Day one is done! We had a wonderful time visiting a few places some if us realized we should see more often and a few places some of us have never seen before.
We said farewell to a cloudy Seattle bright and early. The cascades gave us a lovely gray and green send off as we passed; there were low clouds between each evergreen covered peak.
Our first stop was in Ellensburg, Washington for coffee and breakfast. I'll let you figure out which Cascadian Nomads had which. Just when I thought we wouldn't have a last excellent Cascadian coffee, I smelled a nice roast while at a stop sign. It turned out to be pet friendly D&M Coffee Company, complete with a water bowl for 'R' Blood on the Tracks Boys on the patio. We also took this opportunity to walk around historic downtown Ellensburg.
The Ellensburg bull was not out only animal statue of the day. We stopped at Wild Horses Monument for one last look at Cascadia's spectacular Columbia River. Then we saw the "horses" and the dogs made some new friends. Everyone needs some dog petting time!
We didn't stop again until we got into Idaho but we stopped right away. Brychwyn was born in Idaho and was very excited to be back. The rest if us had either never been to this state or had not been in a very long time. In Port Lake, at exit 5 off I-90, there is a historical landmark called Treaty Rock. We stopped to check it out but were disappointed to learn that there were no dogs allowed. So we wandered off through the neighborhood and stumbled upon the Karen Streeter Trail. It ended up being just the exercise and taste of Idaho we all needed.
When we finally arrived at Beavertail State Park in Montana, we were thrilled! Our campsite was right next to Clark Fork River and we had a twilight hike through the self-guided nature trail. We saw a lot of birds, two deer (which Wilhelm, Brychwyn & Huxley proudly did not bark at!) and a spectacular sunset.