The beginning of the end

With an earlier start to the day, I packed up the rest of my stuff into the van, ate breakfast with my uncle, and then said goodbye. It was a really nice visit and I was so glad to be able to spend almost a week there. I caught the ferry and started my drive east. I did a little bit of driving in Seattle and got turned around a bit, but once I figured it out it all went smoothly. After a couple of hours, I stopped a the Wild Horses Monument that my uncle had mentioned and it was pretty cool. The metal sculptures of a herd of horses running sat up on a hill and overlooked a really pretty view of big hills and a river to the west. I didn't stop here long but it was nice to stretch my legs and see the beautiful views. I drove pretty much the whole day. It rained a lot, parts of the drive it was really heavy rain, and other parts of it were off and on showers. I drove through foggy mountains and large expanses of green fields with mountains in the distance. I went from Washington to Idaho to Montana. It was fastest to drive through northern Idaho and then go south once I’m in Montana to get to the areas I want to be in Idaho, which is the eastern side of the state. I ended up stopping in Missoula for the night at a Walmart which I was excited about since I really like Missoula. I parked for the night and set up. I cooked some dinner and just hung out for the evening.

Part 2

I thought it was supposed to rain all day so I was in no rush. I let myself sleep in and lay in bed much later than any day on my trip so far since I was feeling so tired. It ended up being quite sunny most of the day except for a little drizzle around noon. I packed up and drove over to the University of Montana campus to do the short M trail hike. Missoula is my favorite city in Montana and driving around familiar areas today reminded me just how much I love it. The neighborhoods around the campus look so much like Eau Claire and La Crosse, WI except beautiful mountains are behind them. The trail was only 1.2 miles but it was all uphill and after not really hiking for about a week I felt a little winded. I didn’t know this hike existed until I watched that show Maid on Netflix this past winter. I was bummed I didn’t know about it while I was in Missoula last summer but knew I wanted to do it if I ever went back. It wasn’t anything spectacular but it gave a great view of the city and the mountains beyond. It sprinkled a little bit while I hiked up but not for long. I looked out at the blooming trees that lined neighborhood streets and the campus down below. After taking it in I hiked back down.

I then went to the Missoula public library, which is a very nice library, and worked on catching up with blog posts for a number of hours. I didn’t catch up all the way but I did get a good amount done. They were closing so I left to park at the Walmart again for the night since it was so quiet the night before. On my way to the Walmart I passed by streets I had walked last summer and the speakeasy my friends and I stumbled upon one night. It was pretty nostalgic. Once I got set up, I made some dinner, had a couple of beers, and talked with a friend before heading to bed.