Spokane Washington

Smoke. Smoke. Smoke. It’s everywhere. From Western Montana through Idaho to Washington it’s smoke from all of the fires.

It was cold when I got up this morning in Billings. It was in the 40’s when I left. So, as I was driving I got to thinking of Denna Mora Campground. It was close to 60 years ago that we stayed there. It’s funny the things you remember from your childhood. My parents liked to travel but we didn’t have much money so we camped. This was back when there weren’t that many campgrounds and many of the ones there were were primitive. Denna Mora was one of them. The toilets were outhouses. The night we stayed there the weather was cold. It was drizzling. I remember Dad built a fire and we heated some rocks, put them in socks, and put them in the bottom of our sleeping bags.

Like I said, we didn’t have much money but we were still able to go on a two week camping trip almost every summer. We had a tent that slept four people so that took care of Mom, Dad, my sister and me. We had sleeping bags and air mattresses. We had a table that seated four and folded up into the size of a suitcase. We had a Coleman lantern and a Coleman stove. We had an ice chest. We had a set of metal dishes, pots, and pans that packed up into the biggest pot. With that we made enough camping trips that by the time I was 17, I had been in 47 states, Mexico, and at least three Canadian provinces (maybe more – I’m not sure). On the trip we camped at Denna Mora, we drove to Spokane just so we could say we made it to Washington. What was the state I missed? Oregon, and I picked that up in the 70’s when I went to see my sister in California. I have either swam or waded in every one of the Great Lakes.

Every time I take off on one of my road trips I am amazed at how much easier driving trips are today. For example, when we headed West, we often stopped the first night in Oklahoma City and spent the night with my Uncle Pump’s family. Back then, that was a long drive and we would have to get up early to get on the road. It would take us over six hours just to go the 300 miles across Missouri. This was back before I-44. Back then, it was Highway 66 and it was two lane most of the way. If you ever drive through Missouri now, you can often see an old two lane road running next to I-44. That’s old Highway 66. It went through every town so there would be stop signs and stop lights. We were always happy to finally hit Oklahoma where we had the two turnpikes. Back then, a good day was 350 miles. On this trip, I’ve averaged 650 miles a day.