We had lots of surprises on this journey. First off, we had no idea Washington state had so very, very much wheat acreage. For an hour plus, we drove through steep hills covered with green wheat or yellow canola. Hill after hill, after hill, after hill of wheat sown clear to the pavement of the highway. Jay was impressed with the steepness of those hills and the ability and guts it takes to harvest them.
Second, we had no idea how deep Lewiston Idaho and Clarkston, Washington, were. We came around a curve and suddenly - BAM - it was a steep sidewinder of a road to a deep gorge. They are both cute, functional towns, and we were grateful for their McDonalds tea. I'm also grateful I downloaded an app called GasBuddy, which lets me price out gas in a region so I can get the best price. I mean, when you drive a 15 passenger van across a third of the country, it's good to save 10 cents per gallon when you can. ($2.13 was the price in Lewiston, Idaho, FYI.)
Third, we had no idea what we were committing to, with this crazy plan to visit Oregon. You know you aren't in Kansas when... the pickup in front of you with the snow blade on it is actually clearing the rock from the road, the rock that the rain has just NOW washed off the mountainside, the mountainside you are switchbacking down at a crazy 20 mph and still feeling like a roller coaster.
But we pursued two goals. One, I made it to Oregon, with the GPS set for a little ghost town called Flora. There were a few occupied houses, so we felt we would upset the neighbors too much if we hung around long in our creeper van. But goal number two was to run a mile in every state we visited. And so, with full acknowledgement of my insanity, I got out at the top of a mountain in the SNOW in 40 degree weather with the wind blowing in an area where we knew no one, and I ran. Just one mile, and then my loving, supportive husband picked me up in our creeper van, and we jetted back to Washington.
Back to the zig zag, switch back, drop thousands of feet elevation, watch out for falling rock roads. The natives would laugh at us, and we thought it was all a great adventure, until a kid puked. Not the two previously known to get car sick, no... we had to add John to the list of Sleichters who don't like crazy up-down-zig-zag roads. But let's call it a puke-and-rally, or a one-and-done, and he was fine for the rest of our trip.
Which is amazing, considered the zig zagging didn't stop, even though the ups and downs did. We took the most direct route from Lewiston Idaho to Missoula MT, but that "direct" route is also called the Northwest Bypass Scenic Highway. I knew it went through national forests, but I didn't know it followed a river. And by follow a river, I mean when the river curved, the road curved. For more than a hundred miles.
We had to stop and get a real meal before we hit the national forrest, so Kooskia, Idaho was the chosen stop. After much research and debate to find an affordable, family friendly, and Covid-open place, we chose Kooskia Café. I hemmed and hawed about that Idaho mile, and if we could do it from Yellowstone and blah blah blah. So Jay, again being the supportive husband he is, dropped me off a third of a mile from the café and said "I bet you can finish your mile before we even order." And he was right. And I was grateful. Without that gently push, I'm not sure I would have gotten the Idaho mile, and I would have regretted it. And that café meal? Delicious and perfect. I got a chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes, as I'd been craving. Jay got yummy garlic buttery steak. Katie got steak and eggs, Nat and Mags got shrimp, Lainie got an omelet, and John got his beloved corn dog.
Finally, at 10:30 p.m. Missoula time, we got to our hotel. We settled for cheap on this night, one room with three queen beds. John fell asleep in the car, so he was an easy transition to the floor. And the girls didn't last long once we hit the hotel.
Tomorrow is a much shorter drive -- 5 hours compared to the 12 we did today -- and so we don't need an early start. There are lots of open stores around Missoula, so we plan on doing some 4-H shopping and some dawdling, before heading off toward Red Lodge. For the first day of this vacation, we will be staying in the same state all day tomorrow. As one guy at a gas station said to me today, "you guys have been in more states today than I've been in my entire life."
God bless Jay and the kids for handling this travel. And for being as enthusiastic about it as I am. Or at least, faking it.
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