Over the mountains…

by Jeff · September 7, 2016

And through the woods.

We got up Tuesday morning and did all those things that consist of breaking camp in a fifth wheel. Piper is easy to get everything stowed away, run the vacuum and get her travel ready. Unhook from the utilities and hook up the BEAST. We hit the dump station and head out on Highway 2. E started the drive, took us out of the camp and headed out so that I could call and check in with Dad and Mom. All well back in Lacey, so we drive on.

We got to Newport, Washington and decided we would like a coffee so E pulled us over in town and we got out to stretch our legs, find coffee and mail some post cards. A few years ago we started a “postcards from the road” activity. We have a couple staple folks whom we religiously send postcards to from almost every stop. This usually includes each of our parents, RP’s bachelor uncle in upstate New York, my granddaughters and a twitter friend who helped us out in a time of need by sending us a postcard (look him up on twitter @bjnemeth and @briscomutt). BJ is one of the truly kindest folks we have met in our travels. He is a globetrotter and all around genuinely nice guy.

At one intersection in Newport you suddenly find yourself in Idaho. You can tell by all the liquor stores.

looking back into Washington

Flynn perusing the booze adverts

So anyway, we got coffee and headed on out staying on highway 2. As we approached Bonners Ferry we decided we were hungry for lunch and RP started looking online for something unique. And boy, did she find it….

If you find yourself in Bonners Ferry, east of town on Highway 2 is a place called the Bread Basket Bakery.

Get yourself in here. Whether you are hungry or not, they have food to entice. Home made breads containing fresh deli meats and cheeses along with a ton of condiments and free add on ingredients. We both had hand made full sandwiches with a drink and chips for 16 bucks. This is a full service bakery also. They offer for sale their breads, fresh pastries and other baked goods. We bought a sticky bun and a filled pastry to go for dessert and a garlic loaf that is basically a big cinnamon roll wheel with garlic, cheese and butter. We had this later with pulled pork for dinner and it was fabulous.

With our hunger sated and snacks saved for later we pointed Beastie Boy east on Highway 2 again…destination Lakeview, Montana. While driving through the upper panhandle of Idaho I am struck by a couple things. We are back in the country of whitetail deer and Turkeys. Almost every mile we see another flock of wild turkeys, sometimes in groups of 6 and sometimes in flocks large enough to make counting difficult. We pass one absolutely comical sight and of course can’t get a camera in play quick enough to capture….A flock of over 20 turkeys in a cow pasture and one of the cows running and bucking through the flock. It looked like the cow was trying to herd the turkeys. So, my lasting impression of the northern Idaho panhandle is of Turkeys and a really GREAT bakery.

We have reservations at the Edgewater RV Resort and Motel. I know, it’s an in town side by side RV park. It does have great amenities and is right across the road from access to Flathead Lake. We pulled in and Fran got us all signed up and gave us the local propaganda literature (tourist brochures) and we got Piper set up in no time on the flat, level gravel pad of our wide pull through site. Perusing the tourist info I see what we kind of expect by taking our vacation this late in the season. Most of the tours and guided things in the area are over for the season. Labor Day weekend is usually the last hurrah for these northern climates where the nights are dipping into the 30’s and the days may not see a temperature of 60 degrees f.

We took a little break and then decided to head out for one of the reasons we came to the area. We are about 14 miles from Bigfork, Montana. This little lakeside town is home to the Todd Brunson Montana Classic Poker Tournament (toddbrunson.com or twitter @toddbrunson). Todd is the son of poker legend Doyle Brunson and he and his wife Anjela have taken over the Marina Cay dining area for the venue. We are early, as the tournament doesn’t really start until Saturday but we want to meet and greet and get our feet wet with the cash games happening. We have been following Todd, Anjela and Doyle on twitter and in the news for years and have really wanted to meet them.

We walk into the room and see two poker tables going. One is a cash game and the other is a satellite tournament. Anjela is running the chip sales and sitting in the cash game. Todd is, of course, unmistakable with his beard and huge smile and also sitting in the cash game. We walk up and introduce ourselves and he has a big handshake and welcoming manner for us. They sell us chips and both E and I sit in the game with a little trepidation at first because most of these players usually play nose bleed stakes, no limit poker. It turns out fairly quickly that this is more of a home game style than the cut throat games we usually play in in the casinos. All of the players are genuinely welcoming and we engage in both witty repartee and general conversation with all of them. The locals were quick with advice on our other reason to be in this area, visiting Glacier National Park. Thanks to Ray Zee for his insight and looking up the local weather to help us plan the best day this week to drive the Going To the Sun Road. We play for about three hours and leave basically even money for the session, parting ways with our fellow players with promises to see each other on the morrow for more poker and fun. We are rich, though, in our new acquaintances and the stories and jokes shared with them. We animatedly talk all the way back to Piper and have dinner. We might enter into the satellite tournament being held on Wednesday, it kind of depends on how we feel at the time. We will definitely be back to play for cash.

One goal checked off the list for this stop. My view of the mountains, looking up toward Glacier this morning (Wednesday) is totally obscured by clouds. We are going to complete some housekeeping tasks this morning and then get on with the day.