After leaving Yellowstone National Park into Montana, we still followed some very pretty country until we found our way to a town (or city) called Missoula. This was our “sliding doors” part of our journey. Do we head north to the Glacier National Park, or do we head West toward Washington?
As you can see, heading West won out, not for any other reason that we were conscious of how much time we have left, and as the weather had been quite cold with forecast of more rain and possible snow, we decided that heading in a westerly direction will take us to the coast and warmer weather. The Glacier National Park would have been awesome as we had heard such wonderful reports about it. But that may have to be for another time……..
We drove through Montana, into the northern part of Idaho, where we experienced some amazing scenery as well. We were so high up at one point that the clouds were lower than we were! It rained a fair bit as we travelled, but eventually we arrived in Spokane in Washington, wlere we camped for the night. We had some lovey family time whilst sitting outside eating tea and telling stories.
We headed off again the next morning, shopped along the way, then made camp at Ellensburg (not far from Seattle). It was a nice KOA campsite, with some beautiful RV’s parked there. One lady, called Carol, who was parked near us, let us have a look inside her RV. This one was pretty flash indeed, and had three huge slideouts. When you walked inside, it was like being inside a house. Boy, this RV would have fitted all of our family very well indeed. Asked her if she wanted to swap, but for some reason, she declined. Her gorgeous dog, Shaltz, kept our kids entertained, as did the Games room, which had a table tennis table and air hockey game.
The next day we arrived in Seattle, Washington. It is a very pretty city and we decided to go to the city centre in the morning, so we booked into a campground first. Kaitlin would be meeting her friend Tiara, who she met in Australia, and going to school with her for a few days. So, off to the shops we went (to find suitable attire). Apparently, it was the Supermall of the Great North West. We split up (can you imagine Trevor wanting to go clothes shopping with Kaitlin!?). We shopped for clothes, whilst the others had fun looking in Halloween stores and going in a fun centre.
After dinner, we returned to our campsite and had a enlightening chat with a lovely guy called Randall Lee. He had travelled a fair bit in the US and was a “Master Carpenter” by trade. People like him are very rare, so he was very interesting to talk to, and gave us a lot of advice about which places would be good to see as we make our way down the West coast of Amercia and then across the country back to Pennsylvania. I asked if he had been to Australia, and he said, “It’s on my bucket list!” I hope you get to cross that one off your list Randall.
We left the next morning and headed into Seattle. There is so much to see and do here, but we had to choose, so off to the famous Pike Markets we went. They call this the Soul of Seattle, and I can see why. There were many interesting characters and a myriad of local art/craft shops, book stores, gift stores and of course, food markets.
The Fish markets were an interesting place to be because it seemed to be the hub of all the activity. Cheery, vocal Fish mongers would yell out when somebody purchased soem seafood, then throw it from one fish monger to another, until it landed in the customers hands. As we wandered past, one of the guys eyes lit up and he yelled, “Are you Morman?” I laughed and said “No”. “Are you Catholic?” “Yes, but that’s not why we have so many children!” “Do you have your own TV show yet?” He asked. “We’re Australian, not American” I answered. He laughed. Everyone around us was enjoying the banter….and that’s really what this place was about, a hive of activity with people interacting, having fun and clearly enjoying the atmosphere.
We found a place to eat some lunch, then headed out as we had a time limit on our parking.
From Seattle, we headed South, towards a little town called Kelso, where Kaitlin’s friend awaited……
Hello Howitt Family!
Kaitiln must be so excited to reunite with her friend. Boy you guys had a hard choice. Missing the park… Friends… never enough time. Glad that friends won out. It has been cold here only in the 40’s all day. The fire that was blazing up north when you were here is now 91% under control. They are worried about the winds the next few days. They say it will take the snow to totally put it out. This weekend will be busy a baby shower on Sat and Owen’s 2ed birthday party on Sun. Sophie didn’t have school today so we finished her Halloween Treat bag for her classmates while Owen was napping. Boy I’m boring LOL. So happy that you have been enjoying all of the people along the way. Looking forward to Cal.
Stay safe,
Sandy R. MN
Hi Sandy,
Kaitlin was very excited to see her friend and attend a few days of “Amercian” school. I can’t believe the fire is still going. It really must have been huge. We have had glorious weather here….not too cold or too hot. Thank you for sharing your days with us. We don’t find it boring at all. We should be in California tomorrow.
Cath, Trev and kids xx
Hi- another exciting day for you all. About 20 guys on the Rhine River trip will be guests at the “Audi Museum” today. The ladies will go shopping completely uninhibited by the husbands- is that a worry or what????????
Visited a castle built like a fortress yesterday in Nuremberg (Germany). The kids would have loved it.
Keep the blogs coming.
Love to all
Hi Mum and Dad,
I would LOVE to go shopping uninhibited by my husband……lucky Mum. Maybe the women should be worried that their husbands will come home with an Audi!
Hope you’ve taken lot of photos of the castles. I’m sure the kids would have loved to see the one in Nuremberg.
Love Cath and family xx
Well, it’s been a while since I wrote … this is your acquaintance from Lyman State Park in PA. Sounds like you all are having just a fabulous time and I didn’t want to intrude on that. We hope that when you return to this neck of the woods we can catch up one more time before you head home. Steve and I are heading for a road trip of our own in November. Our start will be spent with Steve’s Dad in Minnesota and from there travel down the Mississippi and end up ‘somewhere’. We have not ironed out all the plans yet but are looking forward to our trip.
Enjoy until next time.
Sandi
Hi Sandi,
How long will you be away for? We are due back in PA around Xmas. Will you be back by then? You must be excited about your trip. Let us know what your plans are when you have made them. We would like to catch up if we can.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Cath, Trev and kids