From Montana to Idaho to Washington…..

Posted by drivinguscrazy on October 12, 2011

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?

Lovely secenery in Montana

Entering Northern part of Idaho

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……..

The clouds were low around the mountains in Idaho.

Made it to Washington much to Kaitlin's delight.

Great to see the wind being harnessed for electricity.

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.

Having fun on the playground at the KOA in Spokane.

Trevor chilling out with a cuppa.

Gorgeous evening

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 clouds went below the clouds.

Entering Seattle in Washington

The Boeing Building where all the Boeing jets are made.

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.

Shopping at the Super Mall

The kids inside a Halloween shop

Trying on Halloween mask

Flynn trampolining with a harness

Randall Lee with Akaisha. Going to Australia is on his bucket list.

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.

Driving in the heart of Seattle

Seattle Waterfront

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.

In the Pike Markets

Just some of the market stalls

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.