There is a little flea market setting up as we leave the campground so we wander through it
then hit the road. We are still following the Lewis and Clark trail and are also in the Nez Perce heartland. Their history is very interesting and sad. History seems to indicate they were mostly a friendly nation, but were caught up in the rush for gold and land from the 1850's to the 1880's. We stop at the Nez Perce National Park Heart of the Monster site
and listen to the story of the beginning of the people. It is an interesting story and the rock does look like the heart of a monster. For the next 100 or so miles we follow the Lochsa River
through a wildness area.
It is a pretty drive
with several trailheads going off into the mountains, some with foot bridges
across the river
After we cross the Lolo Pass and head into Montana we turn south on Hwy 93. Here we encounter a raging forest fire to our west.
It had been a little hazy earlier in the Lochsa River canyon, so we guess this is the cause. Though today the wind is blowing hard toward the east and pushing the smoke and fire toward Montana. Once in Montana we head down to the Idaho border. Near the border, we cross over the Lost Trail Pass and turn east. Our goal is the Big Hole National Battlefield
(Smoke from the earlier fire can be seen at the top of the picture) also part of the Nez Perce National Park. This is where in 1877 the non-treaty Nez Perce tribes fought the army to a stand-still and escaped after capturing a canon and losing some 90 of their people. Later, some of the Nez Perce were sent to Oklahoma for some 20 years. Ultimately, the tribe was reunited on much reduced reservation lands in Idaho.At the battlefield visitors center, we can see yet another fire raging to the east.
The rangers say one fire started on August 13 and the other just last week. They are being allowed to burn, but hopefully there will be rain and snow by Tuesday that will help control the fire.We are planning to spend the night in Andaconda and then drop down into West Yellowstone tomorrow about 150 miles away. Leaving the visitors center we head north between the two fires. It is nearly 5PM and about 60 miles back up to our stopping spot. However, the smoke just gets thicker and thicker. It makes for some interesting pictures (first two pictures looking west third picture looking east),
but we have no desire to camp in it. Instead of turning turn off for Andaconda, we go on up to I-90, a smokey sunset on I-90 near Butte,
and head east till we leave most of the smoke behind us. We wind up stopping at 8PM in Bozeman about 100 miles down I-90.It has been a long day and we are a little road weary so we watch the Stepford Wives while we fix dinner.
As we look at the map and read about the scenic drives, we realize that it would be better to drive on today on the roads we want to travel as there is no real loop to do with out a lot of back tracking.
The lake is 32 miles long and formed by glacier activity.
It is a beautiful lake with many nice homes right on the water. There are also many for sale!
we leave Hwy 95 and pick up Hwy 3 which is White Pine Scenic Byway. This takes us through the high valley of the Joe and Marie Rivers then into an dense, old fir/pine forest.
For a while we drive through golden steep rolling hills
covered in what is left of the wheat harvest.
It is pretty countryside. Then at Lewistown we descend on a very steep road...with lots of trucker warnings at the top and four run away truck ramps on the way down!
There is a great overlook just before we start down. We stop there, have lunch and enjoy the view. We can see the tail end of the Snake River Hell’s Canyon it is such a clear day.
At Lewistown we pick up Hwy 12 which is the Northwest Passage Scenic Byway. It follows the Lewis and Clark trail along the Clearwater River.
We make a stop at the Nez Perce National Park Visitors Center and learn a little about the Nez Perce Indians. There is a very nice museum at the Visitor’s Center with lots of items that were used in everyday life. The beaded items are especially nice.
There are many people wade fishing in the river. We find a nice little campground on the river at Kamiah.
We love to camp where we can set out and enjoy the water
and a pretty sunset.
We grill some of the corn we bought in Washington and have a simple dinner of vegetables.
as we follow several lakes
and pass though the nice village of Oliver
where we stop at a neat little shop with lots of local crafts. The highway goes though a green valley surrounded by more arid mountains. This is a major fruit and wine region and is definitely worth a return visit sometime!
just below the Grand Coulee Dam. We make a stop at the Dam
and head on down the road to Spokane and finally to Coeur d’Alene where we stop for the night as the country side changes to golden fields of harvested grains and pretty old farmsteads. 
The campground is on an island in Coeur d’Alene Lake. It is grassy and spread out. We get a good site next to the lake. That is good as we want to spend two nights here to explore a little.
After breakfast, we do a little email ,etc., and then drive to the Visitors Center for information on the wineries.
but both have a charge for the tasting even though the visitors center’s information says they are free. We used all our Canadian dollars at the store yesterday when we thought we were heading to the border. So we move on. The next winery, Poplar Grove, on the list also produces cheese and their tastings are free. We try four wines and all the cheeses. We buy two white wines and their award winning Merlot and three of the cheeses! The views from the wineries are great. They are on a bluff overlooking the lake with the vines running down the hill toward the lake.
It is a little after 12:00PM and we are hungry now so the next stop is a winery that has a Bistro, Hillside Cellars.
The menu is interesting so we sit down and order. Dick has a Greek wrap and Carolyn has a pizza with grilled local pears, caramelized onions, pine nuts and blue cheese made at the other winery. We try a glass each of two white wines. The meal is wonderful. In fact the pizza is so good ,with the blue cheese, that we go back to the other winery and buy a full wheel of it. The owner tells us it freezes beautifully.
that was built in 1908 and a nice little park down on the water.
Believe it or not, there is small stream in the park that flows into the lake
and there are salmon running!
We are really a long way from the ocean! There is also a bike trail on an old railroad bed above the wineries that would be fun to ride. The view of the lakes must be grand. There are tons of apple trees with the apple boxes sitting around waiting to be filled!
This area reminds us of Clare Valley in Australia in some ways. It is a great place to visit for a few days!
We are rolling by 9AM. Again we didn’t have to unhook last night. We continue down Hwy 97 past several roadhouses the sprang up in the 1860's to service the travelers on the original wagon road. We see another black bear having a drink at one of the many small lakes along the road, but there is no way to stop for a picture. There is road construction off and on today. The road is being made into a four lane highway. The truck traffic is heavy again.
There are orchards on the hill sides and along the river beds now. We stop at one of the road side stands and buy some fresh tomatoes. Since we will cross the border soon we can’t buy apples or peaches.
but very narrow and crooked. It follows a small river through a canyon like area. After an hour, we change highways again and are now on the beautiful four lane divided Hwy 97C. The landscape changes once again too and we are in forested mountains. In fact, the road climbs for half its distance then decends at a rapid rate for the other half.
This a wine producing region and reminds us a little of Italy. We follow this lake for about 20 miles. 
It is almost 4PM so we decide to stop. We get a great site right on the lake shore.
After relaxing about an hour on the edge of the lake, we decide to stay another night enjoy the lake
and check out the wines of the area. We can see the vineyards on the hillsides across the lake and noticed a wine center as we came through town.