Auwe. No can believe it’s been all these months since I’ve updated our Montana road trip. Three months!!  Wanna go back? K’den.

Before heading over Lookout Pass, we stopped at the Dena Mora Rest Area near Saltese. It was a lovely place to stop, and there was all kinds of information about the area.

We stopped at a historic sign (of course), and learned some really interesting facts about the geology of the area.

Fascinating stuff this.

I never knew I was so interested in the history of the Pacific Northwest until I began stopping at historic markers. There, I discovered a whole new world of adventure. Nolemana was very gracious about stopping and waiting while I read signs and took photos, marveling at the fortitude of the early settlers in the area.

This sign tells the story of the Mullen Road, which was carved through the mountains from Walla Walla, Washington, to the Missouri River in Montana.  Montaña. Get it?

We got on the road again, and were heading makai over Lookout Pass, and still in Montana. I was feeling pretty wai maka about leaving; I know it’s far from the ocean (and I am an island girl in heart and soul), but I love it. I love the wide open spaces, and the mountains and rivers. And the big sky. Really big sky.

Coeur d’Alene is getting closer all the time, which means that we’re almost at the Idaho border.

Know what this is? No? Well, it’s the storage facility for all the gravel that’s put on icy/snowy roads over las montañas. (Ho, she speaks Spanish, too!) Usually, they’re in areas just before the highest parts of the mountains. During the winter, those storage areas have tons of gravel in them, and they’re usually on both sides of the passes.

Ack. It’s here. The border. We’re about to head into Idaho. We lingered here awhile, as if by doing so we wouldn’t have to leave Montana.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Oregon. I love the entire Pacific Northwest. I love the green, the forests, the rolling hills. So I guess leaving Montana was bittersweet.  Yeah. That’s a good word for it. Bittersweet.