Last night I had remarked that I hoped we would run into fewer wrinkles…well we did, sort of. After my shower this morning I turned on the Weather Channel just in time to see that there was a freak snowfall in Bozeman last night. Then, as I was checking out, I heard that the I-90 had been closed around 1PM yesterday near the WA-ID border due to a chemical spill and was not expected to reopen until noon today. As the desk clerk was explaining how I should detour around it, another guest came by and told us that they had ‘just’ reopened it. That was awesome news as the detour would have added at least an hour, if not more, to our day’s drive. With that we were off towards Coeur d’Alene and a late breakfast at Jimmy’s Down the Street.
I ordered the same thing as I did last year which was the Chicken Fried Steak Skillet and Mum got a poached egg with bacon and hash browns. Although the food was superb, the service was lacking a bit compared to last year – they were quite friendly, but we had to wait a while for a coffee refill and also to pay our bill. I did, however, get to leave a license plate for them that they are going to put on the wall near their picture of Guy Fieri (I feel privileged). We left Coeur d’Alene around eleven, quite a bit later than planned, and continued on eastward to Montana.
Since today was a driving day, we didn’t make very many stops. We stopped in Wallace, ID (Silver Capital of the World) for a pitstop and also Missoula for a quick lunch of leftovers in McCormick Park on the banks of the Clark Fork of the Missoula River. While there we saw a Northern Flicker and a huge osprey nest. (I forgot to mention yesterday that we saw a Magpie and also some White-tailed Deer).
After lunch we continued on our way, watching the ever-changing scenery. In Butte we noticed a huge white statue on the top of a hill; our nightly research informed us that it was “Our Lady of the Rockies” and it was set atop the Continental Divide. We also passed through the headlands of the Missouri River (the longest river in North America), and not far from there, Mum espied a couple of young female Rocky Mountain Elk grazing near the Interstate.
We finally reached Bozeman around seven o’clock MDT, and not long after checking in, headed to dinner. As planned, we went to the Copper Whiskey Bar & Grille. We both ordered the Irish-style Potato Soup to start and I had Steak Frites (rare) and Mum had the Avocado Caprese Salad. That was the best steak I’ve had in years (probably since Mum and I stopped in Moose Jaw on our Cross-Canada trip in 2010), and I look forward to having the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
I think that pretty much covers our day, though if I forgot to mention something, I can blame my fatigue – that was a long drive today.
I’m leaving you with some pictures from Jimmy’s, and a couple from our stop in Wallace (I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to take many today).
Talk to you soon.
L
