It’s always nice to be with grandma, the days fly by as usual. Grandma is right when she tells me on the last day that it was too short, but I still have a lot of traveling left to do. On Thursday I hit the road again, heading west in the direction of Washington. I drive the whole day, about ten hours and 550 miles, which is about 900 kilometers. I cross Idaho again for a moment and make a quick stop in the town of Sandpoint. Last week I had lost my San Diego hat, quite a bummer, but I got an idea of where I might have left it. I go to a restaurant where I had dinner with my friends the other day and ask if they found a hat. “That one there?”, the lady behind the counter asks me and she points to a hat hanging on a nail in the wall. I answer with a big smile and confirming that it’s my hat. I’m glad I got it back and then I continue driving west. I’m driving a lot more than I normally do, but I want to get to Washington today and so I keep going. Early in the evening I find a Walmart in the town of Colville. The parking lot is next to a wide open field and looks peaceful to stay for the night. Another camper is already parked and I have a quick chat with him asking about the place. He tells me that he’s a Native American and camps here for weeks in a row, so it’s fine. I get some food for dinner at Walmart, watch some tv and then head to bed.
At 5am I wake up again from my alarm and see that it’s already light outside. In Washington state it’s an hour earlier than in Montana, so that matches with the time I had sunrise walks there around 6am. I get up, get dressed and brush my teeth and continue driving. It’s a peaceful drive this morning. For a while I have the whole road for myself, except from a few deers. Just like yesterday it’s raining again, but somehow I’ve learned to love the rain. I have bluegrass music playing and drive not so fast. From time to time my thoughts go to work or other things and then and I bring myself back to this moment. I’m reminded of a quote I heard sometime “The moment you notice that you’re not here, you’re present.” In other words, when you catch yourself thinking about other things than what you’re doing right now, that’s when you’re back in the present moment.
I’m driving state highway 20 in Washington and it’s one of the most beautiful drives of this trip. It’s winding through mountains and forests and the landscape changes continuously. It’s at times like these that I really enjoy driving just for the sake of driving, not to get somewhere. I enjoy the scenery while I drive and after a few hours I arrive in the town of Winthrop. It’s an old miners town that’s now a touristic place, but it’s not too busy since it’s so small. I park my car and walk around at Main Street. They have what I think you call boardwalks. Wooden sidewalks in front of the stores. All the buildings are made of wood and look old, like in one of those western movies. Of course I make a visit to their little bookstore and then I sit down at the coffee place to enjoy a cappuccino and a cinnamon roll, before I write this story.
While driving yesterday and today I thought about that I want to slow down a bit in the coming days. I had a fantastic time in Montana, but it was also quite active with work in the mornings and social activities the rest of the day. I think I’ll take it easier in the coming days with just some driving and hiking. Because I drove so far yesterday I have some time on my hands now and can slowly make my way back through Washington, Oregon and California.
