Libby to HOME

I didn't get any pictures of Huckleberry House, but know that it was lovely. Ru and I slept on twin (hard) beds in a victorian house.  Breakfast was fancy and delicious, but not very hardy. Puff pancake and fruit.

We showered and left after breakfast. I wasn't sure if we would make it home, or stay at Padma Ling in Spokane, until we passed Spokane. Google maps said the drive home was 10 hours. I knew that we would be hitting Portland traffic at rush hour, so it would be longer. Ru and I traded off driving, I probably did about 3 hours, and he did the rest. It was uneventful.

The pig pillow was great for resting in the car. 

The drive from the Gorge to Spokane is the most boring of the trip. 

It was good to be back to a variety of food choices. We had lunch in Kennewick.

Ice cream for dessert. I think he chose the cone so I would be sure to have to drive. I got a shake. 

Ru showed what a confident driver he had become. I was a helpful passenger, giving hints about how to handle traffic, but not being bossy. I also helped with the music selection when we weren't listening to the Elon Musk book. Ru wanted to listen to Megadeth when we were coming through Portland, I usually choose Ministry in traffic. We have heavy music in heavy traffic in common.

We arrived home at 7:30pm. We went 1936 miles total.

I made some noodles, and had some wine. Ru went straight for his computer. I climbed into my amazingly comfortable bed, and had the best sleep I've had in two weeks. Only one cat cuddled me, but that was probably for the best.

Tuesday we cleaned out the car. It was a huge mess. Ru vacuumed it out while I put away the camping gear. Maybe tomorrow we'll get around to unpacking the suitcases.

I spent some time at my desk taking care of all the mail, budgeting, making a menu, and Sarah came over for a visit. Ru sat at his computer. I petted cats. I took some old cassette tapes, and turned them into mp3's. I deadheaded the flowers and watered the garden. I learned how to use the Instapot  (pressure cooker) Cab bought me. It was nice to be home, puttering, and not moving very fast.

I made him take a picture before we went inside. So good to be home. 

There was a giant zucchini waiting for me in the garden, and many green beans. 

New kitchen gadget. 

back to normal

Ready for the next trip!

The Montana part of the trip. It was a big figure 8 with the crossing in Kalispell. We rarely drove the same road in both directions. 

Condon to Libby

The best part of this bed and breakfast, was the breakfast. We ate in the dining room at 8:30am. The first course was a fruit plate, then huckleberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, the best bacon ever, and coffee with real cream.
I was stuffed. For the next 5 hours I wished I hadn't eaten so much. Still not digesting.
We took some pictures of Standing Stones B&B before we left. Ellen the proprietor and cook said her partner collects rocks as a hobby. Really really big rocks.

The breakfast room

 Photos from around the place:

We left at about 10, Ruben behind the wheel. On the way we listened to an autobiography of Elon Musk. Ruben is really into this book. He's going to recommend it to his friends. 

We drove straight from Condon to Libby without stopping. Three hours or so. The scenery was once again terrific. Traffic was a little heavier than it has been for most of this trip, and for about 20 miles Ru was forced to go 65 behind some campers. From Condon we took the 83 North, skirted the city of Kalispell to take Hwy 2 West to Libby. It was about three hours of driving. We really needed a rest, but it was time for lunch so we did a drive-by of the B&B and went to lunch at Burger Express. I had half a taco. It was about the right amount of food. Ru had a Hawaiian burger with pineapple, ham, sweet potato fries, and a cherry pepsi.

We hung out in the restaurant for a while, long enough for the road weariness to wear off a bit, then we started heading to our next destination, Kootenai Falls. I had read about it in the guidebook and thought it would be nice to see. So about a minute into the drive I turned around (it was my turn to drive) and we went to check in at Huckleberry House B&B.  It looked just like the picture, and Ellen and Keith greeted us like family. We dropped off my guitar, and my computer bag THEN we headed for the falls about 10 miles west.

The parking lot was busy, but not packed. We walked past the ice cream stand, past the stinkiest pit toilets ever, and went to view the falls. The hike wasn't hard, but there was a very scary three story staircase that you had to use to cross over the train tracks.

