What a ride this trip has been so far! Diana and I are tucked in for the night here in Missoula, where the outside temperature is 104.
Getting reliable internet has been a sketchy endeavor for the past few days, and phone coverage not always reliable either. Ah, the mountains!
so... Let's see. Where were we? Ah yes. My sis and I enjoyed a delightful visit and stay with friends; Tina Welling and her husbsand, John, at their charming cabin in Jackson Hole last Wednesday. Thank you again, my friends, for your warm hospitality. Lovely.
On Thursday we drove to Council, Idaho. Parts of that drive were breathtaking. We caught ourselves singing America the Beautiful (that whole purple mountain majesty bit, you know) and This Land Is Your Land (that ribbon of highway, endless skyway, golden valley bit) and alternating between squealing with delight over every new and glorious view, and sucking all the oxygen out of the atmosphere. We drove for a long time along the Snake River, saw a moose in a field, visited a lovely little quilt shop that doubles as a museum, missed running over a big coyote with glossy fur and a wiley grin (no anvils in sight!), stopped to view Shoshone Falls, saw Prairie Hawks, Magpies, Ferruginous Hawks, an eagle, a fake owl, and more miles of sunburned prairie than I could imagine.
We didn't care for the signage (or lack thereof) around Boise, nor the driving habits of its residents. But once past that, we headed up north and the terrain changed again to greener mountains, and more beauty, including a herd of elk that stood on a hillside grazing. 
By the time we reached Council, we were road buzzed and weary, ready for sleep. It was wonderful to see my friend, Sharyn Thompson! We stayed three nights with her, and I must say it felt good to be in one place for a couple of days!
I played for the Council Quilt Show on Saturday (was that only yesterday??) and had such a wonderful time. Thanks to Sally and the gals who put that together, and who invited me to come out to play my songs. I felt honoured to be part of that, and appreciate the warmth of your welcome.
Today we were back on the road. We drove up from Council to pick up US 12, which runs over the Lolo Pass to Missoula.We drove over the high bridge that spans Hell's Canyon, saw a really pretty, unmarked waterfall, another moose (dead...) and an eagle on a fence post. 
US 12 runs through our hometown of Coldwater, so it was fun to see a very different section of it! And how different!! If you saw A River Runs Through It, believe me, most of our drive today looked exactly like that. I don't think we drove more than 50 mph for most of the day, and I was glad for the slow pace that gave us time to drink it in. Lolo Pass was magnificent in so many ways. If you have never been out here, DO IT! (Thanks to my honest-to-goodness cowboy friend,Bob Marshall for encouraging me to go this way!)
We kind of missed lunch, so we stopped at the first place we came to to eat; the Lolo Creek Steak House. Oh my! Perfect steak cooked over a wood fire. Nuff said. 
So now it is Missoula for the night. It's a pretty town. Maybe tomorrow we can explore a bit before the temperature rises too high for comfort.
Thanks to all of you keeping us in your thoughts and prayers as we make our way across the country and back. Thanks to Mary Foster and Mary Weber-Everline for keeping our mom safe while we see these breathtaking places, What a gift it is to share this trip with my sister. We are having a blast!