2 RV's to Junction City OR

... spending the night at Pasco WA ...

Breakfast ... 2 yogurts, juice. BB had hard boiled eggs and cereal.

Very few cars in the lot, no trucks, two pickups with trailers were parked next to us.

BB finally decided not to risk it and instead get fuel for her RV here. Her range showed she had 50 miles to spare, but there are hills and very few gas stations in the next 100 miles.

Just a few miles after we leave the hotel we see an elk on the side of the road. Biggest, most intact one I've ever seen dead.

Deer Lodge, from the freeway, it looks like the 4B's is still open :)

1st stop (for me) was for to-go food in Missoula at the Wheat Montana Farms & Bakery. There is a line. We are getting our food to go because we will be taking our break at the rest area. I've gotten lots of good things here, but today I want something to eat 'cold.' I get a ham and swiss on a croissant. BB gets a salad.

1st stop, part 2. We go across the street for fuel at the Flying J. Sometimes we get huge discounts, today it is just a token. Single digit. And the pump was fun. I typed in my info and looked at the screen and it had two numbers on the screen where it should have had six. I tried again, this time watching the screen. I typed in '6' and the screen showed '63.' I erased the '3' and typed '0' and the screen now showed '601.' And then it said to see cashier. I did. RV was only down to 1/4 of a tank of fuel and took over 60 gallons. Based on that ... E is E, no spare fuel.

Then I restarted my pump using my personal credit card. It asks for a truck number, I type in '1' and it shows '13.' I left it. The DEF also showed 1/4 tank and I was able to put in over 9 gallons in what I had assumed was a 10 gallon tank. 45 minutes from when we got to this exit, we are ready to leave. New Loves on a different corner of the exit. Now TA, Loves, Flying J and a Ma-Pa place on the four corners.

A 'no stop' at the rest area near Superior. I had just pulled out of the truck stop from fueling when I realized I had not gotten my Idaho permit out. I like to have them within reach in case the scale wants to look at them through the window. Quick stop, turns out I had had them within reach, just didn't know where.

We pull in to the scale, but it looks like the shades are all down. We stop at the stop sign, and the light stays green as we cross the scale. We keep going.

2nd stop is at the Saltese rest area at the bottom of Lookout Pass. We eat our lunch and watch the RV's go past. Still seeing a few bikes and even fewer semi's.

On the down hill side of one of the passes, I had been passing someone on the up side and was still in the left lane so I hadn't gotten slowed down before heading down the hill. And I didn't have the cruise set, not that this cruise holds the speed, it does not at all. So I had to ride the brakes a lot and could smell them for a long time after we got back to flat land.

Didn't want to do that again so I started out at the top of the hill at 45 mph and got behind a semi doing less than that on the down grade. Starting out slow helps, but I was still on the brakes, 55 mph, then 65 as soon as the road was straight.

Wallace, this is where we would have had to eat if we hadn't gotten our food back in Missoula. Instead we sail right over it. This section of freeway was not completed until 1991. I think my road trip with the kids was around then.

3rd stop is at the Flying J in Post Falls for BB to fuel.

I have permits for WA and OR and BB will not even have to cross the scales. We plan on meeting up in Ritzville at the truckstop. I cross the scale but no problems. But that does put BB ahead of me, speed limit is 60 mph so I am not going to gain on her until we are long out of town.

It is only 1 PM local so we are going to keep going. First I notice one Choice hotel co-branded with Main Stay Suite, then a second. There had been a Ma and Pa 'Porn Hotel' next to the Flying J in Spokane. Their Marquee sign always seemed to say something about 'XXX.' Now the motel is gone and a new Choice hotel is there. So new that it doesn't show up on the Google areal maps.

I do finally catch up to BB about 20 miles before Ritzville.

4th stop is at the Loves in Ritzville for a restroom break. Crowded place, we park with the trucks instead of the cars.

Lots of memories this route. 43 years ago. I'm not sure which date, but close. It was in the fall after rye harvest in MN that I came out here the first time to work their potato and beet harvest. Lots has changed. I now have grand kids older than I was then.

5th stop is a Shell station / King City truck stop in north Pasco. It is next to a Flying J, a Broadway Flying J, and this Flying J is the worst of the worst. Small and congested, like a convenience store trying to fit in some existing building. BB fuels at the Shell, final fuel. Then we do drive over to the Flying J because there is a food truck in the lot. It is closed.

Then I make the mistake of pulling into a dirt lot. That should always be a no-no. No damage as far as I could see, but lots of craters to drive around or through. And this is supposed to be the truck parking for Burger King. I finally made it back on the street and into the paved lot. We order inside and get food to go.

6th and final stop is the Sleep in in Pasco. I stop at the front desk to ask where 'truck parking' is. Pretty much anywhere you can find it, or across the street in a dirt lot. I found a place. Actually lots of room in the back and on the side. Only the front had more than one car. I park the first open spot heading out.

This place has us order our breakfast from a check list. Beats a grab bag with lots of food we don't want.

We are now 300 miles from our final motel. Two truck stop stops tomorrow. Should only be one scale to cross if it is open, the others are not usually open. We've stayed at both Choice motels in Eugene. Either one works. Drop is 15 miles from the motel. Airport is half way between.

Load board

US - 204

IA - 72

MN - 6

WI - 6