27th April 2015 – Butte to Coeur D’Alene

We woke this morning to a clear but crisp day in stark contrast to yesterday’s snow and rain. We have a 300 mile drive to our overnight stop at Coeur D’Alene as we exit the motorway onto a scenic drive through Philipsburg. The snow capped mountains are beautiful against the blue sky. On the way to Philipsburg is a small town called Georgetown which is on Georgetown Lake, it is a very picturesque place complete with Bald Eagles. There are log cabins dotted around the lake, some of them quite large and covered in snow.It doesn’t take long to drop a thousand feet and the snow is behind us as we drive through rolling green hills and farming country.Philipsburg is a quaint historic mining town that has a lovely cafe and the most enormous lolly and fudge shop with every imaginable sweet treat. The scenic road follows the Flathead River which then joins the Clark Fork River where we stop to stretch our legs and have a stone skimming competition, which Ken wins with over 8 bounces, pretty impressive. We rejoin the motorway for our drive over the border into Idaho and our overnight stop at Coeur D’Alene which is built on the Coeur D’Alene lake, it is a very pretty spot. We have dinner in a restaurant overlooking the lake and marina as the sun sets.