Washington, Idaho and finally Montana. Three states in one great (but hot) week. These summer temperatures are what led us to sign up for Boondockers Welcome. If you haven’t heard of it, you should definitely visit their website. Through Boondockers Welcome, you find hosts to stay with many of which provide hook-ups. It’s basically other RVers allowing you to stay at their place (for free – you just pay a $25 membership fee). So far, our experience has been great!

Washington

We stayed in Spokane, Washington through Thursday. Our original plan only had us in Spokane for two days, and then moving to Coeur d’Alene for a week or so. Since we were able to park at our friend’s house while waiting for the parking brake piece to come in, we decided it was best to stay in Spokane and explore the area a bit.

We *quickly* jumped in the Spokane River. It was too cold for us. However, everyone from the area thought it felt great.

Luke was able to fix the parking brake (though it might have something else wrong with it now… whatcha gonna do!).

I’m trying to think what else we did in Spokane… we sweated… it was so hot. We were able to get a lot of work done, which was great. Oh, Spokane has an Apple Store. Luke’s phone started messing up, and my laptop display went out. Thankfully, this all happened in a city where we could go to the Apple Store because I don’t know what we would have done if that all happened in the middle on Montana.

All-in-all, we spent a lot of time in Washington. It’s a beautiful state from Olympic National Park to Seattle to Spokane. After talking to people in the area, we now have a new list of places we want to visit next time we’re there.

Idaho

With the parking brake fixed, it was time to move on with our ventures. Since we hadn’t really explored Coeur d’Alene yet, we decided to move the RV to Idaho for a few days. With the temps still in the 90s, we knew we needed hook-ups to keep the dogs cool. After checking the prices of some of the RV parks around Coeur d’ Alene, we decided to join Boondockers Welcome.

Boondockers Welcome

We had a great first experience with Boondockers Welcome. When we arrived, the host told us he had raspberry bushes in the back of the yard, and we were welcome to pick all we wanted. I filled that bowl up. If it wasn’t raining when we left, I probably would have picked a few more!

While we were there and had good cell service, we went ahead and found a few more host locations along our route. It’s great to have free places to stay plus you get to meet RV people who are local to the area. We’re actually staying with a Boondockers Welcome host right now in Montana.

The majority of hosts we’ve contacted have a 30amp hook-up, so we plan to utilize Boondockers Welcome as much as possible while the temperatures are hot. Once we’re in a cooler climate, we’ll start dry camping on public lands again.

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Coeur d’Alene

Lake Coeur d’Alene is beautiful. We “hiked” Tubbs Hill trail to a little “beach” area. I guess lakes can have beaches, too, even though it’s not the real beach (aka ocean). The water was crystal clear and the perfect swimming temperature considering how hot it was outside. I’ve never been a lake person, but Lake Coeur d’Alene is one worthy of swimming in.

After our little walk/hike and swimming in the lake, we headed into downtown for a late lunch at Crafted Tap House. Y’all, this place is amazing. I may have had one of the best burgers in my life. And with the whole celiac, can’t do the bun thing, they did one of the best lettuce wraps on a burger I’ve ever seen. You could actually pick it up without everything falling out. Luke had the chicken and waffles with an egg and whip cream and huckleberry sauce. The food was a amazing, and the drink list was just as good. In fact, we went back later that night for drinks and A TURTLE RACE.

Yep, these little guys race every Friday night at 10pm. It’s the most entertaining race you’ll ever see. You get to bet (for free) on a turtle, and if your turtle wins, you get a beer for a dollar. If you’re in Coeur d’Alene on a Friday night, be sure you grab a beer (or wine or cider) and some of the best food around at Crafted and stick around for the Turtle Race.

Montana

We left Idaho for Montana on Saturday morning. We’re staying with another Boondockers Welcome host. The area is incredible. We’re at 4,000 and something feet of elevation and surrounded by mountains.

Yesterday afternoon, a storm rolled in. We hadn’t seen rain since Oregon, so it was a welcomed sight. I occasionally missed those summer afternoon thunderstorms back home. We watched the rain and lightening approach from over the mountains, and once it was over, the temperatures had cooled off and the sky was full of pink and orange clouds.

This morning, we woke up on the early side in search of trout. Luke had better luck than I did, but we’re going back out this evening. Wish me luck… I need it.

For the next week or so, we’ll be in the Missoula area. If you’re in the area, we’d love to meet up!

-laura