This is pretty much what downtown Spokane looked like--
So I headed east and across the border into Idaho. I decided to take the scenic route north along 95. This was my "Holy crap--Buffalo!!" snapshot along the way.
I stopped for lunch in a cute town named Sandpoint and opted for a place on the river named Spudz. I figured it couldn't be much more perfect, being in Idaho, the potato capitol of the world. So I order a baked potato--"oh, I'm sorry, we're out of potatoes." I just looked at her, dumbfounded. She had to be joking, right? "It was a big lunch rush." Right. So I got a salad.
Then I headed up to Bonners Ferry and east into Montana, stopping at a sign that said Kootenai Falls. This place was friggin awesome. It is apparently the last major waterfall on a Northwest river that has not been harnessed to produce electricity. That is because it is a sacred site to the Kootenai Indians... which also meant that unlike all federal attractions which would have all the dangerous (ie fun) things fenced off, there were trails criss-crossing the cliffs all along the rushing water. There also weren't too many people there so I got to go rock-hopping and climbing all over the place.
I thought these rocks were very cool... the sand that was once sculpted by the action of the waves turns into rock, then has another layer of sand deposited on top which also gets sculpted by waves in another direction and solidifies. Here the top layer is breaking off, showing the one underneath.
Next I took the path labeled "Swinging Bridge" having no idea what I was in for. I did see this cute little guy sitting in the middle of the path as I went... he didn't care at all how close I got, just sat there nibbling, until I gave up and attempted to step over him.
I finally got to the swinging bridge... it was cool and rather high up. You couldn't really see it swinging, but you could definitely feel it in your stomach! I am trying to look scared in the picture--aah! a swinging bridge! The other one is looking upriver from the bridge.
I continued east toward Glacier NP, driving through lots of farmlands in Flathead Valley. Then, suddenly, the Glacier range came into view shooting up on the opposite side of the valley. It was rather blurry, though, as there had apparently been multiple fires in the area closing down parts of the park.
I finally stopped in Whitefish for the night, a very cute little town. There was quite a strip of restaurants, pubs and bars, so I went to one called Bulldog Saloon for some wings. It was a very cool place, with all sorts of funny knick knacks on the walls and old 70's sports team flags all over the ceiling (note two of my favorite baseball teams right over my head!).
Whitefish definitely turned out to be a fun town. It has a very nice golf course and apparently lots of rich folks' vacation homes surrounding it. I even met multiple people who had come in just for the night (a Wednesday) from the surrounding, bigger towns, just for its nightlife (and for the one bar that has a ping pong table and shuffleboard!). Also had some very good beers... especially the Beltian White... highly recommended!
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