After much work and frantic packing, we left early on Saturday morning 7/17 7:40am. Traveling with an 8-mo-old was my biggest anxiety about this trip. While not easy, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Sara slept most of the 5 hr trip to Spokane as the green of the Cascades faded into the dry desert of eastern Washington. Wayne and I listened the fascinating short stories of I, Robot. Asimov uses human interest angles to draw you into his exploration of life with robots. Most of the stories are interesting twists on the 3 laws of robotics and commentaries on ethics. I used to listen to Asimov stories on tape while traveling west w/ my parents as we’d drive from Atlanta to Wyoming. It was odd to do it now in reverse.
We gladly stopped in Spokane for a nostalgic lunch. We found Rocky Roccoco’s Pizza Place. This is an old stomping ground of mine from college days in Madison, WI. The pizza is reminescent of Chicago style with square pieces, a sweet tomatoe sauce, and a chewy crust. The cheese and sausage have the right amount of greese. Rocky Roccoco stands in photos all over the restaurant in a white suit, round sunglasses, and white hat looking like a cheesy mofia guy. I spent a lot of afternoons eating pizza at this joint on State Street in Madison.
We walked along the shores on the Spokane River at the Riverfront park in the 85 degree heat.
Sara got to eat her lunch.
Then we rode the carousel from 1909 along with a wedding party. Sara was scared at first, but perked up when one of the carousel operators came over to coo and goo at her.
We drove into Idaho and finally to Montana, stopping at a Super 8 in Missoula at 6:30pm. We were exhausted. We watched some TV, ate P&J sandwiches, and took an evening walk at a local shopping center to get a frappicino, read Sara some bedtime stories at the Barnes&Nobles, and admire a red sunset.
Sunday 7/18
Woke to the smell of sage after an evening thunderstorm. The smell hit my olfactory nerves and brought memories of past trips. While I live about as far west as one can get (apart from Alaska and Hawaii), I will always think of Wyoming and Montana as “the West”. It seems like a wild, untamed place while Seattle seems like the “Northwest”. We were on the road by 8:15 am and stopped for breakfast at a Montana reststop where the railroad spike that joined the east and west railroads was hammered. Sara sat in the grass while we ate apple walnut bread.
We lunched in Bozeman at the Grantree Restaurant having brunch food while a waiter entertained us with tales of his 4 kids and Sara let everyone know she had a voice. We entered Yellowstone and stopped at this reststop by the Madison River. Sara watched elk eating across the river. It was a contrast from the last time I saw this land 3 years ago and covered in snow.
We arrived at Colter Bay campground at 5:45pm, set up camp, and reunited with my parents. We just barely beat the storm. Mom whipped up some ham and cheese wraps while the rain beat down on our dining tent. We slept well.
