WALLACE, IDAHO

After five months sleeping in a forest we will need a bit of time to get used to the traffic sounds whilst sleeping in urban parking lots. We forgot that the Coeur d'Alene Home Depot is a bit small and noisy.

Plus our sleeping quarters are a bit small. No worries - it's all worth it.

Friday morning we were up early and continuing our trek east on the interstate.

An easy drive.

Then we spotted what looked to be an interesting town. I remembered seeing this area last fall when we took this very route. I'd wished we had stopped - this year we did.

We pulled into Wallace, Idaho.

Nice - and just look at those flowers in early October.

A very quaint town with a neat historic downtown - this is Bank Street.

It didn't take us long to spot the laundry - while Derek and Cassia toured a bit more I loaded up our stuff and headed there for some down time. A good deal at $5 for two loads and a very clean place. Priceless.

Just as Derek was mentioning that there really should be a craft brewery in Wallace - look what we spot. Actually, it was quite freaky with the timing. We almost thought we were dreaming. 

Wallace Brewing.

Guess we were dreaming ….. cuz we can't actually go in. Well, we could if tying your kid outside like your dog wouldn't be frowned upon. (You KNOW I'm joking - right?!)

Too bad I didn't get a better picture of this place - we did end up going in. The huckleberry ice cream was calling our names. 

But first we went to get a closer look at the cool bus. 

Then back over to the Red Light Garage with it's own UFO. I was thinking that I travel with a couple of aliens...

A VERY cool place and not to be missed while in Wallace. Kitsch is good - don't let anyone convince you otherwise.

A huckleberry ice cream and shake while we bellied up to the bar and had a great visit with Owner Jaime. Thanks for a neat place Jaime and nice to meet you!

A little trivia for you - Dante's Peak was filmed in Wallace.

Quite a collection - darn - wish we'd brought a plate with us. 

Next time……remember to bring one with you.

While I was doing the laundry, Derek, Cassia and Rufus found this very long walking/bicycling trail.

Nicely paved and through this stretch it sits under the interstate - it's the old railway line.

That's neat but we had another destination in mind. We learned from Jaime at the Red Light Garage that there was a second brewery in Wallace. Guess a visit was in order.

It was a little early in the day for us to sit for a flight - but Owner Mark of North Idaho Mountain Brew was nice enough to supply us with a few samples - the Pulaski Porter, Sunset Red and Black IPA. All very good - nice and clean. We headed back for our stainless steel growler to take some of the Porter with us.

Mark was generous enough to take us for a tour of the breweries facilities - that's his son in back. 

Then back to the trail for a bit.

A girl and her dog….

and a guy and his …. ah…. military vehicle.

A nice city park.

After that we headed back to the van. We felt pretty good about ourselves - right back into the travelin' grove. A historic town, lunch in the van, a tour of the business district, a stop at not one but two craft breweries, laundry, electricity and internet, ice cream and a shake and an urban trail walk.

Was that us who said we were going to settle down?

With it being around 3:00 pm we continued on to Missoula for the night. 

A really nice drive from Wallace to Missoula - lots of forest and then into ranchland. We stopped off at Exit 96 at the Town Pump for the sani dump. Heads up if you are in this area and are in need one. 

Exit 33 claimed to have a Montana Visitor Center - which it did - albeit a bit off the Interstate. Interestingly, it was closed but the horses out back were a big hit.

We spent the night at Lowe's in Missoula - a break from our usual. A Walmart shopping trip was on tap for Saturday morning to stock up on some things we'll need for the trip ahead.

We realized when we reached Missoula that we had in fact crossed over the time zone at the border. So that's why the Visitor Center was closed - we thought it was 4:30pm.

Today we ventured an hour from Missoula to another historic town - Philipsburg - we're here now enjoying some mighty fine craft brew and a little stealth camping.

Ha! More craft beer - it didn't take us long now did it. No worries though - we won't be coming even close to last years tally of 44 visits. We just want to get our fill before our three or four months in Mexico.

Cheers,

Teresa

Be a Fan