If this is your first “ride-a-long” on From the Front Porch, here’s the drill: I post my planned route and departure time, just before I leave for the day. I usually post some log items through the day and then my arrival.

Later, I delete the route info and any boring bits and change the post to the story of the day, hopefully with photos.

The route and log is a safety thing – family knows where I am.

7:42 a.m. We are all aboard, the Jeep is hooked up, engine is running and we are ready to roll so…off we go, then!

I stopped in Plains MT for a walk and a break. There is an espresso stand and they had fresh bagels so I decided I was hungry enough for a mini-meal: 1/2 bagel with sliced tenderloin I roasted yesterday to go with my latte. Beautiful morning and the drive along the lake and then the Clark Fork River Valley was beautiful. The River was high, fast and a churned up brown from run-off which is a departure from its usual clear green-blue.

No prize winning photos today…

Out the window, between a few bugs…I-90 approaching Coeur d’Alene, ID. Lake Pend Oreille as well as Coeur d’Alene Lake were beautiful – sparkling water, a few boats and the surrounding mountains. But no turn outs and a winding interstate with too much traffic to try for a shot.

Spokane traffic was busy but there is just I-90 so no complicated interchanges or spaghetti junctions.
Past Spokane, WA flattens out and is desert open range. But this time of year there IS a bit of green.

This rest stop was about 70 miles from Connell, WA. Karl and I had a good walk and called Coyote Run RV Park to see if they had a spot for us, which they did and we pulled in about 4:15 Mountain Time, 3:15 Pacific Time. We are on Pacific time now.

It was 82 when we parked. I run the generator and house a/c down the road so we were relatively cool when we arrived and soon on park power.

A good first day although tiring. We are only 317 miles down the road in 8 1/2 hours – 120 miles of 2 lane, a bit of construction, a bit of traffic making for slower progress. It is supposed to cool into the 40’s tonight so we’ll shoot for an early start in the morning and hopefully get our miles in a bit earlier tomorrow.