This morning we had coffee and orange juice at the hotel while we waited for morning rush hour to end, then we headed the 30 minutes or so east to Coeur d’Alene for breakfast. For the third year in a row, we had breakfast at Jimmy’s Down the Street; and for the third year in a row I had the Chicken Fried Steak Skillet. This year, Mum had a smaller breakfast of poached eggs and a biscuit. The food, as always, was phenomenal and we were lucky enough to get not only “our” booth but also, “our” parking spot right out front of the restaurant.
After breakfast, we gassed up the car and headed south on US-95. Although it was mainly overcast, it was a beautiful drive through the forests and rolling hills west of the Bitterroot Mountains. We passed through Moscow, which is your typical western rancher town and then stopped at the top of Lewiston Hill above where the Clearwater and Snake Rivers meet.
It is hard to tell from the picture on the left, but, there is a road, called Old Spiral Highway, that is a series of sharp curves that weave back and forth for ten miles down the 2,000 ft hill. We stayed on US-95, but may consider taking that route if we are ever in the area again. You can also see some of the haze in the distance caused by the Clearwater Complex and other fires burning in the Nez Percé Reservation and surrounding National Forests. Thankfully, recent rains have helped firefighters and they are getting the fires contained.
We continued on to Grangeville, arriving just after 4, and checked into our motel. When we arrived the hotel parking lot was completely empty and we were able to park right outside of our room. After a brief rest, we went out and walked around downtown, stopping in the quilt store and department store, where both Mum and I found something.
When we got back to the motel, we noticed a few more vehicles in the parking lot, and as we were eating our dinner of leftovers, noticed more and more vehicles were arriving at the motel. When I went outside to grab something from the car I could smell smoke…that is when I realized that the firefighters that are fighting the nearby fires were staying at our motel and the smell was coming off their vehicles. (The giant yellow fire truck from out of state that was parked next to the hotel on the street was also a dead giveaway).
That is all for today. Tomorrow, due to the firefighters being at the hotel, will probably be an early day so I will bid you all good night and catch up with you again from Boise.
Thank you for reading and I will talk to you soon.
L
