Oregon Trail - Day Four

Oregon Trail - Day Four
August 31, 2009
States: MT, ID, WA, OR

We are in the home stretch of driving. Today we covered about 600 miles of road. Our day started in Bozeman, MT. We had a very nice stay at the Wingate. Options are extremely limited and we were pleasantly surprised about nice this hotel was. After breakfast we made a little stop at Target for some magazines that I could read outloud. We have had a lot of music and needed a change. In toto- I spend $44 on magazines, from the trashy to the classy. It was pure enjoyment. We also picked up this lovely magazine called Sunset. It is a magazine about how to live in the west. It is really beautiful.

This leg of the trip was beautiful with changing landscapes, but also one of the toughest in terms of changing terrain. We went up and down huge huge hills and mountains.

The lush green mountains and hills, the vast farmland, rows and rows of trees - all stunning. For a long part of the drive, we drove next to a beautiful river/creek. It was straight out of A River Runs Through It.

Our big sightseeing stop today was Coeur d' Alene, Idaho. It was amazing. This crystal blue lake, rows of boats, the towering mountains in the background - we just took it all in. We walked around, visited a few cutie shops. Papillion Stationary was my favorite store there. We ended the little diversion with Idaho potato french fries and homemade ice cream.
The sign to the harbor:

The main street with shoppes and cafes:

The prettiest picture ever:


Our final leg of the day's drive was supposed to conclude in Pasco, WA. Upon arrival, we decided to keep on driving. There wasn't really anything there. Pasco was picked because on the map, it was the largest word, which usually means a larger city. As we kept driving, we noticed a complete lack of dinner options and we were getting really hungry. As a whim, we exited at Boardman and decided to give the River Lodge and Grill a try. It was really that or a pizza shack (eh). We were so completely surprised by how cute and nice this lodge was. We went into the dining room for dinner and sat by a big window overlooking the Columbia River. Our dinner was such a pleasant treat, we decided to stay the night here. I will have pictures of the lodge and lovely river setting tomorrow.

Ciao!