Northwest Adventure Days 13 & 14

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Packers

We did not post yesterday as there really wasn't much to post. We wanted to watch the Packer game and needed a down day anyway. So, we stayed a second night in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. It is just outside of Spokane, Washington. A local helped us with the town's pronunciation (think of apple core, then duh, then lean - altogether core dah lean).

We found Paddy's with help from the hotel staff where every football game is guaranteed to be on one of their TVs. Upon arrival, we found the local packer contingent donned with Packer shirts and caps. They welcomed us and we all hollered, laughed, and cried throughout the game. Beers, food, and company were awesome. Unfortunately, the Packers lost so it wasn't quite as big a party as it might have been had they won.

The rest of the day we simply enjoyed not driving or having to get anywhere. A quiet afternoon nap was the highlight except for one event at dinner. Poor Jerry - he was asked if he wanted the senior or regular portion for the meal he was ordering. Oh my! He's just not used to being asked about being a senior so he gave the waitress some fun grief about it; then wallowed in his coffee afterward 😊.

Monday's Glorious Ride

We headed out of Coeur d'Alene, headed for a partial tour of Hells Canyon late afternoon and finishing Hells Canyon tour Tuesday. What we didn't anticipate was that the scenic route we had selected would go through a variety of landscapes including Rattlesnake Pass - the name alone should have warned us.

The first part of the venture was fine except for the four lane highway on which the speed limit was only 60mph. It seemed ridiculous. Other roads, less developed, were 70mph and there we sat at 60...well, maybe a little faster 😊. We saw many a grazing cattle and horses. The horses are just awesome - they seem stronger and prouder out here though admittedly, it might be the surroundings or gigantic grazing areas that just make it look so. There's many signs along the way warning of open range areas and to watch for cattle on the road. It makes for a different kind of driving concern. Interestingly, we've seen much less roadkill along these roads than at home. We aren't sure if it's drivers being more careful because of warning signs or if the animals themselves just know.

We are amazed as we drive along, how hard the semi-trucks work to get up the steep inclines. Then, how impatient they get with drivers on the down side when they seemingly just want to ride the grade down and cars slow them down. And then of course, there's the truck runs for trucks out of control to swerve on to that take quickly up a hill to stop them. We're not sure how they work and don't want to be around if a truck ever uses one! We are also in awe, or perhaps dumb-struck, when we see the long motor-homes towing cars and in some cases, towing SUVs. Are they nuts? And then there's the tour buses. Oh my gosh - heaven knows most of those drivers probably drive these roads over and over but really, there's hardly room on some of these roads for two cars across, and here they come with tour buses. We aren't sure how they make some of the turns safely. Fortunately, we haven't had any going our way. We've only seen them coming from the other direction.

We had skipped breakfast, deciding to find something in Lewiston before turning off on our scenic by-road. The landscape was quite hilly with expressway like signs that didn't quite seem to have the direction we needed (of course it was the signs you know). Eventually, we found the highway we were looking for (129) but we were already on the other side of Lewiston. We back tracked a bit, going through a part of what we think was Lewiston but sincerely, we aren't sure. We spotted a Waffle house kind of place (but not Waffle House) that boasted the best waffles in the country. We decided to try it - we like doing the local restaurant places whenever possible. The inside looked like a diner from years back. Looks can be deceiving. They did have the best waffles we had devoured in a long, long time. They were served hot, very light, almost melt in your mouth type of thing. Of course, what must have been a home-made maple syrup topped it off very nicely. It was awesome. Are you hungry for waffles now?

We continued our venture on the scenic road less travelled. A rather simple 90 scenic miles we thought. Well, it wasn't that simple and became evident why it is the road less travelled. We should have known, with a name like Rattlesnake Pass, it worked its way through just like a rattlesnake. I guess we just didn't take the time to think about that. After all, the road on the map sure looked harmless enough. The pictures help but it is difficult to help anyone understand the depth of what we drove by pictures alone. Jerry did an awesome job driving into, through, and out of the pass. Remember the "simple" 90 miles? Well, that 90 miles took us a good 3+ hours. Absolutely amazing!! We don't regret it at all but would certainly not recommend it for anyone who suffers even minimally with car sickness. You'd never make it and there aren't enough safe pullovers to even give a person a shot at making it if they were ill. Luckily, neither of us suffer from car sickness so other than the unbelievable amount of time to make all the turns and get safely through, we were just fine!

We also found the tiny town of Warpath which isn't even on a map that we had. Another one of those don't blink or you'll miss it. Yet, it had a huge store filled with what we believe were authentic, Indian made items. We got through with a couple of tourist T-shirts and a picture. Had it not been the end of season and more of the standard sizes would have been available, we would have spent more. They also ahd a tobacco shop with huge savings. I know, for those of you hoping for us to quit one day, you aren't impressed. Knowing that isn't in the plan right now, we stocked up for a great savings. Oh well.

We finally arrived at Enterprise, Oregon. We secured a room at a quaint hotel and decided not to venture on the side drive we had planned. We were tired and getting back into higher altitudes took a toll. It was best to hunker down and get out of the car. We met some very nice people at a local laundromat that made the task much more fun. Thank heaven it will be the last wash needed before getting home sometime next week.

Where's the potatoes?

All in all, we've spent just over two days driving in Idaho and we have yet to see anything that would look like Idaho potato country. So, at this point, we aren't sure where all those Idaho potatoes come from that we get in grocery stores back home. Perhaps when we get to Southern Idaho, we'll see some. In the meantime, there's been miles and miles of wheat fields, rolling over hills. Beautiful but does get a bit monotonous. Once our ears started popping again, we were headed to higher altitudes and thoughts of potatoes dissipated and the wheat fields disappeared, replaced with forests and then desert like conditions. It got much warmer than we expected, even with shorts and t-shirts on.

Jerry cooked

After two weeks of restaurant food and being tired enough not to want to go out to dinner, Jerry decided to cook since we had a microwave in the room. Amazing how even Steuffers macaroni and cheese can taste like a delicacy when it fits the need. It was perfect!!

Another day done, a good night's sleep at the Ponderosa was just what any doctor would have ordered.

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Photos

Paddy's
Every game on at any given time

Paddy's
Place to be for football per the Locals

Up, up, and away
Ears start popping again

Interesting Sign
Most places show when u-turns cannot be made. This area marked when u-turns were ok!

Where are the potatoes?
Still haven't seen Idaho potatoe patches but these hills filled with wheat

Jerry made me take it
Another road side saloon

Four land highway...
...60 mph. Unreal!

Comments

[Vickie Hart]

Awesome!
Another awesome entry. Thanks for taking us along on the ride! Love, Bryan and Vickie