Sat Sept 6

Another driving day, but with distractions. 

Imagine a great comforter that stretches to the horizon, covering the land in great folds and mounds.  It is many colors of yellow and fades into tan and cream and every so often you see a reaper or a tractor or a barn, but mostly it is land--land falling and rising as far as you can see as you speed past --going on down the road.  That is Montana, land of wheat and endless sky. 


As we left Montana, we entered the panhandle of Idaho.  Through the green Bitterroot Mountains west, the road curved and dipped as we headed toward Cour d"Alene.  The lake is long and beautiful and lined with lovely homes, and boats tethered to their moorings, waiting.  The city park is named for a conquering Civil War hero, General Wm. Sherman, and the playground is built to resemble the US fort he built here which was named later in his honor.

  A more whimsical hero guards the lake.

We continued on towards Washington State by way of Spokane, the second largest in the state, and headed for Grand Coulee Dam, built during the FDR era, providing jobs, hydroelectric power, and flood control.

Entering the Twisp area we saw the evidence of forest fires and the subsequent mudslides and had to enter Twisp by a detour as workmen tried to rebuild the roads that were washed away.