Spokane Falls
Just past scenic Hood River, the hills become much more treeless, but the scenic Columbia River is still there to admire.
Around Pasco in the state of Washington, we happened upon a country mercantile that must have been the impetus for the Buckys chain. There does not appear to be any beef jerky, but It offers much else to the famished traveler, including long lines of enticing chocolates.
This is the country where two of the West's most famed rivers - the Snake and the Columbia - come together, though we did not visit the exact spot. Lewis and Clark followed the Snake, then found themselves in a much larger stream when it poured into the Columbia.
Much the largest of the cities on this leg of the trip was Spokane, which had actually hosted a World's Fair in 1974. Min called it SpoCANE, but Mert politely advised the locals termed it SpoCAN. Afterward, Mert waxed back and forth between the two. To a visitor, it's true, it's hard not to revert to SpoCANE as that is exactly what it looks like.
We visited the centerpiece of downtown - the surging Spokane River that roars over several wide and deep waterfalls. An intriguing, wide-ranging park that includes some of the old fairgrounds, has been built around the falls.
There is a gondola near the falls that must provide a dramatic view, but it was too high for me (over 10 feet).
The trees picked back up dramatically at the curiously named Couer d'Alene - beautiful conifers rising from the valley to the hilltops in a place that must get more moisture.
There were several exits for Couer d'Alene, and Min said "Hollywood types" were buying up spreads here for their rural retreats.
Our calendars had been marked this evening for a "Farmhouse Stay," but we have long been cognizant that an Airbnb can display 48 pictures and lengthy description, but be deceiving.
Mert cares nothing for farms, but Min loves goats, especially baby ones, and was looking forward to petting them. I had thoughts myself of being the one chosen to go out and gather the eggs. The pigs would have been fun.
But as we arrived at little Kellogg, Idaho, we noted our WAZE lady was directing us to an in-town neighborhood of small, modest homes.
Ours was wedged in tightly between two other small and modest homes and it was squared off and locked at the front. Inside we found the only possible kinship it might have to a farm was some wide interior wall boards.
If there had ever been an inviting country front porch, it was now enveloped in the off limits garage.
There was a hot tub and a sauna out back behind a new tall wooden fence, but we are mainly past that age.
On toward Yellowstone with a stopover at Livingston, Montana.
The gondola at Spokane