From Sea to Shining Sea…..

Aug 10 - 13, 2006

A mass of touristy trash occupies the side of Highway 2 West for quite a few miles after leaving Glacier Park. The drive-through Grizzly Habitat offended me the most. Leave the poor bears alone in the wild.

The highway took us in a horseshoe arc north to Bonners Ferry, Idaho and then south to Coeur d’Alene. Bonners Ferry is a pretty town and it was our intention to park there overnight at their casino but it was too early when we passed through and it was a bit too hot so we carried on to Coeur d’Alene where we found a Passport America campground right in town on the river – the River Walk RV Park. Sounds nice, doesn’t it! Hrmph - It had the smallest space ratio that we’ve ever seen but it was packed almost full. There were only 3 spaces left. We chose the one on the end and luckily nobody took the one beside us because they would have been 30 centimetres/12 inches away from us. I don’t understand the mentality of those that choose to stay in such places for several weeks or months, packed in like sardines. On the plus side, we had good wifi and full hookups – we left the A/C on while we toured the town and returned to a cool motorhome.

Coeur d’Alene is the Kelowna (a city in BC in the centre of the wine district of the Okanagan) of Idaho – an attractive and booming tourist town on the lake with lots of good restaurants and tourist facilities. Every corner through the bustling main street has a differently designed water fountain, obviously commissioned works of art. A tree-lined river and lake walk/bike path runs for miles along the beautiful waterways. Caesar enjoyed an occasional stop at areas where other dogs had left their scents – a sniff and pee stop. We picked up pizza for dinner, poured a big glass of Cabernet Sauvignon for me and a beer for Fernie and settled down to an evening of wifi and tv – very sophisticated!

Washington, east of the Cascade Mountains was an arid wasteland before they introduced irrigation – in the 1940’s. Now it’s a fertile valley with vast fields of golden grain for mile after rolling mile. We watched as the sky darkened ominously ahead of us and jagged lightning slashed the sky directly in our path. The deep slate blue clouds contrasted sharply with the pale blue of the clear sky and the puffy white clouds making for a beautiful vista. We pulled in to the side of the road in Davenport to have lunch and let the storm pass. Leftover cold pizza – the best lunch I can imagine.


The gasoline in eastern Washington was almost as much as highest we’d seen $3.259/gallon just a penny lower. Intelligently, we fuelled up at a Flying J in Idaho at $2.959/gallon. After writing this, we saw the highest gas price at $3.279 in Coulee City, Washington.

We planned on staying at the Walmart in Wenatchee but it was too hot when we descended into the fruitful valley so we carried on not sure where we would go and ‘lo and behold’ at the edge of Wenatchee, the most beautiful park-like RV campground that we’d ever seen appeared just south of Highway 2 running along the river. Huge deciduous trees shaded the well-spaced RV’s and the expanse of emerald green lawn was lush and thick. It’s called Wenatchee River County Park and is run by the city. We stayed for a delightful two nights. A breeze came up and the cooled the air and it brushed over us as we lounged outside with our drinks. Caesar found renewed energy, as did we. We’re finally away from that dreadful heat!

We didn’t do very much during the two days, just a lot of lying around which we crave after so much activity. We drove the four miles down the road to Cashmere, a lovely little town that is famous for its ‘Aplets and Cotlets’ factory. They are a fruit candy that originated in Cashmere. They made us put on hair nets while we toured which gave me a giggle trying to put Fernie’s longish curls into the net. We ate a few too many samples, which gave me some heartburn later, but they’re so delicious.

While driving around Wenatchee, we stopped at the Apple Information Centre. An elderly lady met us at the door with a cold can of apple juice, welcomed us in and put on a video about the apple industry for us. We caught her eating her lunch and she had crumbs on her lip but she bustled around for us. I think we were the first visitors of the day – we signed the visitor book at her request and nobody had been there since the previous day. She suggested we head two blocks down the road to “a lovely winery with open tastings’. Who am I to pass a winery! They had ‘free tastings’ for the month of August, which included some of their high-end wines. We sampled seven each and the only one I thought was great was a Syrah – very peppery and full bodied – at a price of $32.99/bottle. Too much for me! So we came out of there with nothing but a pleasant glow.

Our plans to go out for a nice dinner were changed when we both didn’t feel hungry that evening. I took my computer outside and found a pretty good wifi signal. My son, David was online so we got into a chat. I was enjoying it very much when our neighbour, a pony-tailed, 40ish and garrulous guy, yelled over “Are you online?” and proceeded over to talk. He had a new Toshiba laptop “just like yours” he said and asked me to help him get online. Hrrrmph! I told him I was involved in an online business discussion but he wouldn’t give up. The wifi signal wouldn’t let him on but he recognized the name of the woman whose network it was. “I know Linda – she just lives over there in the other camping circle” he said. Kurt and his wife live in their 5th wheel trailer and move around with his work – bathroom renovations and painting. They stay in Wenatchee for about four months, six months in California and a couple of months in Mexico. I told him to walk over closer to Linda’s and he’d probably get on. I watched as he perched down on the grass about 100 yards closer and happily got back to my online chat.

The sun was lowering in the sky and a soft breeze rustled through the leaves – the weather was perfect. Thank goodness we’re away from that eastern humidity and the temperature extremes in the plains.

We zoomed through the Cascades and Stevens Pass loving the sunny though cool weather. There's a comfort now we're in our own backyard, so to speak. Everything's familiar and we know where each road leads. We stayed our last evening at the Tulalip Casino and were lucky to get the last vacant spot in the RV parking area. Fernie played poker while I roamed the outlet shops, we stocked up on groceries at Walmart, then had dinner at Applebees, early to bed and early to rise. After all, we'll be home tomorrow.

We’ve done it – from the Pacific to the Atlantic and back - “From Sea to Shining Sea”.