Most obstinate woman in Idaho (see narrative)
In the Mountains
Friday 07 Sept 2007
A quiet night in Salmo.
Took a walk around the town (which took all of 10 minutes). But a nice stop-off place!
Used the campsite sanidump to flush my Roadtrek holding tanks and topped up drinking supply with fresh water.
Coffee in the morning. Then off to Creston. Quite a beautiful valley, very fertile and lots of farming activity. Also the home of Columbia Brewery, the home of Kokanee and the beer-drinking-stealing Sasquatch! We took a drive into town,parked and walked around, buying some odds & ends and having morning tea (coffee actually) and pastries at the local Bakery. Also found a network site to send off the last blog post.
A few miles down the road we hit the US border post, and wait behind all 3 cars for about 2 minutes. A few questions about where, why and what we have with us and we are through and on the way again.
Stopped in Bonner’s Ferry (which I remember from reading westerns is an old Goldrush supply town). Quite interesting, old architecture and a FREE local museum with a collection of generally old stuff (including a SUN Auto Tester unit exactly like the one WRC Currie’s had in the workshop back in the 50’s!!). Some interesting photos of the early 1900’s in Bonner’s Ferry, with quite a few of the town flooded by the river.
A short drive to Moyie Springs, where I had hoped to find hot-springs, but the locals (Pop 665) obviously don’t want the tourists using their facilities! We head on over the 2nd highest bridge in Idaho (see 2nd photo above showing 1st most obstinate woman in Idaho when it comes to taking pictures!).
Very pleasant countryside, and we are now in Montana. I assume the valley is an extension of the same plateau as Creston? Right now entering Libby. Since it has a Casino, I assume it must be at least close to Indian land? Continued on through Happy’s Inn to Kalispell, a surprisingly large town. Stopped for gas, then saw an interesting ‘yard’ on the road out and stopped for a look. The ‘Cycle Haus’ is a motorcycle graveyard! It also had a few old Jeeps and Dodge trucks, which was what caught my eye.
Continued on South down the side of Flathead Lake (about 50km long), mostly in Flathead Indian Reserve. Very attractive area. Lots of little marinas.
Stopped in Poulson at the southern tip of the lake and went to Annibell’s (purportedly the ‘Greatest Gourmet Café in the West’) for supper. Denise’s food was fine, but my 16oz ribeye was neither a nice piece of meat nor well done!! Probaby due to the kitchen being overloaded by a large party, but it sort of spoiled my night, even though they apologised profusely and took the charge for the steak off the bill.
On the way out of town, with darkness approaching, saw a Safeway, so stopped for some essential supplies (beer, Zinfandel), and then saw Walmart next door, so went there to use the washrooms and decided to park for the night, which is where I’m catching up with the blog-writing.
Saturday 08 Sept 2007
Headed for Missoula. We were on the bypass when we saw a ‘market’ set up in the local town, so went in & walked around a bit. Bought some fruit, curds. Went back to the van & had coffee, bread & cheese. Heading out of town I saw a Jiffy Lube that was ‘open’ but empty, so I drove in and had an oil change/filter change in 12 minutes!
Down the road, came to Deer Lodge, exceptional only in that about 50% of the buildings are ‘museums’, including what at some stage was the State Prison. Mom had a nap while I visited the Car Museum. About 150 vintage cars, mostly early 1900’s, mostly American, but still interesting. What I found interesting was a poster on the wall giving the names of some 2,600 MANUFACTURERS of USA cars over the past century.
Dropped in at Warm Springs, but found only the State (Mental?) Hospital. Drove on till we hit the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort (Hot Pools & Golf), which is where we are now.
1 comment:
That photo is like 1/8th of a colage evolution chart.
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