We were surprised to see so many hitchhikers right on the freeway, but the most startling sight was the hitchhiker outside Missoula, Montana stretched out perpendicular to the road. There were more hitchhikers outside Missoula than any of the other places we visited. We even recognized one guy we had seen in Missoula coming off the freeway when we stopped for dinner in Idaho. I always thought that hitchhikers were restricted to the on-ramp, but if that's the case the law's not being enforced. Hitchhiking was very common when I was young. In fact, my husband had done quite a lot of hitchhiking when he was in his early twenties (Minneapolis to San Francisco, Tucson to Minneapolis, etc.). I, myself, hitchhiked only once in my life and it was in Germany, of all places. Needless to say, there is no way we would have allowed (or perhaps more appropriately, approved) our kids hitchhiking.
Our trip out of Montana was noteworthy for another reason beyond hitchhiking. Moving through the Bitterroot Forest from Missoula to Spokane we encountered extensive road construction slowing our progress, but also a forest fire! As we approached, I noticed what I thought was a thick cloud, but then I saw a woman stopped alongside of the road taking a photograph. At that point I realized she was snapping a shot of thick smoke. As we moved along the road, we saw that the helicopters were dipping buckets in the river and pouring their watery contents on the fire. Fortunately, the fire was located deep enough in the forest that we were able to pass through the danger zone without incident. Still, we were able to see flames.
The route from Missoula to Couer d'Alene is some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen. Unfortunately, I was behind the wheel the whole way so I couldn't take any pictures. The pass on the western side of Montana/eastern side of the Idaho panhandle is spectacular.
By the time we got to Couer d'Alene we were ready for supper. We found a place that was usually open for breakfast and lunch, but as luck would have it, had started serving burgers and beers for dinner Wednesdays through Saturdays during July. I'm not a big burger person, but this was a great burger. I wish I had taken a photo of the place so I could recommend it.
After driving I-90 through Spokane, we started looking for lodging. The motels alongside I-90 in Spokane itself had no vacancies, so we ended up going five miles east off the highway to Cheney (pronounced Chee-knee), Washington. The Holiday Inn Express was by far, the best place we stayed. What a difference from the cheapo Comfort Inn in Brandon, SD (holes in the curtains) and wayyyy overpriced Super 8 in Gillette! One key difference between HIE and the other two hotels could be felt in the quality of bedding and towels. HIE had higher thread count sheets and plush towels. Super 8 had ridiculously thin and rough wash cloths and towels the size of postage stamps. On the other hand, Super 8 was generally $20-$60 cheaper than the competition in most communities. We had been filling up the tank at least twice a day, to the tune of $3.85 to $4.05 per gallon, so cheaper motel rates were helpful. Ultimately, rough, thin washcloths and holey curtains weren't that big a deal.
The trip through eastern Washington was pretty blank. Our goal was to enter eastern Oregon by way of I-82 at Umatilla. It was all rather desert-like until we hit The Dalles (it's an inland port city in Northern Oregon, but the word "dalles" means rapids). At that point, we could see Mt. Hood in the distance.
Finally, we made it to Jake and Alison's house.
We checked in to our motel (yet another Super 8) and then headed down the path by the Willamette River behind the motel on our way to one of the micro-breweries in Corvallis.
No comments:
Post a Comment