Day 2 Spokane Falls,WA to Deer Lodge, Montana

10:15 am Departure   61*  Traveled 272 miles

Morning chores included stretching exercises  before we rented a 4 wheel pedal bike for 30 minutes of exercise.  It turned out to be a killer even with both of us pedalling!  We took it back after 20 minutes of effort and walked for 15 minutes.

Bike riding

Downtown Wallace, ID

The famous bordello in
Wallace, ID

Old movie projector in the bordello museum

Galvanized bath tub

Today, I-90 E took us to Wallace, ID to find the Oasis Bordello, one of the places on our list. Coffee and a muffin were first before visiting the old building that held activity till a raid in 1988. I-90 took us over 4700' Lookout Pass to our next stop in Haugan, Montana to see the 50,000 silver dollars. Sonny generously allowed us some time to roam the gift shop before heading back on the road and the smoky air. I made a reservation for one night at the Deer Lodge KOA.

One method of transportation in Idaho.  

Coal fired furnace in the bordello basement museum.

Starlight Hotel mascot.

Hay storage

Many rest stops have been remodeled to
include a place for everyone  to
sit.

These coal trains had over 100 cars.

Forest fires a burning all around making the air polluted.

Air is hazy but he traffic is light.

We stopped here in the 80s on a motorcycle trip.  The place has expanded.

 

A portion of the bar.

Deer Lodge Montana KOA has the smallest sign in the Corporation.  We
have missed some campgrounds because the sign is hidden behind a tree
or is very small.

Day 1 Port Orchard, WA to Spokane Falls, WA

We planned to get on the road Wednesday, August 23 but there were medication issues with supplies at Costco so we had to wait an extra day.  It was just as well.  We needed the time to finish up all the details at home.

Thursday, August 24th, we got under way  with sunny skies by 11 am.  Traffic through Tacoma was rolling slowly through the I-5 construction as usual.  We turned off to  Highway 18 and connected to I-90 in NOrth Bend.   We were hoping to get over the border into Idaho on our first night but were delayed another hour by a terrible accident at mile marker 115.  A grass fire in the median producing heavy smoke caused several vehicles and a tractor trailer truck to collide.  A travel trailer being towed by a pick up was demolished.  It was not a happy ending for at least one person.

As we were driving along, we had time to go over what all we had packed.  Sonny remembered he forgot the ladder.  Our rig doesn't have a roof ladder so he usually carries his.  We'll be stopping at Camping World soon.

We passed "Fishtrap,WA" and learned it's an extinct town in Lincoln County, WA,  There is a Fishtrap Lake Resort.

By the time we approached Spokane Valley, we were ready to call it a first day.  We had driven 329 miles, it was after 6 pm, 81* and KOA had room.

Crawling traffic in Tacoma right from the get go.

Once we get out away from the City, traffic calms down.  The air is smoky from forest fires in Canada and Eastern Washington.

Here's where we got on I-90 heading East 

I-90 east and beyond!

First stop  on I-90 is on Snoqualmie summit for coffee

I would like one of each!

                                                (Well, maybe not the Sasquatch)

Watering the fields in Eastern Washington.  I've read that on the large farms in the midWest, these irrigation arms can be a mile long.

Crossing  the Columbia at Vantage in the smoky haze in spite of the howling wind.

Mile marker 125  accident due to blinding grass fire smoke

So named by the Indians who often fished
at the lake. There was a post office from 1906
 to 1936 and over time, the population left.
Fishtrap Fishing Resort
is located nearby.

Spokane Falls KOA 

Chapter 1 "I-90 East and Beyond"..... Getting Ready

This chapter story begins with planning a trip to Portland, ME to attend my nephew, Adam's wedding to Laura Amar-Dolan on September 16th, 2017. Sonny loves to drive so we began to think about a cross country trip this summer.  Since we were going to be on the East Coast, my niece, Kim, suggested we take a family trip to Prince Edward Island. So, after the  wedding, Sonny and I, my brother, Merrill and his wife, Dottie, their dog, Pippy, my sister, Donna and her husband, Bill and their daughter, Kim will caravan  from our home town of Brewer, ME, for a week exploring the Maritime Canadian Provinces. We have a 27' fifth wheel.  Merrill has a 25' fifth wheel and Bill has restored a GMC motorhome.

This Chapter will be a photo journal of Sonny and Lynn's drive on I-90 which can be a long, hot, boring experience. To pass time on our 3500 mile ride, we plan to document as many unusual attractions along I-90 as we can find. The Internet, travel magazines and friend's suggestions have helped us build a list of possible stops we can make in the next 21 days. We will follow I-90, which  runs from Seattle to Logan Airport in Boston, however when we get closer to Boston, we plan to leave I-90 and turn North to New England through up state New York.  The following Chapters may be "Canadian Maritime Provinces, The Civil War South, Time in Florida and The Return Home."

Trying to get organized.

And then there was the eclipse.

What do you do with your mother's wedding dress?
Make pillows! A girlfriend helped me with her sewing
expertise.  I removed the tatting and covered buttons
from the dress and used them to embellish along with lockets,
pins, my sister's tatting, Mother's wedding gloves and
bows the color of  my grandmother's rose dress.
 I  got them finished in time for the trip to present them to family.
 

Ready to pull out after packing  for 3 days!