We left Nelson about mid-day and headed south on hwy 6 toward the USA border crossing at Nelway. It was a lovely drive through the mountains to the border and the check-in to the US was quick. From the border south on Washington 31 was winding and hilly until we hooked up with the Pend Oreille river. From then on it was a slight grade with rolling hills through hay fields and past high-end waterfront properties. Quite a few small towns dot the landscape and we slowed to 45 then 25 for each one. After two weeks of thinking about speeds and distances in Km it’s strange to now see signs in Mph. Diesel fuel is $3.40-ish in Idaho which is about $2 cheaper than BC so we got that going for us again.

On the down-side we got trains. Lots of trains – 4 per hour, night and day, whistling the nearby crossing. I hate trains. I had planned to check out the local riding scene but trains drove me away.