We drove up to Spokane uneventfully on Thursday, checked into the LaQuinta hotel, and went over to Rockwood. Mother will be turning 90 this December! She's a little more frail every time we visit but her spirits seem OK. As a conversation starter, we took a family scrapbook she had made for us at the celebration of their 50 anniversary 20 years ago. Then across the street to O'Donnahue's for the obligatory Fish & Chips! Awesome!
Its not practical to stay another day for more visiting. Mother is not up and about until very late in the morning, so it takes an entire travel day.
On Friday we headed east on I-90 through Post Falls and Couer d'Alene. Stopped briefly in Wallace which has had an amazing rebirth. The place is hopping with activity! One of the interesting features of this old mining town is that it sits down in a "hollow". The I-90 engineers couldn't figure out how to get the highway through there, so they built it OVER the downtown! The cantilevered highway provides a great sheltered space for the farmer's market! I have read that this highway stretch through Wallace was the last piece of I-90 to be completed.
Our intent was to turn south in Missoula and head down Rt 93 to Salmon, where'd stop for the day. But looking at the map, we remembered some years ago visiting the National Bison Range. It was worth a return visit. You find it by turning north from St. Regis, MT. We spent three hours there, taking a 20 mile loop road around the top of the 5000' hill, looking for wildlife. A spectacular little ride, but be sure to allow time! We saw bison (400 head reside there), deer and antelope.
From there went on to Missoula and headed south on US93. Missoula seems to have exploded the way Boise has. New stuff everywhere! Due to the time we spent hunting buffalo, we didn't get into Salmon until just after dark. By then it was raining. We had reservations at the Sacagawea Lodge. What a throwback to the 50s! Very clean and well loved by its owners. They even cook breakfast for us!
On Saturday, the skies cleared (off and on!) as we headed down to Challis ( a great ride) and then turned right and went along the Salmon River (very windy) and into Stanley. We stopped at the popular Cafe and Bakery for a snack then went up the hill and checked out the little church. It was very cold and a bit windy, but they were setting up a wedding later that day. Brrrr.!
From Stanley up and over Galeena Summit (8900') and on down to Sun Valley. The resort had undergone a major face lift this summer - its beautiful!! We spent the afternoon not buying some pretty cool cars at the Silver Auction. We got home by about 7:00PM.
A fun three days, lots of miles!
