Winter Road Trip, Wandering Home

I am addicted to caffeine, but it is not a problem.  It is only a problem, if I do not have it.  As long as Lola* gets her latte when she needs it, then everything is good.

*(Lola is my Starbucks name.  For years when I went to Starbucks they messed up my name, ‘Ellen’.  I became concerned that someday “Helen” was going to beat me up for drinking her coffee, so I took matters into my own hands and went under cover in Starbucks.  My Starbucks name is Lola…and it has been for years.  In California, some of the Starbucks workers thought it was my real name and would call out, ‘Hi Lola’…to which I would say ‘Hi’ back because that is polite.  I’d then giggle inside because it is not polite to laugh at someone, especially when they are making you your latte….besides it is only fun, if you can do it with a straight face).

Our return trip to Ellensburg (roughly 630 miles or so) was going to start early in the morning leaving Rexburg with decent (not awful) but nothing special hotel coffee in us.  The first stop (other than potty breaks… and while we are on the subject of potty breaks can I just tell you, that Idaho and Montana have some of the nicest rest stops ever!  Seriously, Washington and California…you need to step it up)…the first stop was going to be a Starbucks.  After driving 150 miles we found it.  Not only am I addicted to caffeine, but I have a gift…a built in Starbucks detector or sensor…I don’t know how it works, it just does.  My Loving Spouse The Driver knows that if I holler,

“GET OFF HERE!”

He needs to just exist the freeway and asks questions later.  This is how we found ourselves in Dillion, Montana home of the University of Montana Western, a charming campus that we drove by on our quest for Lola’s latte.  Once we were reasonably caffeinated, we drove around the town a bit, enjoying a plethora of charming buildings.

Hotel and saloon.The court-house since the late 1880’s.

Business…The saddlery……with plenty of historical pieces out for viewing…A fun colorful city that was a great place to fuel me up.  See what you might miss by not drinking coffee?

We’d chosen to drive home through Montana to see some different country…and although it took us out of our way just a tad we had a short stop in Spokane…for hugs and kisses….with our favorite window watcher.  Two days of driving for a round trip total of 1300 miles, one day spent with My Other Girl, a blink of an eye visit with THE Grandson, lots of country seen and time together…was it worth it…

you betcha!