Stage Seven ~ Driving to Spokane

A recap of our trip from Cut Bank, Montana to East Spokane, Washington on July 31, 2009.

There are no photographs to accompany this post, and if you have ever been to East Spokane you will probably understand why that is.

Having said that it should be noted that the vast majority of this day was spent getting out of Montana ~ statements that it is the fourth largest state by area in the United States are no exaggeration ~ but as we made our way to the Montana-Idaho border we were treated to some of the most beautiful forest (The Helena National Forest, to be exact) a person can hope to find anywhere in the world. For good measure we were also treated to a pretty steep climb in elevation and some twisty-turny road to boot.

The natural beauty of the western U.S. continued to amaze us as we passed by through Coeur D'Alene. It was approximately 4:30 in the afternoon as we made our way past the beautiful lake, and the afternoon sun absolutely made it sparkle.

Unfortunately the natural beauty seemed to disappear after that.

The area immediately west of the lake has all the innate charm of Carson as you pass through on the 405 freeway ~ i.e. lots of concrete and asphalt. Additionally, the driving habits of people in the area ~ their license plates not withstanding ~ made it apparent that we were getting closer to California. Throughout the trip we had been very impressed by a general adherence to the edict that "slower traffic keep right." This was the point in our travels when I had to contend with the "free-for-all" approach to choosing a lane (that fact that there were only two lanes available to everyone headed west did not help matters).

Despite everything we arrived in East Spokane safely, but the dreary concrete/asphalt ambiance extended from Idaho into eastern Washington ~ and the fact that it was nearly 100 degrees when we pulled into the parking lot of the Residence Inn did not help matters at all.

Once checked-in to the hotel the heat kept us inside except for a brief dip in one of the smallest hotel swimming pools you will ever see (and, of course, one that has two chlorine molecules for every one water molecule).

But this was "just" a transit day (i.e. a day spent driving to get into position to actually get somewhere else), and with that accomplished we rested well.

Next stop, Battle Ground, Washington!