Roadtrip! Day One

To start, I took Tuesday off from work so that we would have all day to get ready and pack, but the company picnic I was planning was the same day as the wedding I was going to be in on Saturday (yesterday) and I still had work to do on it before we could start our trip. So, I got to work at 7 AM on Tuesday, which was supposed to be the first day of my vacation, and spent the next 5 hours finishing up stuff I hadn't been able to before. When I finally got out of there, I picked up Jason and we went out shopping for the things we needed. Jason got a new pair of jeans, dress pants, prescription sunglasses, and a new pair of shoes, among other things. I had already got some new clothes the week before, but I got some new sunglasses for the roadtrip and some other things I can't seem to think of now.

Our new shades.

By the time we got home, it was around 11 PM and we had to grab the rabbits, all their gear, and head over to Jason's mom's house where they'll be staying until we get back. Of course by the time we got home, it was after 1 AM and we hadn't had any time to pack, so we left it for the morning.

In the morning, we were supposed to pick up the car at 7 AM, but weren't moving too quickly and didn't get the car until about 8:30 AM. Jason's mom was really nice and picked us up and took us to Bellevue to get the car. Then we headed to Twede's Cafe in North Bend; the location of the cafe in the tv show, Twin Peaks.

The slogan for the show's cafe was, "Cherry Pie and a Damn Fine Cup of Coffee." We didn't have any pie, but their coffee and their omelettes are pretty good. Maybe a little over-priced, but tasty.

Our plan was to make it to Billings, MT to spend the night. Along the way we stopped at the rest area we always seem to stop at and then went to the Costco in Spokane for lunch and to pick up snacks and drinks for the road.

Then it was just drive drive drive. However, because we left so much later than we had planned, and then stopped for breakfast, by the time we got to Butte, MT, about 300 miles from our planned stop in Billings, it was already about 11:30 PM and we were pretty tired. We had been planning on staying at a KOA because it would be the cheapest option, but it was late, we were tired, and we had been driving through some thunderstorms and didn't want to camp in the rain. We called the Holiday Inn Express, but they only had one room available: starting at $129, double queen beds, and a smoking room. We said thanks and hung up. There was a Super 8 in town, but it turned out that they were booked solid. We stopped at the Best Western, but they were booked solid. We called another hotel but they were full, too. One woman suggested that we check out this one hotel because it was likely the only place with rooms, but it sounded sketchy, so we decided to go to the KOA. However, when we got there, there were no Kabins available and we couldn't figure out where the available tent sites were, and then realized that we wouldn't even be able to blow up our air mattress because it was after quiet hours, and the pump is really loud. By this time we were near falling apart, we were so tired. So we called back the Holiday Inn Express, confirmed that they still had a room and went over there to spend the night. It was then about 1 AM.

I must say, Holiday Inn Express really takes care of their rooms. It must have been a smoking floor, because the hallway really smelled, but the smell in the room was really faint and it was clean.
Definitely worth the money and we got free breakfast.

The next morning we got up as early as we could and continued the trip.

Here's a picture I took as we passed Coeur d'Alene Lake.