Seattle to Montana

Beauty Creek, Idaho
Lake Easton SP, Washington

Seattle to Montana

May 24-28

Saturday: Took the Bainbridge to Seattle Ferry. The ferry ride gave us a nice view of Seattle. Staying at the VASA RV Campground in Bellevue; near Seattle. Chose this campground only because it’s close to Seattle. Very urban setting; noisy & crowded. It has the smallest sites I can recall. Never again. In the afternoon we drove to Marymoor Park. Walked around for a while. It was very crowned being Memorial Day weekend.

Sunday: Drove into Seattle to Pike Street Market. The traffic was light, as expected for a Sunday morning. Found a parking space not far from the market. This place is huge. You name it and it’s fore sale someplace. Lots of weird looking people hanging around. A good place to people watch. We had paid to stay at VASA tonight but disliked the place so much we simply got onto I-90 East and started driving. After an hour of so, we saw a sign for Lake Easton State Park. We went in expecting to see a Campground Full sign. Amazing. They had a cancellation on a site with a partial view of the lake. There is a paved trail leading from the campground to the lake. Let Gopher go swimming. The water was like ice. There is still snow on the surrounding mountain tops.

Monday; Memorial Day: We both like this place so much we decided to stay for two more nights. The best campsite in the campground is #37. As soon as it became clear they people were leaving, we went to the Ranger Station and paid for two nights. This site is huge. Lots of room for Gopher plus an unobstructed view of the lake. Last night while looking at the LD Yahoo! Site, there was a post by a couple from Seattle who wanted to see a new Lazy Daze. We invited them over. Jim & Mary Beth. She’s 5’1” and he’s 6’4”. They wanted to see if he could walk around inside, stand in the shower & fit in the bed. J. They were very pleased with everything. They brought us a bunch of fire wood, some homemade cookies & tuna salad. What a nice surprise. Carol & I enjoyed their company.

Tuesday: Enjoyed a quiet day around this beautiful campground. Took some walks, read our books. The sun came out for most of the day; a pleasant treat.

Wednesday: Heading towards Montana. As you drive east in Washington, you leave the pine forests about in Ellensburg. After that it’s mostly rolling hills and irrigated farms. There was a very interesting sign as we drove through this farming area. It said that for the next 14 miles, signs would tell what crops were growing in that area. What a wonderful idea. Time & again we wished we knew what we were actually looking at. The crops were sweet corn, field corn, peas, potatoes, alfalfa, and wheat. The rest areas all have Wi-Fi; another nice idea. The further east we drove the warmer & sunnier it became. It felt real nice after a month or so in the cool, cloudy coast of CA, OR & WA. About 40 miles west of Spokane the agricultural land uses stop and we get back to the pine trees. In Spokane Valley, just west of Spokane, we made a Wal-Mart run. Ate lunch at the Panda-Panda restaurant. About 3:00 we entered Idaho. Stayed the night at the Beauty Creek FS campground near Coeur D’Alene, ID. Our campsite is right on Beauty Creek. I put my shorts an and Gopher & I went wading in the creek. This is a snow melt fed creek. The water made my feet numb. Even Gopher, who seems immune to the cold, got out after a few minutes. Carol sat in the sun next to the creek enjoying the warmth.