| Moose Creek
|
|
We had one last wonderful breakfast served by Moose Creek Bed & Breakfast.
We were sad to go, but we had the rest of our trip to do before our childrens' school resumed.
After packing up for the last time in Montana,
we made our way out to leave this beautiful area.
Like the day we arrived in West Glacier,
we were in the right place to take the auto tour through the National Bison Range
but again the visit was a no-go due to the pandemic.
So we executed our alternative plans.
But we also had long-planned
dinner appointment in Idaho to make.
|
|
|
On our way up here, the town of Hungry Horse had an amusing sign,
so my wife made a point of taking a picture of it.
When I laid in a course in the Tesla Navigation
to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, from here,
it dutifully calculated we could drive there in one 4+ hour
drive.
Again this is one of those times where the car could completely outlast the humans,
so instead I overrode the navigation to take us to Superior, Montana,
cutting the drive into two two-hour segments
with a break for lunch and the bathroom.
|
|
|
| Flathead Lake
|
For ever reasonable route out of here our travels took us by Flathead Lake,
but this time our optimal route took us by the west side rather than the east,
so in that sense this was part of our loop drive around the lake.
We were mostly surrounded by farmland and natural scenery,
overall a very relaxing and pleasant experience.
Eventually we parted ways with the lake,
but not before taking in one last view.
The roads this way were mostly one lane per direction weaving
alternately between farms and river-cut valleys.
I couldn't match this route to a clearly designated scenic drive,
but it really should be.
This route easily qualifies with all its rivers, trees, and rolling hillsides.
Some of these rivers weaved not just our road but also railroads, like here
at Clark Fork River.
I thought it was a lot of fun driving these gently curving mountain roads
before reaching the interstate.
|
| Superior
|
|
The itinerary I planned in advance of the trip includes having lunch in Superior.
Stopping in Superior adds (compared to the direct route to Coeur d'Alene)
over 26 miles to the trip, but that cost in distance
is more than made up
by the chance to satisfy our physiological needs and the charging boost.
| Time | Event | Range Remaining |
|---|
| 9:37 am | Departed Moose Creek | 316 |
| 12:17 pm | Arrived Superior Supercharger | 136 |
Range/Distance ratio: 1.14
Conditions: Curvy, Scenic, Mountain roads
|
|
|
In advance I picked out having lunch at Durango's,
offerring a variety of comfort foods.
It was just in time for a bathroom break too.
After lunch we also had ice cream.
Unfortunately, just before we were about to leave the Supercharger, my daughter spilled hers in the car.
In a previous version of the itinerary I had us stopping the night at
Big Sky Motel, a short walk from this Supercharger.
With pandemic triggering schedule changes, I am sorry to say that didn't work out this time.
|
|
|
| Cataldo Mission
|
|
Because this leg of travel was a simple stretch on the Interstate,
my wife drove this time.
Soon we departed Montana and entered Idaho.
We have a friend, currently in California, who grew up in Idaho,
and she advised that we should see Cataldo Mission (top picture).
It seemed appropriate we visited on a Sunday.
| Time | Event | Range Remaining |
|---|
| 1:35 pm | Departed Superior | 317 |
| 2:51 pm | Arrived Cataldo Mission | 214 |
Range/Distance ratio: 1.24
Conditions: The Wife driving, Fast
This Mission of the Sacred Heart is both the oldest building and oldest church
still standing in Idaho.
Built in the 1850s by Coeur d'Alene Indian Tribe
under the direction of Italian Jesuit missionary Antonio Ravalli,
it was the result of the local Indians
expressing interest in the "Book of Heaven" as they called it.
They built it with local materials, even using Huckleberry to paint the ceiling blue
and tin cans to construct the chandelier.
The area where the Mission resides
was at the center
of trade, travel, business dealings, political control, and conflict
during the following several decades.
The Coeur d'Alene river behind this building
hosted docks and trading posts, whose
remnants
could be still faintly seen today.
It fell into disrepair in the 20th century and was a
target of looting
by the time the Great Depression arrived.
A major restoration in 1976 finally
set it on a path to long-term preservation
so future generates
can see way it was in the 1850s.
From what we learned here,
it was clear this area from the 1830s through the end of the 19th century
was a time of tumultuous change,
every decade bringing new powerful forces,
some with political interests and some with economic interests,
to exploit the opportunities here.
Here was a world of continuous change,
and it was hard for some here to keep up.
|
|
Today most people seem to assume keeping
the status quo going
is the ultimate goal.
The story around this Mission
says keeping things the way they are
is only a rare luxury
we cannot always afford.
|
| Springhill Suites, Coeur d'Alene
|
|
Once we finished up another bathroom break,
I drove us west again.
| Time | Event | Range Remaining |
|---|
| 3:51 pm | Departed Cataldo Mission | 204 |
| 4:37 pm | Arrived Springhill Suites in Coeur d'Alene | 166 |
Range/Distance ratio: 1.12
Conditions: Fast
After arriving at Coeur d'Alene, we checked in to the Springhill Suites, a
member of the
Tesla Destination Network.
Once we unloaded, the family had a chance to relax.
After 9 days of travel, I needed to get the dead bugs off the car,
so I found
the Metro Express Car Wash,
where after the exterior was washed I could also thoroughly vacuum the insides.
Then I found the Safeway gas station nearby had
tire inflation equipment.
All the tires were down two psi, except the left rear was down four psi,
so I made sure all the tires were good for travel.
After I returned we got dressed to have dinner at
Anthony's at Coeur d'Alene with
My Aunt and Uncle, who live here in Coeur d'Alene.
They moved here about twenty years ago after leaving
Sacramento, California.
They visited my extended family in California from time to time,
but this was our first time visiting them in their adopted town.
I had in mind incorporating a family visit as part of a road trip to this region for
a very long time, and now we could finally do it.
After dinner we took a walk around Riverstone Park.
It was clear that the area was building up in the decades after my Aunt and Uncle's arrival here.
We returned to the car then drove back to the hotel
stay for the night. I plugged the car in to the Tesla-native charger here.
Cost to Charge: $0
|
|
|
Dean E. Dauger holds a Ph. D. in physics from UCLA, where his group
created the first Mac cluster in 1998. Dr. Dauger is the award-winning
author in multiple American Institute of Physics' Software Contests and
co-authored the original, award-winning Kai's Power Tools
image-processing package for Adobe Photoshop.
After founding his company,
Dauger Research, Inc., its debut product,
Pooch, derived from Dr. Dauger's experience using clusters for his
physics research, was soon awarded as "most innovative" by IEEE Cluster
and continues to revolutionize parallel computing and clusters worldwide
with its patented technology.
|
