8/27/12 -- Out of the Smoke, Mostly

I didn't really intent to post more than once a day but wanted to thank all of you for your prayers for our journey.  It went well.

We encountered thick smoke near Bearmouth MT where a fire burned north of us and in Missoula MT, an ancient lake, a bowl, that catches smoke from two or more states.  We ran the air conditioning most of the day and that kept us breathing well.

The mountains were beautiful, even through the smoke.  They feed our spirits.

One extra bright spot today was a rest stop just east of Superior MT.  The Superior United Methodist Church had a canopy and a table where they offered coffee, orange drink and cookies, their gift to those of us who travel.  We chatted with them and found out that the young woman at the table was to finish high school next year, then hopes to come out to Portland OR for college.  She wants to be a doctor.  When we talked to her more, we discovered that everyone calls her by her nickname -- Cat.  That's our granddaughter Kelsey's handle, only she spells it Katt.  It was a moment of delight and we journeyed on, smiling.

I drove 6.5 hrs today.  That is a record.  I am getting stronger.

We are camped by a river (and the freeway) in a nice rustic campground in Cataldo, Idaho, just east of Cour de Lene, ID.  Tomorrow, we'll enter Washington state and head north.  Isn't that what you do?  When you want to go south, you head north?

We intent to take state hwy 20 all the way across the Cascade Mountains, and then, well, keep watching the blog to see what we are going to do after that!

We are doing well, enjoying our trip and each other!  Sorry, no pictures today.  Catch the next blog to see where we are!