Road Trip Day 1

We started a little late because our car rental process took ages. We had an appointment to pick up the car at 10am, but when we got there, there was no person working in the booth, but there was another couple who also had an appointment for 10am to rent their car. It ended up being that the girl who was supposed to be there was instead out on the lot washing cars. Not filling them up with windshield washer fluid or anything like that, but at least they were clean. However, out of three factors that contributed to not making it as far this day as I had intended, this one wasn't too terrible.

Once we got going, say, an hour or so into our journey, it became clear (from looking at a map, finally) that we were in fact going the wrong way and had to re-route ourselves to be going the right way. This is the sort of thing you really have to watch out for, I'm afraid, when you rely on me to direct you anyplace. However, once we were on the right track, the adventure was quite nice. We went through orchards, vineyards and small vacation towns on big lakes. In one town, they have a canal running through town, sort of alongside the highway, and it is customary for locals and tourists alike to slam on their swimsuits, hop on a floaty toy and bob along down the river:



We went through the border without hassle, and continued along our way. We stopped at a pharmacy/grocery/everything store to pick up breakfast foods for the next couple days and then set out to drive until our eyelids wouldn't stay open any more. We went through some very beautiful terrain, including one area that had been ravaged some years ago by a forest fire. The trees at one time had all been burnt, and you could see each tree still had charred remains of bark clinging to them. However, they mostly looked like white posts with the undergrowth coming up around their bases:



We got to Spokane around dark, and then it was my turn to drive. After getting all turned around, my boyfriend had to take over again and get us out of that city, before it was my turn again. We cut across Idaho (took about an hour) and then went into Montana, where, disappointingly, I only made it a little over an hour before having to stop and set up camp, which turned out, at least, to be in a very beautiful campground. That turned out to be the only time I sat behind the wheel this entire trip.