Driving from Washington to Montana

What a drive! First, Spokane is a cool city - great food, lots to do and I was able to snag a massage (thank god!) to work away some of those driving knots. The next morning, I was on the road heading to Whitefish, Montana to visit Glacier National Park.  It's only about 5 hours of driving, give or take, but knowing me, I figured I'd be making some stops along the way.

It took me about 7 weeks to plan out this trip. I pretty much figured out the overall direction I was going to take and the places I was going to stay along the way. I also figured out a few "bucket list" things I wanted to see. What I didn't plan out was what I would be seeing along the way. I have tried to be really flexible in that aspect so I am surprised and feel more adventurous. Today was one of those days. I had nothing planned between Spokane and Whitefish.

The first stop was Sandpoint, Idaho. As I was driving I saw this incredible vista and knew I had to stop there. I guess the lake is called Pend Oreille, which is what interested me because that means earring in French. Nothing like a huge, beautiful lake surrounded by mountains to make me stop! I guess it's the largest lake in Idaho and was formed during the ice age. It is the 5th deepest lake in the U.S. It's called Pend Oreille because it is shaped like a human ear when seen from above. How did they know this when they named it?

I drove into the most adorable little town and stopped for a cup of tea before I saw a sign for the city beach. I walked about a 1/2 mile down to the water. 

 It was early so the light had this wonderful softness and haze to it. So soul-filling beautiful. I dipped my toes in the water for a bit, dried off and made my way back to the car to continue my journey east.

I drove about 90 minutes, I was in Montana at that point, and saw a sign for this. Yup, gotta stop for this! Swinging Bridge? Hmmmm....

Overall it was about a total of a mile there to see everything and a mile back - perfect time to take a break from driving. It was an easy walk to the falls.

You could hear the roar of the water from the parking area and it got louder as I walked further into the woods. 

 I made my way back up the trail and went down another one to the swinging bridge. There are wonderful glimpses of the clear water along the trail.

 The trail to this part of the area was a bit more challenging (love that) and the smell of pine was heavy in the air (love that too)!

 Then I saw the bridge through the trees. Another hurdle to test my fear of heights. Yikes!

 It is called the "Swinging Bridge" for a very good reason. You can feel it sway and swing from side to side as you make your way across. I did stop and take a couple of photos along the way. Oy!

 Here is the photo I took when I got to the other side. The only way back to my car is to go back OVER the bridge again. I've got this!!

Now, you can never take the "teacher" out of a teacher. On the way back, I had to wait my turn to cross and a family of 5 came up behind me with a younger son who was galloping around like a gazelle. The father and older sister tried to reign him in to no avail and he kept trying to cut ahead of the 3 of us who were waiting. No big deal. Not my kid.

Once a large gang came across to our side, the older couple and I went up the stairs to begin crossing the bridge. The young boy (I'd say he was around 8-9 years old) was on the bridge behind me. I could tell the older man in front of me didn't like heights and was taking his time. We made it about 1/3 over when the kid starts jumping up and down and jerking back and forth to make the bridge swing even more. The man in front of me froze. We were not going anywhere.

I turned around and asked the boy if he could stop jumping around. He looked up at me and kept jumping. Alrighty then! "Are you afraid of the bridge?" "No!" "Well, this gentleman is and you are making it hard for him to cross. Can you stop so we can continue?" 

Again, with a little smirk on his face, he continues. The parents are on the stairs waiting for us to cross. No help there.

"As I see it, you have 3 choices. One, you can stop jumping around. Two, you can go back and wait with your parents. Three, you keep jumping and you don't make it across at all (said while looking down at the water below). Your choice." 

The little shit, umm, kid, looks up at me and stops jumping. I turned around, the older couple both smiled at me and we made our way across. Fear of heights, or kids, be damned!