We left the Glacier area around 8:30 this morning to head further west. Our journey took us back through some mountains and valleys to Flathead Lake, Montana – and WOW – how beautiful!

Just off the western arm of the lake on route 28 I fell in love with a valley – I think this has to be my next home.

We hit the beautiful mountains of Idaho with the border crossing and crossing into the Pacific Time Zone. It is strange that there is a place where at the very same time it is 10am one foot to the east and 9am one foot to the west. Humans sure do try to control everything!

As we came out of the mountains we rolled into Washington (and this stinkin’ border sign was IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY – our last stinkin’ state sign of our journey west and it was in the middle – OY VEY!) and reacquainted ourselves with prairie lands. The vastness and diversity in our country’s topography has never been lost on me, but during this trip I have truly marveled at how one minute we can be cruising down a snow covered mountain pass and the next making our way through “amber fields of grain”.

We arrived in Leavenworth, Washington around 4pm Pacific Time. We checked into our Bed and Breakfast, met our hosts and boogied down into town to get a bite to eat. I don’t know if you have ever heard of Leavenworth, but it is a little Bavarian town plopped down in the middle of the Washington mountains. It is ridiculously adorable and during the Christmas season, it is ridiculously busy!!! Here are a few pictures from us walking around tonight – day pictures will be on tap for tomorrow.

Every mile that goes by I feel more and more thankful for this life I have been given and cherish each and every hour I have spent on the road with Char. We have had some pretty great conversations that I would never have had with her if we wouldn’t have been “stuck” in a car for so many hours together. I am so excited I get to drive east with her a couple weeks.

Another detail that hasn’t been lost on me is that I feel totally at home on the road. I have joked that I am a first world nomad – and I think it is true. When I am traveling I have time to search my soul – driving for hours and hours on end provides ample opportunity for such introspection. I wonder why I am so restless; always needing to be busy – why I feel underchallenged and underachieving and yet, overwhelmed in my daily life with mundane tasks. I’m not sure if these answers will become evident as I travel on, but I’ll keep an open mind and an open heart and continue to be in awe of this great country in which I live.

Total Miles = 462

States = Montana, Idaho and Washington

Hours on the road = 8

Average Temperature = 42 degrees

Coffees = 1

Playlist = Hamilton the Musical, Twilight on audiobook and Slathbog’s Gold

Major Landmarks = Flathead Lake, Montana (gorgeous), Spokane, Washington, Columbia Basin

Speed Traps passed = 0

People not wearing masks in public places = This was hard to judge mostly because of Leavenworth at night – most people I saw in crowds were wearing masks. (BTW – I am only commenting on this aspect of what I am seeing traveling because I think a lot of people are worried about how the rest of the country is handling the whole mask thing – personally – I don’t care if you wear a mask or not – let freedom ring – but I will wear mine in public – especially right now as we are traveling across country. I do not want to be exposing myself and others that we are going to visit to something I picked up along the way – but I do not have a specific personal commentary on the good, bad, and ugly of masks – I just want to be informative)

Gas bought = $52.07

Extras = $63.00 (snacks on the road, coffee and dinner in Leavenworth

Hotel = $309.88 for two nights. We are staying for two nights in Leavenworth, WA at Haus Rohrbach Pension – a quaint Bed and Breakfast style Bavarian chalet perched just outside of the downtown area of Leavenworth. Char and I are in the Windsong room – a sweet little room with a queen sized bed and a day bed for Char.