Ruben and I sat by the falls talking for over an hour. We talked about health issues, how he would spend his birthday money, and about friends. He said this waterfall made it on the top 3 list. I asked him to share his top waterfalls list. 

Waterfalls this summer by Ruben: 

1. Silver Falls

2. Holland Lake Falls

3. Kootenai Falls

4. Pinard Falls

5. Spirit Falls

6. Spokane Falls

We also did a lot of people watching. There was one man in a white shirt, white shorts who was jumping around on the rocks looking like he was trying to impress some middle school aged boys, maybe like a stepdad or uncle. The boys followed him up and over the rocks, but he was always faster and jumped further. 

We saw couples with dogs, people who looked like their dogs, and lots of families with young children. 

It was a mix of locals and visitors, and we heard a few accents and other languages spoken. 

Then we went to the swinging bridge. We both crossed, I didn't chicken out. There are actually two bridges, they built a new one and haven't taken down the old one yet. Ru took the old one and took a picture of me on the new one to prove I went. I was so brave. On the way back we took a selfie. 

I went all the way across!

As we were taking the selfie, I heard a splash. I asked Ru if someone jumped in and he said yes. We saw some kids looking at the water and looked in that direction. White shorts guy had jumped in (or possibly fell). He tried to swim to the side, but the current was fierce (see video above) and he was swept downstream quickly. We saw his head above water a few times, and again as he rounded the corner out of sight. The kids were terrified. A nice man who was watching was saying calm things like "Oh he's got his head above water, he'll be okay", but his body language was scared. Ru and I said a prayer as we left. 

We came back to Huckleberry House, and I wrote, and talked on the phone with Cab. He's leaving tomorrow morning with his kids to go to Reno. They are staying at the Grand Sierra Resort, and doing some sightseeing in his old stomping ground. We'll be back to Salem on Tuesday, they don't get in till Thursday. Cab said he left me a present on the table :)

Dinner today was a choice between Henry's Diner or Pizza Hut. Those were what was within walking distance, and neither Ru or I wanted to drive. We asked Ellen which she would pick, and she said Pizza Hut. Always go with what the locals say. I've never eaten at Pizza Hut, but this was a very nice restaurant. I had the salad bar and the loaded potato soup, Ru had pizza and bread sticks. All for less money than a lousy steak dinner. Even the waitress was super nice.  

I was going to watch a silly movie, but I think I'm just going to go to bed, our room has two twin beds and it's really cute, the bed is slightly softer than last night's. I can't wait to get home to my bed. It's a medium memory foam mattress, with three inches of memory foam topper on it. 

Choteau to Condon

This morning I woke up at the stage Stop Inn in Choteau (again), went down to breakfast, started a load of laundry down the hall, then went to sit and plan out the day. I moved the laundry to the dryer, and went for a run. It was brisk, sunny, and the terrible gusts of wind had stopped. I ran to the north end of the parking lot where I saw a long straight road. I ran along it, then up it. It was about a mile and a half to the top of the rise, and then I ran back down. It was a terrific view. And when I say ran, I mean I ran/jogged/walked while panting.

The view from my run, with the Rocky Mountains in the distance. 

When I got back I folded the dry clothes, and packed them back in my suitcase. Then I tried to wake up Ruben. He was not pleased that I tried to wake him. Breakfast was almost over and he declined. He also declined to shower. He declined to get dressed so I threw some clothes at him and went to take a shower. When I was finished he was half dressed.

It was coming up on check out time, so I put the pressure on by asking him to go get the rolling cart, and we ended up pulling out of there at exactly 11am. I was breakfasted, exercised, and ready for the drive. Ru was ready to drive.

Ruben’s review of Stage Stop Inn in Choteau

“There was plentiful washing resources and the customer service was excellent. The thing I like the most is that everything was organized and well kept. I didn’t go to the breakfast. The pool was a really good temperature, and the spa was a really good temperature. They were clean. The shower had a bathtub in it and the shower head was very coolio. The water temperature was good”

We had a reservation at Standing Stones B&B in Condon, and we made our way south from Choteau on yet another amazingly beautiful road, the 287 south. We came to a crossroads and took the 200 west, stopping in Libby Montana for the WORST food of the trip. It was drenched in liquid smoke flavor. We couldn’t eat it.

