Price of gas: $3.78
Ennis, MT to Lewiston, ID
REI stores visited: 7 (Missoula)
The morning began with light climbing up over the mountains and realizing I was cold. Once that happens – it was 6 a.m. – it’s unlikely I’m going back to sleep. I eventually got up and hit the nearest café for breakfast. The hotel I was in last night, charming as it was, is perhaps the only one that hasn’t had a continental breakfast. Ah well. The café had Indian fry bread as an option, so I happily went for that.
By 11:30 I was in Missoula and stopped at the REI. That’s possibly the ugliest REI storefront I’ve ever seen. Hmm. I just perused, didn’t shop, didn’t talk to anyone. I could have made an introduction, but decided against it.
Then I went to Montana Tea & Spice! I met the owner, who remembered her days of sending tea to Prague for her friend who ran The Derby pub. That’s where I was introduced to the teas. I happily wandered around – got some tea and spice, both. Oh, and vanilla! They have great vanilla! Two years ago, after Mark visited me, he headed for Glacier. He didn’t tell me he was stopping in Missoula, or I’d have asked him to get me some vanilla. They won’t ship it because the bottles explode. However, he did stop in Missoula, and he did get me some vanilla. I mentioned this to the lady today – who’s been working there at least as long as I’ve been ordering – and she said she remembered him. Now that’s funny.
About this point I’d been consulting the map, thinking noon was just a bit too soon for me to stop for the day. I’ve been trying to figure out going to Walla Walla and hitting some wineries and seeing one of my youths from last year. I noticed Hwy 12 cuts off from Missoula and heads for Lewiston, ID, which puts about 100 miles from Walla Walla. Okay! I also notice it really doesn’t look like there’s much along the way. Well, I’m used to that too.
Wow. Highway 12 is glorious. From just about the Idaho border for another 120 or so miles (150? I’ve lost count), you drive along a river with evergreens as far as the eye can see. It has a certain monotony, but a really good one. I don’t know about the hiking – it would seem to be straight up either side – but I’ll bet the fly fishing is great. There were a lot of anglers out in the water today.
It was moderate as long as I was in the forest – and almost entirely downhill from Missoula – but once you enter the Lewiston area, the temps shot up into the 90s. Oh, the Palouse. Yuck. It’s supposed to break within a couple of days, but in the meantime, it’s dry and hot outside.
I hit a hotel here, and for a normal price I wound up getting a room with an upstairs and three beds in it. Hmm. Never had a room with a staircase in it before. Hmmm… could be fun!
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