Unexpected Road Trip

(Bellingham, Wa USA)

My husband and I had to take an unexpected road trip from Bellingham, Wa to Butte, Montana the other day. Being unexpected and unplanned it had to be a fast trip, non-stop, get there and get back.
We have always been up for a road trip. In fact, we have taken many many road trips in our day, but very few so far so fast. We usually just turn up the radio and drive...

We had a dear relative break down on his way up here, so we went to rescue him. We left Bellingham around 3:30 am. Hoped to be back home within 24 hours. The trip was over 600 miles out. It was a great time of day to be driving through Everette and Seattle. Any later in the morning we would have been stuck in traffic for sure.

As we were going over Snoqualmie Pass I started nodding off. I'm not a morning person. I love sleeping in and taking my time waking up. So hopping in the back seat and "trying" to get a bit more sleep seemed like a good idea. Plus, I knew I would have to share at the wheel on this trip. There was no way my husband could drive the whole way there and back.

I love the scenery on this drive. The beautiful cascade's, the Columbia River. I don't care much for the flat lands in eastern Wa, but the northern Idaho around Coeur d Alene is spectacular! And the mountains through the first part going into Montana. The rest was pretty blah! And the radio stations in MT were bad...

We pulled into Butte around 2 pm. Loaded up our loved one and headed back. I was at the wheel. All the way there my husband did fine, went right through, no smokies to bother us. I think he saw one.

I get down the road a ways and find myself driving for miles with a small pack of the Hell's Angels! I didn't even see them coming... They would pass me...I would pass them...all the way to another town, I lost them but ended up sandwiched between 2 troopers!

Ya, I know! I'm such a drama queen! It was really interesting. Neither bothered me one bit. Just so they all get out of my way and at least let me go the speed limit....

I got us to Coeur d Alene and decided we needed a healthy meal. We stopped at a Thai food restaurant. Real nice artwork all the way around. There was a plank on the door saying it was noted as the best Thai food for years. The ceiling was really cool. It has mini lights that blinked like stars in the sky. Lovely Asian artwork all around with a huge frame with slide shows of Thailand. The menu looked good, prices normal...I didn't think the food was as good as in Bellingham, though. But was nice to get some nutrition in before finishing the last stretch back to Bellingham.

All in all it was a fast, but good trip. We liked getting gas for under $4 a gallon along the way!

By the way, where did all these big bugs come from? Every time we stopped I had to scrap bugs off my windows and headlights!? We don't get those in our neck of the woods. We can drive all day and all weekend around Bellingham and not get any bugs on the wind shield. That's so nice!

When we go that way again, we'll have to take our CD's...the radio stations are bad after you get out of Washington!

We pulled into Bellingham around 2 am. Nice to be back home! There is really "no place like home!"