Not Looking For Snow

Well, it’s been a whirl wind week in Spokane, with multiple visits to almost every thrift store in eastern Washington. I only went into two. The first one smelled like scented detergent. If that wasn't bad enough  to me its depressing to see all these discarded items, that since they were made for the land fill, they should just be taken there.

The second shop was more of a antique mall. It didn’t smell bad, and had some interesting items, that for the most part were valued at more than I would pay for them.

Reeking Of Scented Detergent & Green Tags Are Only A Dime

I did venture into two outdoor outfitter stores. The first one had my order of the espresso maker I had arranged pick up there, and the other had a replacement for my small  cast iron skillet that was swiped.  The second outfitter always  has a cool fish tank. This one had  captive Sturgeon.

Columbia River White  Sturgeon

Columbia River White Sturgeon are quite prehistoric looking, and fossil evidence dates them to some  200 million years ago. Kinda makes you wonder what was on this hill were the outfitter store is 200 million years ago. I know there were not any republicans on this hill then, as most of them believe the planet to be only 6000 years old.  

We dropped of my traveling compadre at GEG and she was shoveling snow off the driveway around 3.

I got dropped off at the van with a name. The van was ready to go. It had a full tank of fuel and 6 new tires that are a lot quieter than the others. It cost more than a few $$ to get 6 new tires at Les Schwab, and that’s okay, except their tire machine marked my shiny chrome wheels.

Thanks Les I Really Needed My Chrome Wheels To Rust Bastards 

I called them and expressed my displeasure at them marking my wheels and explained that having recently only purchased tires at motor company outpost, for about the same price for 2 as for 6, that if a outpost would have marked your wheels, they would have offered replacement. Les was not interested in any of that and apologized and said they were really sorry,  would check their tire machine, and emoted crocodile tears just for me!

My plan was to go to Lolo Hot springs in Montana, so after stocking up on provisions I headed east on I 90. I have traveled this stretch of the interstate several times, so I knew what to expect. After Coeur d Alene traffic  should drop off, and it did.

I spotted smoke off in the fields twice, but attributed it to Idaho witch burning, that as this state slides further backwards, they might become televised. Stay Tuned!

Burning Them Witches

I had two mountain passes to get over. The first one 3428 feet 4^th of July Pass had some snow along the road, and some fog coming off the stream, but I kept the hammer down at 60mph on a 70-mph road.

The second pass 4711ft Lookout Pass had a lot more snow, and even had a fairly busy Ski area, where people that enjoy snow were having their best day ever.

I Wasn't Looking But I Found Some Snow

There was even a group of well-equipped snow machines that were heading out for the day to ride the numerous trails/unplowed roads here.

I rocketed off the mountain at 60 miles per hour, and even had to pass a couple of trucks that were traveling at  45 mph because of the steep grade &  Diesel Smoke & Dangerous Curves

I pulled into 50,000 Silvers gas stop, casino, restaurant RV park, because I always like to stop here.

Can This Sign Be Seen From Space?

And petrol was only $3.47 a gallon.

I lost track of how many times I crossed the Clark Fork, that is named for William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Core of Discovery mission. Bill didn’t have a cool name like his pal Meriweather, but the river named for him is spectacular. There were even rafters and fisher people on the water.

The van was indicating 54 degrees outside, and the sun streaming in the window sure felt nice. It felt so nice that it deadened my sense of direction, so when the google GPS said turn off on some obscure road I did. And when the pavement ended, I thought my old two wheel traveling pal would love this hard packed dirt. I only went a wee ways and the road surface was getting wet, and this  white van don’t look good in mud so I turned back. 

It was getting time to be settled in so  I decided to  abort the mission to Lolo and instead settled on a KOA in Missoula. I really need to sort everything out in in the van here. I’m not sure where my tooth brush is. Lolo tomorrow.