July 9, 2012 - St Regis, MT - Campground

We awoke in Kelowna to a red sky.  You know that means rain.  We got up early and were on the road by 6:40 AM.  We had discussed riding US Rt 12 from Missoula to Walla Walla.  It is supposed to be a great road, and it will lead us back into Washington towards Olympic NP.  There is no easy way to get back to the states from where we are.  We choose a route and go.  The ride was good and we hit a little rain on the way.  There was just enough to spot the windshields, but black clouds were looming everywhere.  We were able to skirt the rain and cross into the US without issue.  YEAH…we are back in the US. 

We stopped Spokane to get a prescription refill for Don.  What a pain to make that happen.  It took over an hour to get the pharmacy to pharmacy coordination completed.  We stopped at WalMart for some supplies and headed out.  We jumped on the interstate and headed towards Missoula.  This is the first time we had been on any sort of four-lane road in maybe 4,000 miles.  We had a few four-lane sections in some small towns, but no interstate type road. 

View of Lake Okanagan In the Morning

Another View of Lake Okanagan In the Morning

Campground In St Regis, MT - Back int the USA!!!

Plaque on One of the Historic Buildings In the St Regis Campground.
A Brothel, an Assay Office, and a Dry Goods Store were Among the Buildings Here

We were commenting to each other how the traffic and roads have changed since coming into the US.  Two days ago, we passed maybe 50 cars all day on Route 97 in upper BC.  Now we have hundreds of cars in our sights and civilization is everywhere. 

We are going to take it easy for the next couple of days and just enjoy the US roads and scenery.  I am guessing we may be in Olympic NP in two days or so.  We plan to stop at a few attractions like the Grand Coulee Dam.

I need to find a motel where I can use their computer to send the next report.  When we get home, I will populate our blog with all the daily reports I have sent.  I will add all the pictures to support the blog entries and then everyone can review it with pictures after the fact.  It will beat sending out all the pictures on an email with no description or association to the journal.