Decorating with dead animals in the hotel lobby. 

Decorating with dead animals in the restaurant. 

We continued on the 200 till it intersected with the 83 north, traveling into the mountains again. Condon is where we were headed but we had cell service for most of the drive, and I found a hike that sounded like our style. It was next to a lake, with a waterfall. We took the exit for Holland Lake, and traveled down 3 miles of nice gravel to get to the trailhead. It was a 3.2 mile hike round trip, The first 2/3 of the trail were relatively flat, but then it got pretty steep. The view of the lake, and mountains in the distance was just gorgeous, the lake was so clean and such a pretty blue. The waterfall had a big spill at the top, the went rapidly over bounders down to the lake.

The lake was well used, and all the Montana plates showed that it was mostly a local place. There were many kayaks and moored boats, water skiers and sunbathers.

Ruben’s review of Holland Falls (and lake)

“There was a bunch of hipsters and people who weren’t old on the hike. Lots and lots of squirrels and chipmunks, especially up at the falls. There were split paths on the trial that looked convincing but led to a dead end. The hike was definitely not an easy hike, there was lots of slippery dust and near the falls it was very sloped, but most of it was flat and easy to walk over. The lake was a nice turquoise color, and there was a spot on the lake that was very still so lily pads were able to grow on it. There was tons of people playing in the water because it was a good spot, like a peninsula where you have an outlook of the whole lake. The waterfall seemed to come out of nowhere. Like it came from the sky. The mist from the waterfall stretches very far, and even if you are standing far away you can still feel the mist. There are lots of sharp rocks and roots on the trail. Probably wouldn’t ever wear flip flops.”

Click on this picture to see it larger, and look at the white spot in the valley at the top of the lake. That's the waterfall we hiked to. 

Sure they are just shrubs, but they smelled wonderful. 

I'm thanking the good smelling plants by putting their picture on the blog. 

My big foot

Holland Lake with Rocky Mountains as seen from the falls. 

We were sweaty and tired when we got back from the hike. We drove the short distance to where google maps said our B&B was, and it wasn’t. There was an old guy working on a shed, and I asked him where it was. He said “Oh just go yonder down the road, past the old white storage tank and look for them big rocks. Don’t go past em, you got to pull in between those big rocks. They got rocks everywhere.” So sure enough we drove down the road, past the white tank, and in between the big rocks. Lynn the caretaker said she wasn’t expecting us. She said they switched reservation systems and mine must have got lost. Fortunately they had a room, with 2 queen beds, and its own bath. Unfortunately, it’s clean but divey, and the beds are hard.

We dropped off our stuff and headed back to a steakhouse we passed between the lake and the B&B. Cab kept asking me if I had steak yet, and I hadn’t. I paid $21.00 for a small mediocre overcooked steak, a baked potato, and a salad of limp iceberg lettuce. Ruben didn’t fare much better with his $21.50 for 7 shrimps on a skewer, and a baked potato. He passed on the salad. We did play an epic game of chess, and he captured my king fair and square.

Meh food. Good game. 

Things we notice everywhere in Montana.

1. BIG red trucks. Old and new, seems every other local vehicle we see is a red truck. Most of them either have a hat on the dash, or a hat on the driver. The little SUVs and cars are usually out of state.

2. Horns, antlers, dead animal heads, and sculls. Everywhere. I haven’t seen any at the B&B yet, but we haven’t been in the breakfast room yet either. They have been in all the restaurants, lodges, museums, and hotels.

3. Most houses and buildings have American flags.

Also Ruben has been surprised by then number of people who pass him on country roads when he is doing 70 (the speed limit). They just fly by him. We have seen one police officer this entire trip.

After we ate we came back to the B&B to relax. I wrote this (while praying my stomach will digest), Ru played a game on his phone, and watched the cartoon movie Epic while I read a book. I had a hard time falling asleep due to stomach issues.