The Great Road Trip of 2017....Part Nineteen/Day Sixteen

Part One of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Two of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Three of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Four of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Five of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Six of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Seven of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Eight of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Nine of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Ten of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Eleven of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twelve of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Thirteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE  

Part Fourteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE  

Part Fifteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE 
Part Sixteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Seventeen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE

Part Eighteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE

So we all hugged and cried and hit the road East the next day.

Well we headed North toward Coeur d'Alene so we could pick up the interstate there.

But we drove about an hour and a half North before making a stop outside of Plummer, Idaho........

Just had to go in and poke around this shop on the Nez Perce Reservation if for no other reason but because of the awesome bison statues outside. lol

Not only was this a Smoke Shop but there was a huge section of beading supplies, leather pieces, fabric, sewing supplies and feathers, etc. for making native costumes.

There was also a large area of hand dipped candles for sale......

It was very overwhelming the amount of fabric and such they had and a shame I couldn't bring any of the sewing stuff home with me.

There was also hand carvings and other indigenous made goods.  Hubs bought a book and a package of white sage.

I spent a little time in the front, the actual smoke shop.  Buying cigarettes on the reservation don't carry the federal taxes they do when bought on the outside and they can sell things that aren't legal(at that point in time)off the reservation lands.

They had many vapes(vapes were relatively new and a hot commodity back then), a wall of cigars as well as CBD and lovely handmade glass bongs as you can see in this shot.  

I bought my kids some vape juice and my brother some cigars.

Here I am looking all cute(lol)posting with one of the bison statues before we hit the road again.

The Nez Perce Reservation/Tribal Lands aren't one continuous piece of ground.  There are many pieces of land spread out over the state of Idaho that belong to this tribe.

We continued north into Coeur D'Alene, passing by the Casino entrance.

And then continuing into the town of Coeur D'Alene, all the while traveling along the shores of Lake Coeur D'Alene.

This lake is massive.  We were weaving in and out of tribal lands and then crossing over a part of a finger of the lake on this journey.

It was a relatively clear day(if you don't count all the smokiness due to wildfires that Summer)and the scenery was spectacular.

Once we got onto the Interstate(90)Hubs needed to stop for gas so I wandered into the convenience store to stretch my legs.

Saw these Snickers bars and though of Kim..........lol!

And they were selling this t-shirt in there.  At this point in our month long adventure I would have appreciated a nap or two.....

Back on I-90 and even though it was the interstate the scenery was still wild, rugged and lovely.

We passed an exit for Lookout Pass.  I believe it's the only interstate exit with the number of 0.

Lookout Pass is a ski and recreation area that straddles Idaho and Montana.  It is the highest point in the rocky Mountains between Seattle WA and Missoula MT.

Beyond every turn was another great view!

And then we were back in Montana.

I'd hate to be towing a camper on these hilly roads.

And passing one of the many log filled trucks. I hope this truck had good brakes on the descent. lol 

Loved the little picture signs along here with mountains toppling over and rocks falling onto a car. lolz

Then we drove a bit further and we were very close to an uncontrolled wildfire.

You can see the smoke flumes coming up into the sky.

We kept driving and the road took us further away.....

And then we were at a place on the highway closer to the fire.

At one point there were some railroad tracks that went under the Interstate and I saw a train car with forest fire fighters hanging onto the sides, being moved from one area of the outbreak to another.  I wasn't fast enough with my camera plus Hubs was hauling a$$ out of there!

I prayed for them all to be safe while sitting in our car, being driven away from this danger.

Awhile later we were clear of the fire area and saw this sandy bank along a river.  I believe this was part of Clark Fork.

Then we were getting close to civilization--Frenchtown and further up the road was Missoula.  We ended up stopping in Butte for lunch.

But first, we had another couple of hours of driving to reach Butte(or as Joel use to call it "Butt"). ;-)

Some craggy rock cliffs......

And then I saw a giant "D" on the side of a mountain.   It seems this is a "thing" in Montana.  Towns and schools put giant letters on mountain sides.  It's a form of geoglyph and as I found out quite common in these mountainous states.

Info HERE.

Not sure what this "D" signifies.  Might have been in Drummond MT which is near the Clark Fork near Butte.

Almost to Butte.....

We stopped in a Perkins off the Interstate as we wanted something quick and easy so we could hop back onto the road since we lots of miles to cover still before stopping for the night.  The lunch rush was well over and the place was pretty deserted but the service was still glacial.  I got a salad with honey mustard dressing, not being very hungry since I was riding in a car all day.  I had to remove a bunch of croutons from said salad as it was just lousy with them!  Crouton overload isn't a bad thing unless they are not crunchy.

We only had about another hour from Butte to reach the Quality Inn in Belgrade/Bozeman, MT.  Could have hit the Lewis and Clark Caverns(I know Kim would have LOVED to go there...not!)but I have a

phobia about caverns stemming back to my childhood and being traumatized by being forced to go into the Luray Caverns by my parents.  Can't do those ever since(and my mild claustrophobia sure doesn't help on that score either).

Approaching Belgrade Montana, a blip on the map(at least back in 2017)along the Interstate.  This is one of the only motels in the area and/or only one of them that weren't crazy expensive.

I don't believe we ate dinner that night.  Hubs was too tired from driving so we settled into our room and got a good night's sleep.

Sluggy