No love for Idaho

Last night was a nightmare, and it bled into today. End of story: I’m no fan of Idaho or Seattle.

Okay, it wasn’t quite as bad as all that, but after horseback riding at the base of the mountains in Montana, we decided to push on as far as Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where my parents were married, and hoped to make it as far as Spokane, Wash.

We stopped at Coeur d’Alene for coffee after a harrowing trip down a black mountain before moonrise only to find … there was no coffee. Unacceptable. We booted it out of the state and started looking for a place to stay just west of Spokane. Turns out there was a state fair, a conference and – the real heartbreaker – a Tom Petty concert. All the rooms between Spokane and Seattle (that’s about a five-hour drive) were spoken for. Yes, my friends, there was no room at the inn.

I drove until I literally could not make my legs work properly, and then drove a little more before – on seeing a thunderstorm that may or may not have been heading for us in the mountains – crashed out at a rest area for a few hours.

I think we missed some extreme beauty, as we couldn’t see where the hell we were or where we were going. On the upside, we were in Seattle early this morning and able to do a few touristy things, have some coffee and decide we really, really don’t like the place. And the rest was just getting back to Canada.

I’m on the ferry now, watching whales (I’ve seen two) and dealing with children (I’ve dealt with two). Tonight, some relaxation (I hope) with my favourite uncle and tomorrow some serious friending (I hope).