I have not posted for several days primarily due to long days in extreme heat.  I was just too "wrung out" to do computer work.  I will make up for it tonight.

Three nights ago we spent the night in Sandpoint, ID with Evergreen members Bud and Joyce Smith at their home near the lake.  Bud plays the piano beautifully and played a medley of tunes for us.  This was quite the treat since neither Joe nor I can play a note on anything.  Joyce is an avid gardener and I enjoyed talking with her about shade gardening.  I have a lot of shade for the first time ever and it is a challenge to figure out what to do with landscaping.

Leaving Sandpoint, we traveled through mountains and lake country with side roads leading to all manner of recreational venues. 

Lunch was at the Kicking Horse Saloon and Eatery.  Take a look at those porch posts - they were all twisted and wild.  I would love to take them home with me.  The food was good too.

Another view of a spectacular Idaho river.  The scenery along Rt 2 is just magnificent.

This RV park sign was certainly a winner!  It really got your attention!  There were signs to resorts, hiking, fishing and boating venues all along Rt 2.  If you are the outdoorsy type, this is definitely your country.  Today was hot - 100 plus!

Before arriving in Spokane, we stopped for lunch at a unique diner made out of a Pullman train car.  It was the largest car Pullman made and required 16 axles to support it.  The car had gone through many transformations in it's lifetime - from sleeping compartments through WWII to coach seating to dining car to a stationary dining car for railroad workers before being renovated as a diner.

Pullman Diner near Spokane.

Interior of Pullman Diner - the largest train coach I have ever been in.  It seemed twice the length of a normal rail car.  Above the windows was stained glass.

Interior of Pullman car with beveled glass windows near the front and the rear of the rail car.  I really felt like royalty.

We drove on to the Spokane, WA area where we spent the night with Evergreen members John and Christie Bruntlett in Cheney.  They met us in downtown Spokane for dinner at the recently renovated Davenport Hotel which was built in 1913 as one of the finest hotels in the Northwest.  The lobby was lavish and the 3 ballrooms were amazing - all gilt, painted ceilings and chandeliers.  I could imagine myself decked out in my 1912-13 finery with long dress and big hat with plumes as we ate our dinner in the lush lobby dining area.

After dinner we went to a local attraction that serves ice cream.  It was shaped like a milk bottle.

  

Before we met the Bruntlett's for dinner, Joe and I went to the Riverfront Park which was the site of the 1974 Expo.  Since we only had about 30 minutes before we had to meet our hosts, we did a r-e-a-l-l-y quick walk through only a small portion of the park.  

Just one of the attractions at the park was this super-sized radio flyer wagon which was actually a children's slide.  Everything was so imaginative.  We saw what looked to be a metal sculpture of a mountain goat.  I didn't take a picture of it but really wish I had when Christie told me it was "eco-friendly".  If you put a piece of paper or trash up to it's mouth, it grabs it and eats it.  If had known that when we were at the park you can bet I would have fed him something.

Leaving Cheney, WA we entered an area of flat land that gets very little rainfall - only about 10 inches a year and it is primarily farmland and used for wheat production. Because the rainfall is so sparse, fields are left fallow for a year before replanting to allow it to absorb and retain moisture for the next crop.  The day seemed to be endless as we passed a ripening wheat field of the right and a fallow dirt field on the left, followed by a wheat field on the left and a dirt field on the right, followed by wheat on the right and dirt on left and on and on as far as the eye could see from horizon to horizon and for mile after mile.  When we saw dust devils in the dirt fields it was a time for celebration.  A little variety goes a long way when it's just wheat on the left and dirt on the right and so on and so on.

  
We stopped at a little cafe for iced tea and this was the inside.  It was an amazing place.  

Their checkerboards were pretty clever.  Skillets and magnetic checkers.

We spent the night at the renovated Waterville Hotel in Waterville, WA.  It was truly a "step back in time"!  The current owners had bought the hotel with original furnishings and our old car fit right in with the time.  One of the booklets in the hotel had a listing of all of the car owners in Spokane in 1913 and there were 15 E-M-F's - quite a few had made it to the West Coast!

  
Lobby of the Waterville Hotel.  Note the trophy animal on the wall and the old furniture.

  
Sample of decor in the upstairs hallway - old photos and memorabilia.  Really charming and so relaxing.  The owner, Dave, was a fountain of information on the area.

Leaving Waterville we entered an area which was strewn with "erratics" which are boulders left by a receding glacier that are not made of rock from the area in which they are found.  Some of these erratics were as big as houses.  It really shows the power of mother nature and of glacial forces.

We were finally back in beautiful mountain country with rivers by mid-afternoon and the temperature today was moderate compared to yesterday's 100 plus.   At least looking at water instead of dirt and wheat fields made it seem less hot!