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We left Seattle in the middle of a heat wave—temperatures were in the low 90s–rather hot for that part of the state. Temperatures out in eastern Washington, where we were headed, were even higher. When we lived in Tucson we were accustomed to those soaring triple digits but now, after two years of following mild weather, we are officially weather wimps. I have always been a cold weather wimp (I have no problem admitting that) but now I must also admit that I am a hot weather wimp.

Our drive to Spokane on I-90 was rather uneventful. We briefly considered stopping off and exploring the Yakima Valley but the withering heat was not inviting so we kept driving. Quite possibly the only item of note was passing the road that led to the town of George. As in their address is George, Washington. We had passed by there in 2006 when Lisa and Gino took us to see the Dave Matthews Band at the Gorge, a large outdoor amphitheater on the bluffs of the Columbia River. According to Lisa, I found the town’s name to be just as hysterical back then as I do now. And, yes, the town, like the state, was named in honor of that George Washington.

Upon reaching Spokane we again discussed stopping and exploring but the oppressive heat made us bee line to our RV park where we hoped for some shade. We did make a mental note of the exit for the Spokane International Airport since that was one of the reasons we chose our location in nearby Hayden, Idaho. I had an upcoming trip to visit family in Ohio and Lance was to fly to Los Angeles for a meeting. We opted not to stay at a park in Spokane, though, for two reasons: one, we wanted to be that much closer to Glacier National Park and two, the little RV park that we found in Hayden was quite a bit cheaper.

Even though we were both quite busy preparing for our respective trips I do wish we had found time to tour Spokane (pronounced “spo-CAN”). Derived from the name of a local tribe Spokane means “Children of the Sun.” The first American settlers arrived at the tiny fur trading post known as “Spokan Falls” in 1871. In 1883 the town name changed to Spokane Falls and in 1891 Falls was officially dropped. Spanning the Spokane River the city grew rapidly with an economy based on lumber, mining, and agriculture. Spokane is now the largest city in the Inland Empire, a region that includes Montana, Idaho, and eastern Washington.

As we turned off I-90 and headed north on US 95 we were in familiar territory, though I did not remember it. I do not have the same capacity for memorizing road names and numbers as Lance does, but this time he was incredulous, “You really don’t remember this?” As I vehemently shook my head “no” Lance tossed out hints: “road trip,” “2002,” “arguing about where to eat.” And then it hit me, how could I ever forget that!

Let me set the stage for you: we were a young couple, in our second year of marriage, on a coast-to-coast road trip, low on funds, and short on time. Looking back it was such a crazy idea! But we both loved to travel (and this was long before we figured out how to make a living working from the road in an RV), so we planned a marathon trip to visit friends and family. We visited Danny, Brendan, and Josiah and Heidi in California, Lisa and Gino in Oregon, sped around Olympic National Park, spent an afternoon in Seattle, and were on our way to Glacier National Park. So we were on an extremely long drive from the Seattle area to Glacier when IT happened.

Lance was driving and as he turned off I-90 onto US 95 I suggested that we stop and grab a quick bite to eat because we were heading into no-man’s land. For a reason I can’t recall—but that was perfectly valid to Lance—he kept on driving. We were both tired and I know I was famished (he must have been too) so I began to complain (and nag and whine, so he says). Finally spotting a fast-food-type establishment, Lance pulled into the parking lot. It was a chain where they deep-fried everything, and I was far less than pleased, but I stepped out of the car and began walking. Okay, okay… stomping across the parking lot. I assumed Lance was right behind me but instead of hearing a car door slam I heard the engine rev and tires squeal. I turned around in time to see Lance driving off down the highway in a cloud of dust…

So there I was: standing in a parking lot, in the middle of nowhere, with nothing, not even enough money to make a phone call. Feeling completely helpless I remained standing in the parking lot. It felt like an eternity but Lance swears it was only ten minutes before he returned. Over our (greasy and gross) lunch we discussed the “incident” and apologized to each other. Now, of course, we look back on it and laugh. Ah, memories!

