Day 8 - Sunday - On to the Pacific

We decided we need a little slower pace today - didn't get on the road until 8:30.

Our GPS - "Missy" told us to turn right out of the hotel parking lot - Lester thought we should go right, but he listened to Missy. We turn right, then another right, right into a mess of road construction. Missy was trying to make a block so we would have ended up exactly where we would have been if we had turned right. I think Lester changed her name to something I won't

mention! We shut her up for a while.

As we were putting our luggage in the car, we me a man from New Bern, NC. Small world.

We stopped in Bonner's Ferry, Idaho. Beautiful little western town. Browsed around in a couple of interesting shops.

Next stop - Sandpoint, Idaho - home of the infamous Mark

Furman - of O.J. Simpson case fame. Sandpoint seems to be a very exclusive, upscale community on Lake Pend Orielle. Beautiful

town. Did some shopping. They have a wonderful yarn shop in a converted train car. I could have stayed all day.Lester finally found his Elk anters. YES, we loaded them in the SUV. Discussed tying them on the hood or the roof, but decided someone might steal them. I vetoed the hood or roof idea, anyway. Getting a little crowded in the Tiguan!

Coeur d'alene, Idaho - The marina

is one of the most beautiful in the world. Seaplanes taking off and landing on the lake. The most beautiful geraniums I've ever seen. We met a nice couple from Spokane while we were walking on the floating dock. We had a nice lunch there.

Our day was going so well. Until...Seattle! Unbelievable traffic. We

thought Sunday afternoon/evening would be the perfect time to be in Seattle - Wrong! Interstate 5 must be the only road in the city

because everyone seemed to be on it at the same time. What a headache. And of course, it was raining - does it rain all the time in Seattle? We didn't even want to stop to see anything. Just seemed to be another big city. We saw the Space needle - had no desire to fight the traffic to get any closer to it.

We are spending the night in Marysville, Washington. After looking at the map and realizing what a hassle it is to get from Victoria, BC to anywhere in the US, we have mutually agreed that Canada is not worth the effort. We have both been to Canada, so I think we'll mark that off the list. We are going to Whidbey Island tomorrow.

Day 6 - Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Idaho Falls

It is hard to comprehend seeing Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons in one day. It's almost more than we can take in. We spent the morning in Yellowstone, then drove through the Grand Tetons - so very beautiful. Perfect weather - high 60's with blue skies - snow on the mountain tops. Yellowstone has changed a lot since Ken and I were here nine years ago. Lester says it has changed even more since he was here thirty one years ago! The picture is Yellowstone Lake.

We stopped in Jackson Hole for a couple of hours. Beautiful town. I love the town square with the antler arches on each corner. It has a lot of little shops and pricey places - doesn't cost to look. We happened upon a church thrift store and found some really neat things. There is a huge church right in the middle of town.

Our kind of shopping.

After leaving Jackson Hole we

drove on to Idaho Falls where Lester has friends from his army days. I am so excited - we actually got into our room about 4:30! After all those long days, it really feels good to have some down time to relax. Lester went to have dinner with his friends - I chose to just stay here, work on my pictures, read a little and be lazy.

A lady in the Yellowstone Gift Shop asked if I had been in a car accident. She kept saying, "Oh my, I know that hurts so much." She asked a lot of questions about how it happened - I think she was wondering whether or not I might need to be rescued. I assured her it was much better and I was fine.

If more people could see more of our country I think there would be a resurgence of pride and patriotism. There is so much good. We continue to meet such nice people.

We talked to Oldest Brother and his wife last night. They are in Colorado and plan to head home Sunday. Sounds like they're having a great trip.

Tomorrow: on to Glacier National Park - about 450 miles from here. We're looking forward to that since neither of us has been there.