On the seventh day of the trip we awoke in the late morning to a beautiful Montana day. We almost missed breakfast, but arrived in the nick of time to make our own waffles and enjoy an almost empty eating area. We finished breakfast and headed out on the road again. Driving through Montana, we saw expansive ranches that reminded me a little of the Playmobil ranch that Kristi used to have when we were kids. If I ever get the opportunity, I would love to spend a few days just in Montana. As we crossed into Idaho the strangest thing happened, it began snowing!
Knowing that we would be exhausted from the past two days, we purposefully planned out a shorter drive and arrived at our destination in a few hours. We stayed in Spokane, WA at the Spokane Club Inn a lovely, historic looking building. Some of the surrounding brick structures were really beautiful as well.
With plenty of time on our side, we decided to have an early dinner before enjoying a leisurely walk around Spokane. Using Siri, I found a decently priced Italian restaurant outside of the downtown area called Tomato Street. It sort of reminded me of a more casual Macaroni Grill with better food. As we waited for a table, the restaurant had a giant chalk board for guests to use.
This was also the place that I drew an absolutely brilliant portrait of Christopher on our table cloth.
After dinner we parked downtown and walked around. We could tell that earlier in the day the heat had been sweltering which made for a perfect summer night. The grass under our feet in the park was so spongy and soft I was tempted to walk in my bare feet. The town was hosting a carnival and a movie in the park, so we watched little kids run around with pillows, blankets, cotton candy, etc. It was a magical evening as the twinkle of stars and city lights littered the sky over all the activity. Hand in hand with Christopher in that lovely town, I felt relaxed and at peace.
As the sky began to darken, we opted to explore the mall. It was several stories high with a giant map of Washington inside the entrance. None of the stores were particularly unique, but we enjoyed walking around.
The next morning we arose in time for brunch and opted to eat at a cute little bakery and cafe called Madeleine's. The place was inspired by the owner's trip to Paris. I had some delicious french toast with creme and berries whereas Christopher chose a dish with hash brown-like potatoes and eggs. On our way back from the cafe, I noticed this funny set of "runners."
From the cafe, we started off on our last day. About halfway through, we found a cool patch of desert.
From there, our initial plans were to drive through Seattle and maybe stop for a bite to eat.
Unfortunately, the traffic really stressed Christopher out so we did not stay too long. We also made the poor choice of taking a bathroom break at a gas station downtown which turned out to be grungy. The staff was fairly disgruntled as well. When we walked out, a man asked for some money and we gave him a few dollars. In exchange he gave Christopher a talking mustache. He seemed like a very nice albeit strange fellow but we discarded the mustache later as we didn't have any idea where it had been. I did manage to get a picture of the Space Needle on our way out of the city.
(This picture does not accurately respresent the traffic.)
We ran into several bouts of rush hour so we didn't arrive in Portland until around 10pm.
When we arrived, Mom, Mike, and Gracie were excitedly waiting on the front porch. We exchanged long hugs and proceeded to get our basic luggage out of the car. Mom had prepared a delicious snack of fresh basil, mozzarella, and grape tomatoes on a stick. We munched on our food and told them a little bit about our trip. I was so excited to roll into a non-hotel bed that night!
Christopher stayed for about a week before heading back to California. We were able to visit some of my favorite parts of Oregon while he was here.
While driving through Astoria on our way to the beach, Christopher discovered that the house from the Goonies was here.
We stopped in Cannon Beach because Christopher had never seen the Monoliths towering over the water.
Most of the day was spent at one of our favorite "best kept secrets" on the Oregon coastline, Short Sand Beach.
Another day we drove up to Mt. Hood to hike and explore Timberline Lodge.
While we were there, a group of antique car owners was staying at the lodge. A few of the cars looked like something Jay Gatsby would have owned.
We also took a day to explore downtown Portland. There was a summer dance festival going on and I finagled Christopher into watch one of the dance classes. Little kids were running around in the water in front of the dance workshop.
Christopher engaged in a very short game of chess with himself.
Even though we had spent hours upon hours together in the car, neither of us wanted our grand trip to be over. We were blessed with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to explore the wide and lonely roads of the Mid-West, finding little gems along the way. Our horizons were broadened and our knowledge of the world around us deepened a bit. I cannot wait to see what life has in store next.
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