On to Canada...I think

[MoparMom]

Last week my son and I decided to drive up to the Canadian border..just for the heck of it. So we departed the ranch at about 7AM and stopped in Lewiston for breakfast. At this point we had a choice of taking the 7% grade out of town and remaining on 95, but glancing at the map I locked into 27 out of Washinton. Having drived 95 constantly when you're going north it was the same old, same old. Once on 27 on top of the grade we entered into the most beautiful drive along the Wash. palouse(rolling hills of wheat) that resembled sand dunes as we traveled. It was breathtaking. We slowed through towns that were picture-perfect - small town - just quaint and lovely. Off in the distance every now and then I could get a glimpse of 95 maybe 6 or 7 miles across those hilly plains. We were entering back on to 95 south of Couer D'Alene and we left this peaceful drive and entered into the ususal jam packed traffic. Now here in came the shock...while on 27 I did not see For Sale signs on farms and homes. I did not see bars on windows to protect the place . I saw a little girl selling lemonade at a road side stand with her parents sitting on lawn chairs keeping a loving eye on her. I saw a couple walking their dog while pushing their baby in a stroller. I saw children playing in a park unattnede by an adult..because they were safe. I saw gentle people sitting on their front porches on their swings. I saw people chatting over fences to one another. I saw the America I love! Good people filled with love and enjoying the countryside that they live in. Once I headed north on 95 I saw none of this. Mike and I drove into Sandpoint..fighting the traffic and the throngs..and made it across the floating bridge into town. We ran smack into construction....and we turned right around and drove right on out of there...took 27 out of Spokane and went back into that peaceful setting. We gathered macro-economic data points (what we saw before our own eyes) and I can truly say, "keep your ostentatious casinos, your outrageous 24/7 behavior, your housing busts, your constant need to need one thing after another...I'll take the simple life in the country. God I love it. It was a eyes-wide open sort of a drive where you could see two different life styles. It was like jumping into l950 and back again in 2010. It was worth the experience.

[AH64ID]

That truly is a great drive. I really miss living on the Palouse.