Adventures - Day 5 on the Road

The sun seemed to rise early today in Butte. Did we mention all the different pronunciations we came up with for such a short name? The obvious, “butt”, then there’s the French version, “butt ‘e”, and the ever-popular American version, “booty”. Groan. It just makes the trip more fun…

After a little “hotel continental breakfast”, we were packed up and made our way to the gas station. Mr. Biddle had a very impressive victory getting the Penske in AND out of the gas station despite very tight space. He must’ve been regaining some maneuverability confidence after yesterday’s challenging drive through the mountains. Scott & John were equally impressed!

On the road for about 2 hrs. and decided to stop to fuel up again in Missoula, MT since we would soon be encountering some BIG mountains and passes. The grumbellies were hitting the men, and Subway was close. For those who aren’t “from ‘round these parts,” this “crunchy” little town (think twigs & berries, old hippies and their kids) was interesting! I can’t say that we’ve ever been in a short line at a Subway that took longer than the noon-time rush! As always, we struck up conversation, and found some funny things for later walkie-talkie conversation!

John and (my) Scott were waiting outside, when they were approached by a man looking for some money. When offered a soda, he said, “no man….I need money for beer.” John, very matter-of-factly informed him that they wouldn’t be subsidizing his beer habit. He shook his head and walked on. More conversation giggles….

Alrighty then…we were nearing the western edge of the state and the Rockies. The views were absolutely amazing and stunning! Many of the same type of curving roads were ahead, much like yesterday (Saturday), but something felt different. My Scott & John were riding in the Explorer, so it was Scott Biddle & I in the Penske. Remembering the issue we had with the brakes yesterday, Scott kept the reminders to slow down as much as necessary coming over the walkies.

We just came across the Idaho border! Whoo-hoo! Roads haven’t been too bad. However, as soon as we hit the 6% grade (downward slope) sign, I was tensing up. Before long, we had hot brakes again, which caused the truck not only to rumble in a forward-type motion, as if the rotors and pads weren’t touching the entire time, but skipping, we now were experiencing some side-to-side motion. We’re not talking about shaking or rattling sensations, complete jumping of the trailer & car, as well as the load right behind our seats. It felt like every bolt on the truck was going to come off and the axel would just come right out from under us. Scott B. was white-knuckled on the steering wheel trying to keep the truck (as us!) from certain death over the guard railing. He tried to not depress the brakes too far, as that would make the jumping/shaking/rattling worse. Our entire bodies were being shaken. We knew we had to pull over, but Scott didn’t want to pull over if we weren’t at the bottom of the grade, so we kept going. Signs for a rest area (yeah, right!) were posted, but we never saw it. We must’ve blinked. It was getting really scary now. (For the record, Scott B. didn’t try multi-tasking or taking pictures with his phone on this stretch of road)

Finally, we saw an exit and decided to take it, as it appeared to be a small town. Thankfully, we pulled off and were able to park on the road in the shade under the overpass. The little town was Wallace, Idaho, a mountain town. It was a good thing there was a grocery store (with a restroom!). Gave us all a chance to settle and let the brakes cool off. Strangely, nobody could tell us if we actually hit the bottom of the grade or how close we were to the bottom of the mountain. Maybe they never leave Wallace?

The rest of the trip to Spokane was much more tolerable, the landscape changed yet again. We saw a beautiful lake, which we later realized was C’oure de Lane. (please don’t grade my spelling on this one…I can’t find the atlas!) It was gorgeous and HUGE! Spokane wasn’t far!

We time-warped again and gained another hour as we approached Washington’s state line. The men had strange things happen when we entered a new time zone on the trip. Something about being re-energized and refreshed instantaneously…I don’t have any idea what they’re talking about!

We arrived at our friend (and former student from North Olmsted’s youth group) Evan Bingham’s apartment about 3pm. It was rather hot outside, but we decided to take a short road trip once we unloaded our gear. Evan is a piano tuner, by trade, and he took us to his shop. He works for Dan the Piano Man. Really. (we’re not making this up) Pretty impressive what he can do—transforming an old piano into a playable one, from the ground up! We’re really proud of Evan. He works hard and does a great job!

From there Evan took us to Gonzaga College, where Adam Morrison and John Stockton hailed. And then we headed to get some dinner and to the Riverfront park and Manitou Park (lots of roses and other flower gardens too). All in all, Spokane seems to have some pockets of nice areas. It reminded me of Phoenix, but with mountains.

The evening ended with the guys playing Wii. Evan was kind enough to give up his “bed” (foam on the floor) for Scott & I. John pulled out the inflatable mattress & Scott B had the futon. I think it was a rough night of sleep for everyone.