Leaving Montana to move on to Washington...

We woke up late on Day 7 from our campground in West Glacier. After a leisurely shower, we got back on the road and drove towards Washington state. It was to be a long day of driving.

Our first quick stop was in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. The town is located on a large lake, just one hour east of Spokane, Washington. Coeur D'Alene ( pronounced "kour-de-lane") looked like a nice vacation spot... if you're from Idaho. It was pretty much the same thing as Traverse City, Michigan, so if you've been there, there really isn't much of a reason to go to Coeur D'Alene.

We then drove to Spokane, Washington so we could visit Gonzaga University. We had seen a clip of the university on YouTube before and it looked like an incredibly scenic place. We were unprepared for how crappy the place looked. Spokane looked like Pontiac, Michigan and Gonzaga University looked like Hope College in Hope, Michigan, but uglier. So much for Spokane and Gonzaga University.

After we left Spokane, we drove down a country road in an attempt to get to Leavenworth, Washington, which is supposed to be a touristy faux-bavarian town. We stopped to eat at a small diner in Wilbur, Washington. The town of Wilbur can't have more than 1000 people. However, that whole line about small towns having big hospitality is a load of crap. The people who worked there didn't seem to be very hospitable at all. The food was over-priced and it under-delivered on taste. Needless to say, we were happy to leave Wilbur, Washington.

By this point, it was pretty late, so we decided we needed to pick up the pace to get to our campsite as soon as possible. But while driving to our KOA site, we drove through the small town of Waterville, Washington, which had the scariest looking hotel I have ever seen. We decided to stop in and check out the rates. The place was very affordable, so we decided to stay there for the night. We were pretty scared that we might not make it through the night, but things turned out nicely. The hotel was built in 1901 and it shows. There was a common bathroom that the whole floor had to share and all around us were vintage electronics and stuffed dead animals. It was truly a bizarre experience staying at the Waterville Hotel.

-The Guys