Mt. Vernon, WA to Coeur d' Alene, ID - part 2

My stay at the hotel in Mt. Vernon was not one of my favorite evenings. Hotel was a mess, they had my reservation screwed up, air conditioner did not work (it was 97 degrees outside), and my door broke:

In the previous post I forgot to mention the fires. There have been several places where there was evidence of a recent fire. As I left Mt. Vernon, I could smell something in the air. I thought I was near a paper mill. Soon I saw signs saying "base camp for fire jumpers, next left". Then I rounded a corner and found myself in the middle of a war zone. Everything was burned and burned very recently. There were foundations of houses, a completely burned out motor home and brand new telephone poles, their predecessors laying mangled along the road. You see this stuff on the news but it doesn't have the impact of seeing it in person.


Once I left the Cascades, I headed towards Coeur d' Alene. I took all back roads and my intermediate stop was the grand coolie dam. All of a sudden, the landscape changed dramatically. Lush green was replaced by brown as far as you could see. It was like a desert, but instead of sand, it was wheat / hay fields forever. At first, the scenery was stunning. Then the boredom set in as I could see the thin ribbon of asphalt going over the horizon.  Ok, time to crank up throttle and blast through this Teenage Wasteland.  Then there was this ominous warning:

I'm thinking WTF, I rode 700 miles on a bald tire:

Side comment. We are cleaning up moms house and one of my sisters claimed that the Spy vs. Spy books were hers. Shit, she wasn't even born when I bought them. Tks uncle David for introducing me to Alfred.

Finally arrived at the grand coolie dam. Not as impressive as Hoover dam, which I think is one if the top 10 engineering feats I have seen. Conversely, the lake behind the coolie dam was quite full compared to the pictures of Lake Mead I have viewed recently.

Finally arrived at the outskirts of Coeur d' Alene, got lost as usual, then finally found my hotel. Too tired to go out, had ramen noodles and a power bar for dinner.

I didn't sleep well because I was trying to decide what route I would take the next day; north to Sandpoint (home of bankrupt Coldwater  Creek clothing) or south to a route recommended by a guy I met on the ferry.