Day 7: Billings, Montana to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Today we drove 504 miles through breath-taking scenery. There wasn't much traffic on the roads, and we started to see some of the same people at consecutive rest stops. It seems like most of the people traveling on I-90 are moving out west (as evidenced by the cars stuffed with personal belongings and attached U-Haul trailers) or truckers. Towns are far between.

Molly and Duckie did pretty well today. Molly likes to trot around in rest stops shrieking and listening to her voice echo off the tile walls; Duckie likes to get wedged between the carseat and the door.

All pictures were taken with our iphones, and most were taken through the windows of the car, so we are by no means doing justice to the magnificent beauty of these states.

Kevin and Phil heed a warning about rattlesnakes at a rest stop.

Obligatory Molly napping shot

As beautiful as Montana is, we do have one little bit of constructive criticism: your rest stop bathrooms are among the worst we've seen on this trip! Dank and spare, they reminded us of all those nights we spent in county lock-up. A disembodied human voice droning on about the weather supplied the mood music. 

Note the personalized label on this "Sturdy Station": Turd Station.
Also, most babies can't read, so why the magazine on top?

When we finally got to Coeur D'Alene, we decided to go out to dinner to a local Italian restaurant.  Since the first room given to us at the La Quinta actually had not been cleaned, which led to a very exasperated Grandma, we got a coupon for a free cocktail at one of several restaurants.  The place we chose, Tito's, was actually pretty good.  We lucked out that a tired Mollybear was not the loudest female in the place; there was a rowdy group of middle-aged women in the back part of the dining room.  I guessed that it was the Society Ladies' Drunk Night, but the waitress informed us that it was instead a "Diva Party," so I was right after all.  Check out the incognito photo taken over my shoulder of the party, which looks subdued in the photo but was not.  Molly also decided to try some spaghetti, including by holding the spaghetti in both hands and biting the middle (sorry, we weren't quick enough to catch it with the camera).  All in all, a good day and a good meal.  We can't wait to arrive in Dupont tomorrow!!

Molly tries to like spaghetti; fails. 

Whoooo hoooo!