It Was Wonderful --- but --- Glad to be HOME

October 13th Brad and I left our home very early and headed to Idaho Falls to meet up with Dale and Beverly for our trip to Maple Valley, Washington.  I have promised my sister for many years that I would come and visit her.  She has lived in her home at Maple Valley for over ten years and I know I had not been to Renton for at least twenty years.  When Dale call and asked if we would like to go if he did the driving how could we resist.  Having truck drivers for brothers is a very interesting situation.  They love to drive and drive and if it is in the west they have probably been there.

We headed north on I-15 for Missoula, Montana, then across the top of Idaho threw Couer d' lene and into Washington for a nights stay at Ritzville.  It was an amazingly beautiful drive.  The mountains were full of beautiful colors.  One very interesting sight was the Tamarack Tree.  It is like a pine tree but it turns yellow and then drops all of it's needles which grow back in the spring
­­Tamarack tree, or Eastern larch, is among the few conifers that lose their leaves in the Fall. They do so gracefully, taking on a beautiful fall coloration beforehand. The tamarack, native throughout northern North America, is underappreciated as a landscape tree. It is at least as interesting as many of the imported species often used in its place.­ ­

We took several rest stops during the trip ---- old age problems---- and now that Bev and Dale drive for Avis they have been taught that you must stop and walk around about every two hours so you do not get blood clots in your legs.  So we inspected many rest stops along the way as well as service stations.  This stop in Couer d' lene was the most beautiful ---- to bad no camping allowed because it was like being in the mountains.