Trek Across a Country: Day 6

Originally it was planned that we would stop in Spokane, Washington for our final night on the road. I started the drive from Bozeman, Montana on I-90. My husband drove most of the trip but it was time for him to get a rest. This was hard for me with the speed limit higher that I have ever driven a car (75-80) but I managed to get through this. The car was quite weighed down but I managed to get up three steep mountain passes with it.

So far the western parts of South Dakota, Montana and Idaho are my favorite parts of the road trip.  The mountains and passes reminded me of my precious Vermont. Once we got to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, which looks like Washington State to me and is very near the border, I began to get melancholy, as I knew the trip was ending. Funny thing when you want to stay in a car after driving/sitting almost a week in one. Lake Coeur d' Alene is so beautiful and large. Who says Idaho is just about potatoes? This part of the state is know for its mining.

When we arrived at Spokane before 1:30pm and decided to just keep on towards Seattle area and end this trip in 6 days. Eastern Washington was sometimes flat, sometimes hilly but mostly farmland until you get over a mountain pass in the cascades. Western Washington usually gets all the industry credit but this area is so vast with a tempered (more seasoned climate) that the produce continues to make its way all over America. We finally made it over the Snoqualmie mountain pass.

Also prominent in this area is the wind energy this state is creating. Hundreds of them line the farms and I-90. The picture below is just before the Columbia River which we crossed with ease.

I'd like to say that there is much more to report on but after this we headed straight towards our final destination and ahead of schedule by 1.5 days. I definitely want to do this again. I learned more from this trip about my country of citizenship than in my US history class. I want to do more readings in the weeks to come on the places I have seen and also plan a different route back across this vast country.     

Oddly enough this version of the song America the Beautiful really stuck a cord with me after I heard it on the internet a few years ago. The emotion sums up for me the depth this trip provided and I wanted to end this blog series with it. Thanks for being apart of this experience with me and my husband. Until the next adventure!
-a-