Monday 12th June – Whitefish to Post Falls

Up as usual and mostly packed before going down to breakfast. Spent longer than normal at breakfast as we asked the other English couple to join us and we spent a long time talking. Still got away before 10 after meeting our Canadian couple in the lift for the (about 5th) time.

It was going to be a long drive - about 4½ hours actual driving time. From Whitefish we went back to Kalispell then west along the US-2 towards Bonners Ferry. Les managed to phone Niamh and ask about her foot etc and with a couple of interruptions for loss of signal also managed to talk to Linda. We stopped at the first of the Thompson Chain of Lakes - Lake McGregor. After that we continued all the way along to Kootenai Falls. This is a brilliant scenic drive with steeply wooded hills. The road is extremely good and you make rapid progress without having to go fast. Also there was very little traffic. We did try stopping at the famous Happy’s Roadhouse Inn but that and the other cafe both appeared to be closed so we carried on to Libby. At Libby we filled the car and bought coffee and mini muffins.

We spent quite a long time at Kootenai Falls. Kootenai as a name is confusing - the river is shown on maps as Kootenay but the falls are Kootenai. The Falls themselves are really spectacular and the river is much bigger than those we’ve seen so far. From the falls we walked to the famous swinging bridge where Les went across and back. We were really lucky here because there are only five people allowed on the bridge at any one time and there were four people there when we arrived. After Les had been across and back there seemed to be dozens of people arriving as we walked back to the car park. This isn’t a long  walk but the ground is very rocky so it’s quite strenuous. Also you have to cross the railway on a footbridge which is quite high on one side and has open slatted steps which Anne didn’t like very much.

We’d planned to grab something from the catering shack at the car park but in the event he had absolutely nothing veggie so we carried on along the road to Troy. At first we couldn’t find anywhere but in the end we found a small cafe/diner where we had a late but very nice lunch. Anne had a breakfast of fried eggs and hash browns and Les had a grilled salmon fillet in what was alleged to be a panini but seemed to be just a burger bun. In any event the salmon was delicious. Les finally managed to get hold of Joyce on the phone and we both had a conversation with her.

Between Troy and Bonners Ferry we crossed from Montana into Idaho and back onto Pacific Standard Time. We also noticed that the roads in Idaho seem much worse than those in Montana.

Carried on again all the way to Bonners Ferry stopping at Moyie to look at the dam and the very high road bridge from an overlook. From here we descended down quite rapidly into Bonners Ferry itself where we went into the Visitor Centre. This is a really pleasant small town. From here the US-2 joins with the US-95 and goes south to Sandpoint. We drove into Sandpoint as it had apparently been voted the prettiest town in the US a few years ago. At first it didn’t seem to be particularly different to many other towns although it was quite well kept. However when we tried to get back to the US-95 we were thwarted by some roadworks and ended up driving down some small residential roads to the lake front. The lake itself was large and pleasant but we realised that the residential areas really are pretty with all the streets being lined with mature trees and all the houses very neat. This probably explains how it won the vote.

The US-95 from Sandpoint down to the I-90 was less scenic and busier. In fact as we got to Hayden and Coeur d’Alene it became very busy in the evening rush hour. We made our way into Post Falls and found the Sleep Inn. We had to have a [UK] first floor room as the place is absolutely full. There must be at least 30 people from BSNF - the railway company - staying here. We drove a few minutes to the local Walmart and picked up some bits for dinner in our room. Les borrowed a spare chair from the receptionist which was simple enough but it took a long time as she is fascinated by English/British accents and spent a long time talking with Les about that and about the Beatles.

The weather was again hot, starting at 60 and got up to 82F at one point.

Tuesday 13th June – Post Falls to Walla Walla

Up early and away by 9.15am. Straight onto the I-90 going west. Very busy all the way through to Spokane despite being 4 lanes most of the way. Got much quieter immediately we turned off south onto the US-195. Very different countryside. Rolling hills but unusually lots of these are cultivated. This made us realise that we hadn’t seen any irrigation in the area. Stopped at Rosalia for coffee and to see the famous gas station. As with many similar small towns it seems to be in decline. Instead of going back onto the US-195 we took the WA-271 as suggested in a leaflet we’d picked up. This took us down to Steptoe Butte State Park. We drove all the way to the top of the butte. A bit of a scary drive. When we got to the top the views were fine but the wind was so strong that it was difficult to keep cameras still for photographs.

Came down again and back on the US-195 as far as Colfax. We had a sandwich lunch in a coffee shop and then visited the two tourist sights of the town - the Perkins House and the Codger Pole. The eponymous Perkins House was built by the man who effectively founded Colfax (naming it after the Vice-President, presumably hoping for favours in return.) He founded a sawmill, a brickyard and a bank. The house was competed in 1886 and stayed in the family for 3 generations. It’s furnished in period furniture although not much is actually original to the house but it does give a good idea of how a leading citizen of the time would’ve lived. We spent a long time talking to a lady who rents a tiny space as her office but also acts as a custodian. Interestingly her husband was originally from Essex and she’d been to the UK. She told us about the local agriculture - they don’t need irrigation and grow mainly wheat, barley and more recently chickpeas used for making hummus.

After the house we went to the Codger Pole. The story is that in 1938 the local (American) football team lost a match with the neighbouring town. Fifty years later most of the two sides got together again for a rematch (playing a non-contact version, and presumably a walking one as well) and this time they won. This made the national news. A local celebrity (someone who’d made good in Hollywood apparently) paid for the construction of a huge totem pole made up of 5 separate tree trunks on which are carved the names and faces of all those who took part in the game. The game was given the name of the Codger Bowl and hence the pole became the Codger Pole.

From Colfax we continued virtually without stop down the WA-26, WA-127 and US-12 to Walla Walla, arriving relatively early for us at 4.30pm. Hardly any cyclists today. We’d seen our first snow-capped mountains of the day as we approached the town. The motel was described as basic but the room is large and well equipped and has everything we need. The owner was really helpful in telling us about the layout of the town and the interesting places and especially helpful about how to avoid the current roadworks. Having unpacked we drove down to the town centre, parked and walked around for a while. As we’d been told, most of the restaurants in the centre are offshoots of the local wineries but we did find one that looked nice.

Leaving the centre we drove onto Safeway to pick up food for breakfast tomorrow. Back to our room and downloaded photos and wrote up diary. We decided to eat in our room again, rather than go back into town.

As Les had technically reached his birthday (going by UK time) he opened his cards as we sat in bed.