We woke up to a beautiful, sunny morning at our campsite near Columbia Falls, Montana. We did not take much time to enjoy it because our plans were to head to Idaho that day. We took a few pictures and packed up the car.

Our first stop was at Glacier Outdoor Center for showers. We had remembered it from our previous visit and were looking forward to nice hot showers before getting back on the road. Showers are $8 each which is a little high but that includes a towel and toiletries. The facilities are really clean and well maintained and it is so nice not to have a time limit or have to feed quarters into a machine. To make the experience even better, there was a coffee hut right in the parking lot. Aside from the showers, the store offers a nice selection of outdoor clothing and supplies.

We took advantage of the wifi and enjoyed our coffees at the little outdoor tables before setting off toward Idaho. We were there briefly back in July but did not have much time to explore as we needed to be in Colorado at the end of July for a quick flight home for a few days. We were looking forward to checking out some of the places people had recommended including Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint.

Oh, wait, one more stop first. We drove through Hungry Horse, Montana and remembered there was a restaurant there that sold elk burgers. Elk is one of the few types of meat Francis has not tried yet so we had to stop for lunch at Elkhorn Grill. He had the elk burger and I had a bison sloppy joe with jalapeno cheddar cheese. I loved mine and the portion was big enough that I saved half for later. Francis enjoyed the elk but decided he prefers bison.

Coeur d’Alene was a little further than we wanted to drive in one day so we stopped for the night at a free campsite in the forest in Troy, Montana. It was a nice spot near a river and a short hike to a small waterfall. The waterfall was very pretty and it was blissfully cool in the forest. It was a great spot to spend one night before continuing our journey.

We were woken early by the sound of logging trucks so we figured we might as well go ahead and get back on the road with Coeur d’Alene as our destination. As always, we enjoyed our drive through the forest looking for wildlife and taking in the scenery.

We arrived in Coeur d”Alene in the early afternoon. It is a good sized city with plenty of places to eat and shop. We were anxious to get into the forest and find a place to spend the night so we opted for a quick meal from KFC. That was a mistake. The food was not fresh and was extremely salty. The day pretty much went downhill from there. We were not crazy about the first campground we came to in the forest. It was a little pricey and not particularly scenic so we decided to look for a dispersed spot in the forest. Unfortunately, the places we found were all full of trash campers had left behind. Finally, after what seemed like hours of aimless driving, we settled on a spot to spend the night. Nothing special but it was trash free. Still thirsty from our KFC meals and a bit out of sorts from the frustrating drive, we settled in for a hot night sleep in the jeep as there was no place to pitch a tent. Oh well, you can’t win them all. Tomorrow is another day.