Funtimes

The first day out was uneventful.  We cruised to Lewiston, Idaho and had a wonderful dinner with our cousins so many removed I have lost count.  We caught up on families and things we are doing.  Had a decent night sleep for the first night out.  We are using Comfort Inns for our first few stops and so far we are pleased with the accommodations.  We left Lewiston this morning en route to Butte, Montana via Missoula, Montana.

For the most part, Idaho seems to have a decent highway system, until you travel 12E.  This highway rises over five thousand feet to Lolo Pass just before you enter Montana and the road bed is one of the worst we have encountered in our travels.  It winds up the mountain, and I mean winds.  In fact, Honey, sitting in the backseat managed to leave the contents of her stomach over a good portion of the backseat.  As a caveat, I will add that this road and the many potholes it has, is probably closed for the whole winter most years.  The road bed doesn't do well under extreme conditions.  The views of the river were spectacular and the snow and icicles were pretty at Lolo pass.

We ran into a couple from Wasilla, Alaska who, according to their business card, "Alaska=Spring & Summer, Montana=Fall & Winter".  They were heading the opposite direction as us but they had a house on wheels that was like nothing I had seen before.  I guess I kind of imposed on them when I walked over to ask about it.

They gladly showed it to us and I wish I had a picture of this thing in the open position.  If you go online to Alto by Safari Condo, you can see the great little trailer.  The one-piece roof panel rises up from the rear to give headroom plenty tall enough for me.  Super light, but built in Canada with a year and a half wait to get one.  It runs in the neighborhood of  35-40K US.

We drove on to Butte and have another super long drive tomorrow as we make our way to Dickinson, North Dakota.

Hope all is well.