Washington Desert |
We soon refound 395 and got back on track. We were now headed north through a desert area of Washington. Lots of grape vines and lava out-croppings. Yes, lots of lava flows in this part of the state. Remember, Mt. St. Helens is here in Washington, meaning this state has recently active volcanos! About 50 miles out of Spokane we start seeing pine trees. It’s not long before we are in dense pine forests again.
Moutain Tsunami! |
After Spokane comes the Idaho panhandle. This part of Idaho is very different from the southern part of the state. We’re steadily climbing up through dense pine forests and there are mountain peaks all around us. We round our northernmost part of our trip in Idaho, now our primary directions are east and south.
Big Sky Country |
Idaho is only about 70 miles wide here and soon we go through a 4700 foot pass and enter Montana. More mountains and pine forests and after about 30 miles we’re joined by the Fork River which twists back and forth along our I-90 route. About an hour into the state, we start entering wide valleys with rounded green peaks and with lots of cattle. This is Big Sky country and it’s beautiful!
Butte, Montana is our destination and we arrive here early evening. Butte was a famous wild-west mining town, almost the stereotype for such towns. Thousands of men worked in the gold, copper and silver mines and the town did what it could to support them and to take their hard-earned money. Most businesses were open 24 hours, including the red-light district which didn’t close until 1982.
Headframes |
Mona had done some research on where to eat, settling on The M&M Cigar Store. This restaurant received great online reviews and one review talked about Brian, the bartender and how he made the meal special. I was a bit skeptical, but hey, if it’s online it must be fine, right!?!
Outside the door of the M&M is a plaque denoting that this restaurant is on the National Historic Register! It dates back to 1870 when it was a saloon open 24 x 7 to support the miners. It was owned by several different men and each new owner had a ceremony where they broke the keys to the door because this saloon never closed. It was renamed from M&M Saloon to M&M Cigar Store during Prohibition. They didn’t stop serving alcohol, they just changed the name to “conform” with the law.
Inside the M&M |
After dinner we decide to visit one of the many casinos in the city. Montana has a very different take on casinos. Unlike Illinois and Missouri, Montana doesn’t require a riverboat base for gambling. Here, casinos are everywhere and combined with the strangest things. You’ll see signs like: “Gas, tires, steaks and casino!” Or “Tobacco, Motel Casino and Gas!” Lots of interesting combinations. We visited the casino at our “Gas, Tobacco, Casino and Hotel” and were warmly greeted by the two guys who ran the place. There was a poker table in the front with about ten cowboys playing Texas Hold Em. In the back were about 20 machines, each with different variations of Keno or Poker. No funny penguins nor chattering monkeys on these machines! We had never played Keno so tried our hand at that…cost us about $3.50 in losses for our visit, but that was more than compensated for by the free chardonnay!
Time for bed! Tomorrow….more Montana!
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