Eastward Ho! - Day One: Seattle to Coeur d'Alene

And so we left the west coast. After an afternoon of packing and packing and packing, and then a frantic few minutes trying to remember how to fix the roof box back on, and how everything got into the car in the first place, we saddled up and headed east.

We have been told to try to stay off the Interstates but it wasn't to be for this stage of our journey. Partly because we had over 700 miles to cover in two days and partly because there aren't actually that many other options where we were heading. So onto 90 we went, towards Spokane (pronounced Spo-kan) in the east of Washington State. We passed through the Cascades quickly and down onto wide plains with many windmills.

Brunch was found thanks to the very nice young woman at the Clinique counter in Nordstrom, Seattle. The Yellow Church Cafe is worth a visit should you ever find yourself in Ellensburg, WA. Ham, poached eggs, homestyle potatoes, buttermilk biscuit (what Brits would call a scone). I was happily stuffed. We also stopped at her suggestion at the Wild Horses Monument, overlooking the Columbia River, before heading onwards along very straight roads.

Spokane appeared eventually and we passed by on our way to our first stop in Coeur d'Alene (pronounced Kor da Lane - after some dispute and suggestions from English speakers of various nationalities, I received a tweet from a resident who ended the discussion). Our motel had a pool and jacuzzi - so the girls got the chance to show off their new found confidence and practice trying to swim. And I got to sit in the jacuzzi and "relax and think about things" as Millie put it.

Dinner was at Fire Artisan Pizza - really good pizza in a hip restaurant which is clearly a recent and very popular addition to the town. Staff were a little hipper than the clientele!

And so to bed, with Lottie who takes up the most room in a double bed of all the family!