Road Lessons/Day 12

Black Rabbit RV Camp
The tent area, behind me were parked
dozens of tightly packed RVs, many
of them look as though they are permanent!

Morning in the RV camp was just as quiet as it was at 10:00 pm the  night before.  They are early to bed and late to rise.  We were curious as to the draw here, so many of the RV's looked as the they were permanently installed, they had a sort of foundation around the bottom. Some had water fountains and mini gardens, screened in porches and lawn furniture.  There was a Security ATV that patrolled the area and had come to check us out before we even finished checking in.  David, late that night, saw the security patrol(male) stop the ATV and take a peak in the window of the women's shower...just making sure there were no interloper's there I guess. *~*  It was 9:00 & we were packed up and ready to hit the road, when we finally started to see some activity from the surrounding RV's...some of the guys came out carrying some of the biggest guns I've ever seen and piled into a truck and took off...Target shooting, perhaps?  Anyway, our tent sight was lovely and despite the constant road traffic, we had a quiet night at the Black Rabbit RV Campground.

We decided to drive to Missoula, 45 miles away, for breakfast.  We found a little place downtown called the Uptown Diner which almost lived up to it's namesake in Minneapolis....almost!  They had good coffee, wonderful pan fried potatoes that were really just thick, crispy potato chips and perfect eggs and we both ate for $13....something we cannot do at the Uptown at home.   

I have been trying to keep this blog up to date and not get too far behind...but I have not done too well the last few days and now I am having memory issues.....so the rest of the journey that day is a little fuzzy...I know we had a gorgeous, breathtaking ride up into the Bitterroot Mountains with lots of changing geography, I remember thinking that some of the hills looked like deflating mylar balloons and right across the road there were dramatically ragged erupting  dark rocks jutting into the sky.  At the top of the pass was a ski resort that was called the Lost Trail Pass, which gave us a smile.  

We began the long slow descent on the other side and followed a lovely, meandering river that looked perfect for floating!

The Welcome Bear
at the Wogsland's

We arrived in Coeur d' Alene in late afternoon, and made our way to David's aunt and uncle's home in Hayden Lake.  We found a gracious, lovely house literally on the golf course and a block or so off the actual Hayden Lake.  The best thing is that we arrived just in time for 'Grog at 5'  which included delicious hors dourves (including Marlene's cowboy candy..a sort of pickled sweet jalepeno and cheese...yum!) and cocktails! Excellent timing! 

We sat on the patio with Jim and Marlene, as the sun set on the green, catching up and talking about the trip.  We heard lots of great stories and told a few ourselves.  We took  much needed showers while they finished up dinner preparations and sat down to a fantastic pasta dinner.

After dinner we got a tour of their home...replete with furnishings and artwork from their many travels and years of living abroad.  Every item has a story and that makes it all so rich.  We have our own little suite adjacent to the house that is very cozy and quiet.  They may have trouble getting us to leave...they are pampering us way too much!!!!

Martha Stewart coudln't have done better

Lesson # 25:  Be sure there are no open windows if you are taking a late shower @ the Black Rabbit RV Campground.

Quote: "Grog at 5:00" will be with us for a long time I suspect....rivaling Josh and Liz's 'beer o'clock'.