Washington and Idaho

We arrived at Granite Falls Premier RV Resort in Clarkston, WA and it is certainly a five star resort. It is located on the Snake River (covenanted spots face the river) and right behind Cosco. Across from Cosco they are building a Super Walmart which should be finished in September. The location was near shopping, restaurants, grocery store, etc. A great place to stay. We were treated each day to a continental breakfast and a paper delivered to our door. WOW, what more could you ask for.

We lunched at the "Rooster" restaurant right on the Snake River. You know, you forget how nice it is to sit outside, eat a nice mean and meet new people (which we did). The people we met were a man and his wife who own a nearby pawn shop and a couple of their friends. Nice and friendly people.

We met a man camping across from us who happened to be the Manager of the Flying J in Lewiston. His family was not with them as they have school age children and are trying to sell their home. He came over every evening when he got home from work to sit and relax and chat for a while. I guess Chris and I just attract the right kind of people as "Carl" was outgoing and very friendly. We enjoyed meeting him and add him to new friends we have made on this journey.


We met up with a friend from high school and went to visit the Nez Perce Museum which is actually in Idaho across the river from Clarkston, WA (about two miles). We watched a 20 minute narative about the Nez Perce indians. There was a lot of history regarding the Nez Perce indians in the museum. The museum is full of indian relics. The bead work on the clothing is mind boggling. I guess I have to copy something from one of the brochures about the Nez Perce indians since I know nothing about them at all. According to the brochure

"The Nez Perce War of 1877 symbolizes the dramatic collision of cultures which continues to shape the West and its people. A native people were forced to flee their homelands in a futile attempt to avoid warfare and live their own way"

The biggest thing is the Lewis and Clark treak across the mountains and I'm sure valleys from Oregon to the Pacific Ocean. Highway 12 is suppose to be the trail they followed even though today we are traveling on paved highways and not in snow up to the gazoo and we are not forced to eat "colts" to survive.

We had lunch at Blues & Bar-B-Q which in no way compares to our North and South Carolina bar-b-q. BUT, we have to give the "A" for trying. The cook and waitress were very friendly and prices were in line with what we expected.

Next day we went to the Asopin Museum which houses some really old items plus some replicas of a one room school house, an old barn, and several other old structures. We met a gentleman there who told of his grandfather who lived in A TERRITORY, and TWO STATES but never moved. He was an older gentleman and time permitting it would have been very nice to sit down with him and listen to some of the tales he could tell us.

We had lunch at the Deli in Asopin. They made their own pastries and bread and the food was outstanding. So were the pastries.

While there we struck up a conversation with a single gentleman who was also lunching there. He had a very outgoing personality, was single, and was riding a motocycle. He came over to our table and we chatted for a while. (I did mention he had an outgoing personality didn't I?) After finishing our lunch we all walked outside and stopped to admire his Harley. Well, let me tell you something, he had a "scary" addition on it. He had a vibrator added to the companion seat and he controlled the switch .... can you believe that? AND to beat all, he was camping at the same Resort we were in. (He came over later that evening when we got back and what can I say, his toe nails were painted RED and he had on sandles to you couldn't miss them.

We said goodbye to our high school buddy and left Clarkston the next day, crossing into Idaho heading for our next stop... Missoula, MT. But first let me tell you about Idaho. Here again we traveled Scenic Highway 12... (Lewis & Clark Trail) The highway goes along the base of the mountains and is very wiggly (lots of S curves). It did not take long before we were looking at the map to see exactly what these mountains were. We discovered we were going around the base of the Bitterroot Mountains in Clearwater National Forest. Almost the entire way the road followed the Clearwater River. This was an absolutely fantastic route (if you forget the curvy road). The river flowed extremely fast with lots of rapids and when we got close to the top (or whatever it was) we began to see canoers and rafters. I'm sure the water was ice cold and hope none of them fell in. (Better them than me). It was definitely the scenic route to come across.

Next stop ... Montana