I was particularly looking forward to today's drive. While it was yet another day of just driving, that in itself excited me as it was going to be through Montana. If you have seen the movie "A river runs through it", you will know why.
No snow was forecasted as it seemed that the stormy weather has passed for now. It was however still bliksems cold when I started the car in the morning:
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| 1F = -17C |
The plan today was to drive to Sandpoint, back in Idaho, but do so via the US highway 200. Dave (the barber from yesterday) confirmed my suspicion that this is a beautiful road, as he showed me some pictures of one of his bike trips through there. Google maps also agreed that this was the shortest route:
Montana is a sparsely populated state. According to Wikipedia, Montana is ranked 4th
in size, but 44th
in population and 48th in population density of the 50 United States. This is evident from the
lack of cars and other people on its roads.
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| We didn't see a lot of other cars on the interstate. And when we did, Brenda made sure we got them! ;-) |
About a 100 miles or so outside Butte on the I-90, my Japanese backseat driver next to me was showing signs of the day's first caffeine withdrawal symptoms. So we pulled off at the very next place.
Which so happened to be the Rock Creek Lodge. The place was full of posters and pictures of the Testy Festy.
A quick browse on the internet confirmed the barman's stories of a big party every year. Not so sure I want to be here during those dates . . .
Next stop was Missoula, where we had to turn off the I-90 for the US200 and also get some gas.
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| Brenda can smell these from miles away |
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| "INDOOR??" |
Like I said, I think Montana is a beautiful place. It has a unique, rugged beauty to it. It probably is more colourful during the summer, but even in November I am glad to report that it is still worthwhile visiting.
Following below are some of the views we saw while driving on US 200.
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| Welcome to Paradise, MT. Literally. |
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| The river is still running through it. |
The
Clark-Fork river that is.
The road and scenery continued to be stunning and interesting:
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| Colourful freight train |
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| Liquid pollution of the countryside |
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| Kathy's Whistlestop Cafe |
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| Big Sky Country |
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| Still going right . . . |
Thompson Falls, MT had a few houses that Brenda liked:
Our route took us over the Idaho state line again. But it still remained pretty.
After checking into our hotel in Sandpoint, we went for a stroll through what seems to be yet another delightful and quaint little town.
The little town is situated on the shores of
Lake Pend Oreille which is apparently the fifth deepest lake in the US. This place I am sure will be COOKING during summer as it seems to be a water sports heaven.
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| Entrance to the city beach |
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| The city beach itself. |
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| And yet another ghost sign |
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| The town's craft market is housed in this building across the riverbed |
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| Japanese spy in front of her headquarters |
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| Just a pretty old tree beautifully etched against the evening sky |
Doing a lot of hiding on this day ... paparazzi getting a little out of hand.
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