July 29 - Spokane, WA to Helena, MT

Our day started out bad and got steadily worse. First, Ron had to pay for breakfast, which he doesn't like doing. Next, he took my toothpaste to work with him. Anyone who knows me knows I brush my teeth at least three times before lunch, so this was quite a hardship. Next, after Ron finished at the Spokane Reserve Center, we headed to a store called the Scrapbook Superstore located in a nearby mall. Ron settled into a Barnes and Noble with an iced coffee and a warm rice krispie bar, sure he'd be waiting awhile. Well, the Scrapbook Superstore changed its name to Scrapbook Paradise, and it certainly didn't live up to its name. It was a tiny store in the mall with old products. I probably shouldn't admit it, but I have more items in my loft. So, we left the mall before Ron even finished the rice krispie bar and headed to get lunch, which was awful. About this time, we decided that Spokane was not getting high marks in our book. We headed out of town making it almost to the city limits before getting a speeding ticket from a motorcycle cop, wielding a radar gun, parked by the side of the road. We were not going any faster than the traffic around us (which was quite heavy). Spokane went to the bottom of our list of cities we'll visit again. Thank goodness, the panhandle of Idaho (and a much better rest of the day) was just around the corner and around the corner and around the corner..... The sign pictured was very accurate. We went around more corners than I care to remember! The scenery was gorgeous, though. The lake pictured is Lake Coeur d'Alene in Idaho. When we entered Montana, the mountains and curves continued. I drove for 2 hours and it was a bit nerve wracking! The little red trailer shown was parked at one of the rest stops in Montana. It was being run by former Marines. Their sign said they had free coffee, tea, lemonade, cookies, and stories. Nearly all of the rest stops that we stopped in have had something similar, sometimes run by churches or other groups. As we were leaving, the wind started blowing very strongly, and it started to rain. Luckily for us, we were getting off the interstate right around this point and getting onto a smaller road. We made it to Helena (see the picture of the Capitol Building) around 7 pm. We did a quick Target run and ate at Applebees. Now, we're in for the evening. Thank goodness our terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day only lasted for about the first hour of our drive!