Tonelli's Travels

We left Montana behind and headed through Idaho, a new state for me. We only saw a tiny portion of it, driving straight across the pan-handle on Route 2. The scenic drive took us up and through the mountains, providing lovely views around each bend. 

We arrived at our campsites at Yaak River Campground, a lovely wooded refuge right off the highway. All felt peaceful until my parents realized they had battery problems. Ugh! The house batteries for their RV were very low on charge despite the drive and solar panels, which should have been recharging them. Something was up. They would be fine for the night, but we’d need to get to a mechanic the next day. 

I tried to stay present and enjoy the night. I wandered through the forest to the river and discovered an elaborate fort built by some visitors. I read my book, journaled, and fell asleep easily. 

The next day we set out for Sandpoint, ID, both to explore and to get some help for the “land yacht.” My parents visited not one, not two or three, but four mechanic shops in an effort to diagnose and resolve their problem. Several shops were kind but couldn’t help. One gave my dad a free windshield wiper for me because he felt badly. (Mine had snapped off a few days prior. ) Another tested the batteries and confirmed they were fine. The last one was able to identify the problem and had the resources to fix it. Thank goodness! While they worked on the rig, my mom and I explored downtown. 

Sandpoint is a cute town on a big lake. We found a great cafe, City Beach, and enjoyed a delicious lunch of local ingredients. My favorite part was the orange creamsicle smoothie. Yum! We found a lovely gift shop with the most adorable items. I even found creemee pins that I just had to buy! The owner didn’t know what a creemee was – soft serve? – so I got to share some knowledge with her.  She’s now ready to come visit Vermont! As we left the shop my mom received the call that the RV was ready. Yes! So off we went to rejoin my dad. 

A tire blowout on the highway, awning malfunction, water tank taste issues, and a solenoid failure all fixed, I think my parents are done with issues. They say things come in threes, so that’s their fourth and we are done, right? I sure hope so! That afternoon we drove a few more hours to an RV resort to rest for the night. 

The following day we toured around Coeur d’Alene, a city on the largest lake in Idaho. Beautiful parks stretched along the waterfront, giving visitors and residents plenty of space to recreate. We decided to climb Tubb’s Hill to enjoy beautiful views of the lake and city. The area was much drier than anything we’d experienced so far, but still full of life. 

After we descended the hill, we wandered around downtown, poking in and out of shops. Lots of people were out and about, which was nice to see. Soon enough it was time for us to continue to mosey down the road, so we ate lunch and headed out. More miles to go!

That afternoon we crossed into Washington, yet another new state for me. I was surprised at how flat eastern Washington is, and how dry. Acres of wheat field stretched in every direction, bordered by rolling hills of scrub brush and sage. And black rock. Black rock crushed on the sides of the roads and giant boulders plopped in the middle of fields. An interesting terrain for sure. 

And then we came to the Great Coulee Dam and all of the sudden there was green everywhere! Up ahead I saw rows of dark green rising and falling with the terrain. What was it? It seemed too tall to be soybeans, too bushy to be corn. And then we got closer and I realized they were trees! Trees meticulously planted in row after row after row. Trees with intricate watering systems wired above them, sprinkling down. And then we passed crates stacked at least 20 feet tall and I learned they were apple trees! Acres and acres and acres of apple trees. Orchards bigger than I had ever seen before. Remarkable. There must be a tremendous workforce to pick all those apples.

Washington continued to surprise me as we entered the mountains and climbed to our campsite. That night we parked at Loup Loup Canpground and were the only ones there. We had the entire space to ourselves. What a treat! It was quiet, peaceful, exciting. After dinner we wandered around and ventured down the forest road. At the end we stumbled upon Loup Loup Ski Mountain, a small national forest resort tucked in woods. One chairlift and two rope tows serviced several lifts, some pretty steep. It’s always strange to be at a ski mountain in the summer but also pretty cool to find this hidden gem all calm and empty. 

Giddy from our discovery, we meandered back to the campground, admiring wildflowers on the way. We climbed over the cattle fence and skipped back. A lovely night. 

The next morning we awoke to find two more campers had arrived during the night! One pair was even sleeping in their sleeping bags on the picnic table. That was a first for me! We let them rest peacefully and headed down the road for North Cascades National Park!