Without incident this time we settled into our RV park near Hayden about 20 miles north of Coeur d’Alene (Americans pronounce it “core-duh-LANE”, which annoys the heck out of a Francophone I know). There are several theories about the origin of the name but the one that seems to have the most credence is that French traders found the native people to be shrewd bargainers. The French therefore referred to them as “sharp-hearted” (the term literally means “heart of the awl”). CDA, as the locals call it, was founded in the 1870s on the north shore of scenic Lake Coeur d’Alene. Though it retains its small town feel CDA is the largest city in the Idaho Panhandle. CDA, and other towns in the Panhandle, make a living off of agriculture, gold and silver mining, timber, and increasingly, tourism.

The Idaho Panhandle is a narrow neck of land that was created in 1864 when Montana became its own territory. The sliver of land that divides Washington and Montana is virtually cut off from the rest of the state by rugged mountains which has prompted several proposals over the years to either make it a separate state by itself or join it with a section of eastern Washington to make the “Land of Lincoln.” I’m sure it will never happen but just think if it did: we could rename Montana to Roosevelt, and if northern California broke away and became Jefferson like was attempted previously—we could have states named after all four of the men that are memorialized on Mount Rushmore!

As for the Hayden and Hayden Lake area where we were staying there is not a whole lot to talk about. Unfortunately, the one thing the area is most famous for is as the location of the Aryan Nation compound. The violent white supremacist group was based near Hayden Lake for close to thirty years. In 2000 the group was forced to turn over their compound as the result of a lawsuit. The land changed hands several times before it was donated to a local college which is in the process of turning the land into a “peace park.” A fitting end to that story, don’t you think?

We were not only staying in Idaho, and the Inland Empire, but we were also smack in the middle of the Palouse. Palouse is derived from yet another French term, pelouse, meaning “land with short and thick grass”, a name which referred to the once vast prairie of eastern Washington, northern Idaho, and southwestern Montana. This very fertile region was created during the last Ice Age as loess that was blown in from the south and west settled in hummocky hills. Much of the rolling terrain is planted in wheat fields, although the Palouse is also the main lentil producing region in the country.

As you can imagine, with us both preparing for our separate trips, we did not have a lot of spare time to go exploring. We did maintain our habit of spending a few hours outside every evening, weather permitting. We took advantage of a nearby bike path and one evening we drove up to nearby Farragut State Park. The sprawling park, which includes several campgrounds, cabins, a museum, equestrian corrals, miles of hiking, biking and riding trails, picnic areas, a boat launch, and three disc golf courses, occupies the site of the former Farragut Naval Training Station.

Located at the southern end of Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced “pawn-duh-RAY”), close to 300,000 sailors received basic training at Farragut between 1942 and 1945. With a population of 55,000 the base was the second-largest naval training center in the world and the largest city in Idaho. After World War II ended the base was decommissioned, and in 1963 the land was transferred to the state. Owing to the lake’s depth the Navy still operates the Acoustic Research Detachment—testing submarine prototypes—in the nearby community of Bayview.

Lake Pend Oreille was, like so many places in this region, named by the French, again in honor of a local people. The term translates as ear-hanging or pendant, which is something the Kalispell Indians traditionally wore. The deep lake was created by two powerful yet dramatically different forces; the west side of the lake was gouged out by a massive slow-moving glacier while the east side was scoured out by extensive flooding.

Multiple times during the last Ice Age a dam of solid ice formed across the Clark Fork River creating Glacial Lake Missoula, an immense impoundment of water. The problem with having a dam made out of ice is that as the water pressure behind the dam increases, the melting point of the ice decreases. Once the lake reached a certain size, the dam weakened and then burst, discharging catastrophic floods across eastern Washington all the way to western Oregon. The rushing waters scoured Idaho and eastern Washington creating an area known as the Channeled Scablands and deepening and widening the Columbia River Valley. As the water slowed further to the west it deposited the sediment it had accumulated—leaving behind a deep, rich soil. These flood events, known collectively as the Missoula Floods, rushed at over two billion gallons per second and occurred a mind-boggling twenty-five times!

So that explains why the Willamette Valley is so fertile and produces such amazing wine! See, that is precisely what we love about traveling: learning new things not only about new places but old familiar ones too.

Dates: We stayed in Hayden, Idaho from 08/17/08 to 09/06/08.