June 8: Spokane, Washington

This morning we got off to a leisurely start, sleeping in (relatively) for the first time on our journey. After a filling breakfast of Special K, we recreated our time in the Ratty by doing the crossword. It was Monday so it didn’t take us too long.

Then it was off to the ranch. First we met the horses: Playboy, Sandy, and Dino. We even fed them oats and brushed their hair. Louisa tried unsuccessfully to befriend Playboy, who was the wildest, but alas, her horse whisperer skills were lacking.

We relived Maria’s childhood for a while by searching through her old bedroom and finding much memorabilia, including her old diary and old school pictures, which were a definite highlight. Unfortunately we cannot post them online for the world to see.

Driving back, we had our first car mishap – but luckily, not with our car. AS soon as it left the dirt road, Maria’s car started making a high-pitched squeaking sound, and when in reverse, seemed to be dragging something on the ground. Though we all have extensive car mechanic skills, we could not find the source of the problem and just drove home. Luckily the sound stopped.

After a delicious lunch of grilled cheese we were on the road again. Montana lasted a while longer, becoming more mountainous and rainy.

Just before reaching Idaho we stopped at 50,000 Silver $, originally a bar but now a motel, gift shop, casino, and restaurant as well. And there really are 50,000 silver dollars on the wall (though we are just taking them at their word—we didn’t actually count). We meant to just stop in for a bathroom break but ended up indulging in some huckleberry ice cream as well.

We continued through Idaho, though just for a little bit (though a very beautiful little bit) and entered Washington. Fun fact: Washington is the only state so far that puts their “Welcome to…” sign on the left side of the highway instead of the right, which almost caused us to miss photographing it.

Soon after crossing the border, we reached Spokane (whose pronunciation we debated for a bit), where we were staying for the night. We met Erika and Daniel Spokane, who warmly welcomed us into their home. The dog was cold at first, but gradually warmed up to us when we all went to play Frisbee in the park. She is a great jumper.

For dinner we had a delicious falafel salad and tomato soup and some great conversation with Erika and Daniel. We even had strawberries and pound cake for dessert!

We all decided to call it an early night (as always) since they have to work in the morning and we have to make it to Seattle!