short lunch break to let Hailey cool off (it was a bit hot for her) we started heading back to I-90. The GPS again went nuts, but that's okay, we found another Paul Bunyan statue (Idahoans love this guy! And yes, Hailey is tired of me putting her in pictures with them)
The rest of the day was goofy random stops
- A real estate office shaped like a miners hat (side note, speaking of real estate, my house sale recorded last night, so I'm officially homeless... does that make me a drifter now?)
- A place that was a brothel as recent as 1992 (now a museum)
- the site of the last stop light on I-90 (long since bypassed) ... oddly enough right at that spot is a sign that says the intersection is the "center of the universe"; I don't know why.
And then we got to Montana. My first impression - beautiful. My next impressions - empty, too many trucks, crazy drivers, dirty roads (my paint job must be shot by now with all the debris).
And, the day was overall good nutrition-wise. A lot of the same from yesterday (lots of peanut butter, and as soon as I'm done here, more salmon) BUT I had my first non-Bastyr approved moment... I bought a Pepsi. Don't judge me! :) I was tired and decided that while I did a good job packing lots of good protein and fat, I don't have enough carbs to support hiking and driving in the same day so I needed to get through the day. We'll see if I can remedy that soon.
I don't know what's on tap for tomorrow. Maybe Yellowstone, maybe not. I'm kind of tired. I drove a lot today, but much of it was north/south rather than east. So we'll see how far I get.
(oh and yes, I write way too much to be a good blogger. Deal with it. Or else tell me to stop having so much fun :)
1 comment:
I'm a long-winded blogger too, so don't worry about it :) Tell Hailey she is very photogenic! Yellowstone is amazing and worth the trip-- Marc and I were there when we were drifters too, moving from California back to Seattle and it was around this time of year and SNOWING so be warned!
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