Ellensburg and Kent WA September 8-12

We were planning on staying four nights in Ellensburg, but when we arrived at E & J Campground we found that the “campground” was actually a Days Inn parking lot! It was adjacent to a Flying J, the highway and a train. We decided not to unhook and stayed only one night.

We arrived at the KOA in Kent after a demanding drive on the 9th. There was a lot of construction and a lot of traffic. (It’s been a long time since we were in a major city.) The sites here weren’t very wide (our slide outs came out over our neighbor’s picnic table) but it was better than the Days Inn parking lot.

Most of our time here was spent catching up on the blog and planning our future itinerary. We did however visit the International Sand Sculpture Competition in Federal Way. Ray and I were very impressed--but with different sculptures.

Coeur d’Alene ID, September 4-8.

When we left West Glacier, the sky was threatening and small raindrops were already appearing.

We must have seen 12 lightning displays, but fortunately from a distance. We arrived at Blackwell Island Resort, one of the largest RV parks we’ve ever encountered. The site was nice however, and a short walk brought us to the Spokane River.

The weather was cold (10 degrees below normal) and most of the museums were closed for the holiday weekend, so we didn’t do much touring until the Tuesday after Labor Day. That’s when we visited Post Falls to see the scenery at the Dam.

We also toured the Buck Knife Factory.

We also had a memorable dinner at the Cedars Floating Restaurant which just happened to be right next to our campground.

Next stop: Washington state

West Glacier, MT August 30 - September 4

We arrived at San Suz Ed RV park and backed into a huge paved site.

Unfortunately our first foray into Glacier National Park was not impressive--the weather was too foggy at high altitude.

Until the weather broke, we wandered around West Glacier and the neighboring towns, seeing Hungry Horse Dam and general scenery.

We played table tennis (the sport that brought us together) at a neighborhood bar that gave out free dinners on Wednesday nights and we watched the progress of Hurricane Earl on TV.

On Thursday, our 4th day, the weather forecast was good enough to visit the park, so we drove the Going to the Sun Road.

We saw Big Horn Sheep and lots of Columbian ground squirrels.

And, of course, the scenery was spectacular.

Even when we had to stop for 15 minutes for construction along the road, it wasn’t a problem because the mountains were so beautiful.

Unfortunately that was our one day of touring—we really didn’t get the chance to explore Glacier properly.

Garrison MT August 27-30.

On our way to Glacier National Park we made a stopover in Garrison MT. Bernie and Sharon’s Riverfront RV Park, where we stayed, was a little different. Owned by a minister (church on premises), they registered you at your picnic table and took only cash or check. I didn’t get a photo of the campground, but I did get a picture of the resident goat.

We spent a lot of time at the Ranch House, Garrison’s only sit down restaurant and bar. The people there were rugged Montana individualists, but they were very welcoming. Our only excursion was to Deer Lodge to tour the Montana State Prison. Below is a photo of a traveling gallows. It was easily dismantable and traveled the countryside when executions were ordered. The picture is rather dark because it is housed in a burned out, blocked off theatre building on prison grounds.

We were lucky enough to arrive at the prison on customer appreciation day--all the museums in town were free! In addition to the prison, we toured Desert John’s Saloon and the Powell County Museum and we peeked in on the Montana Auto Museum.