After 14 months of living at sea level in the Pacific Northwest, Eastern Washington and North Idaho might as well have been the Sahara Desert. For over a year our de-humidifier ran constantly in order to keep the inside of the RV dry and free from mold. Now in the late summer arid climate we found ourselves remembering what it is to wake up with dry sinuses and the pungent aroma of sagebrush triggered unrelenting sneezing attacks. To add to the shock we found ourselves in the wildfire smoke for the first time in over a year. The De-humidifier was put in storage and our portable air cleaner was put back into use.
Our first stop on the East side of the Cascade mountains was at the Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park on the upper Columbia River. We pulled in well after dark, exhausted from the previous day’s truck breakdown coming out of Seattle and even though we had a two night stay we never unhooked the trailer and we didn’t venture out to actually see the petrified forest. From there we pushed on to our next reserved campsite at the Coeur D’Alene Fairgrounds RV Park where we stayed for five nights. Tammy grew up in Spokane and a family reunion of sorts had been planned around her Cousin’s wedding. Her parents and brother brought their camper up from Colorado and it was quite a celebration to be back together again. And then as we crossed the border into Montana it really began to sink in that we were not only headed back to our home state of Colorado, we were also beginning the long journey across the United States to our winter destination in Florida.
