Road Trip: DAY 2

This is for the "boys"

July 12th:  Idaho to Montana 511 miles

Day 2:  Beds were quite comfy after the events of our first day on the road and don't recall much after hitting the pillow. The "main floor, no stairs reserved" resulted in the basement, followed by a recently cleaned carpet, still wet and carting our gear down stairs to the basement level-but once we got the air conditioning working, ourselves fed along with the pets, we all were exhausted and glad to put day 1 behind us.  Our four-legged friends were quite noisy while they slept, I have not experienced that much "snoring"-not that it mattered after we stopped laughing.

We decided the car needed a total "do-over" to make better use of the space, thus everything came out of the vehicle and onto the parking lot.  With some creative minds, (maybe it was the solid sleep), we proceeded to repack the gear and prioritize what went where.  The other guests probably thought we had both "lost it".  It is our hope the departures in the days ahead will become much quicker.  Dang, we should make it a "timed event".

A highlight was crossing the Continental Divide (6,323 feet) and watching the landscape transform before our eyes.  A few raptors were spotted, a osprey and a couple huge nests along the rivers and lakes, lily pads, a white heron, buzzards and a highlight was watching a "s" bird feeding young in a hollowed out tree while eating lunch.

The day ended with a nice sunset as we settle into our evening accommodations.

Weird Sights/Events of the Day:  

At our first stop of the day, we were greeted by a vehicle sporting an inventive method of attaching items to the top of the car and decided the give it the name "tarp car".  The car was pulling in as we were pulling out and thus it made it onto the highlights of the day.  Yesterday provided a lot more entertaining sights, but today they weren't as obvious, so we created some special ones:

1. Be careful when approaching a rest area with construction cones on the road, you may find yourself doing u-turns and driving the wrong way into the proper area.
2. If you see a sign describing "painting lines" on the freeway with caution cones down the middle of the highway, don't panic while going freeway speeds that you are in the far left lane and everyone else is in the right-Yes, you can successfully maneuver thru the cones at that speed and miss them.
3. When traveling with four-legged friends, do not be upset if you find them attempting to catch imaginary "flies" in the hotel room.
4. If you have a big cat, and know that the beds are solidly against the wall, don't panic if in the morning you can not find them anywhere and KNOW no one had left the room during the night. Just call the frontdesk to be told to "take the bed apart and you will most likely find the animal under the mattress"
5. If you do provide unique names to peculiar sights (i.e., "tarp car") be careful when you pull into rest areas or while moving down the road, you may find yourself either parking next to them or passing them on the freeway. Yes, we have photo's.

New Game:

Today we managed to pass thru 14 counties, we all made our "guesses" but never thought we would reach this high of a number-note to others who may play this game, if you have AAA trip tickets, do not look at the maps until after you have placed your guess (otherwise, the group may think you are "cheating"). 

OK-probably getting "text weary" for tonight.  Photos have been taken and will be uploaded later-just wanted to "update" folks who may be following our adventure.  We are enjoying the sights and can hardly wait for what Day 3 will bring....Sturgis...Mt. Rushmore....YES, the wallpaper machine will finally be brought out to capture the memories for ourselves and others.  The day started at 67 degrees, rose to a high of 104 and at last look it was 95 (yes, we are reminded that this heat is "dry heat").