July 17

Left Nelson about 7:30 so as to get to the border early.  It's only about 40 miles away, but  I didn't know how busy it might be and wanted to allow myself some time.  The crossing I picked is not on a major route, but it is on a fun to drive one.  Partly cloudy, temps in the 60s, curvy two lane road, and a border crossing where only one car was in front of me and it was about to move on.  My check took only a few minutes, and through I went.  Picked up a Washington scenic highway and headed off to Spokane, looking for a place to grab breakfast.

There were a few places I refused to stop.  One said, "Restaurant - Grub and More."  What's that mean?  Grubs and slugs?  A few miles down the road was a sign that said "Rest & Rant."  I don't know what was on offer, food or mental health services.  As I kept looking, I saw a turkey family cross the road single file, dad, six or seven chicks, and mom.  Very cute.  Kept looking for a restaurant because the handful of nuts and berries from the night before was a rapidly fading shadow of a memory.  Passed through several small towns that couldn't support a restaurant and some that could but did't seem to meet my high standards.  For example, a low probability of food poisoning.  Drew closer to Spokane.  Here were restaurants, but on the other side of the widening road.  Picky.

Saw more turkeys.

Got into Spokane, but did not want to park the bike in busy lots or on the street.  Drove down to Pullman, but as I was headed for friends in Moscow, didn't stop there.  Finally made to Deb and Dale's house, which I'd not seen before.  Dale and I went into town where I had an omelet.  22 hours after my last meal, if you don't count the nuts and berries.  Surprisingly, I was hungry, but not too hungry.

Deb and Pat go back many years when Deb was an attorney for Micron and Pat handled employment law cases for the company.  Deb and Dale are both very outdoorsy people, hiking and camping and boating and skiing.  They each left their respective jobs, Dale was with HP, and moved to McCall where they built a beautiful big house on the river south of town.  It's on the market now because Deb took a position with the U of I, hence their house in Moscow.  By the way, they have a cute little place in Boise on the market, too.  Contact me for details.

Dale and I sat around Talking for a bit, I took a little nap, then Deb got home and they fed me grilled salmon, potato, mushrooms and veggies.  And a wee bit of wine.  Then after chatting a bit more, I went to bed.

Life is good.