i drove through coeur d’alene in the early morning. the lake was perfectly still and a glassy black, in a way that made the water look solid instead of liquid, like you could walk on it.

i don’t know why i didn’t take any pictures of idaho and western montana. they were both gorgeous. the hills and mountains were clustered thickly with evergreens that cascaded down to the water and there was often a crystal clear river on one side of me.

that second day, there was a lot of driving.

i stopped for gas in montana and found an interesting coffee concoction with strawberry and almond.

i stopped again at a rest stop in montana and found a way to get to the water so i could take a few pictures, though i was a little sorry i did so when atlas walked happily into the river and splashed about and then i had to put a wet dog in the car with me. that was also the rest stop where a man was walking his bengal cat on a leash back and forth in front of our car, and atlas was trying desperately to convince me to let him out so he could say hello.

montana is a very long state.

to break up my drive, i stopped in bozeman, since it has always been on my short list of places i think i could live.

unfortunately, the day was hotter than i anticipated, even though it was late in the day, and atlas looked miserable while walking and couldn’t stay in the car, so we wandered the main street for a short while and then continued on again.

it worked out well, since another storm had been following us, and it caught up to us a short while down the road, in livingston. i stopped at a tiny rest stop to wait out the rain, and entertained myself by taking pictures.

we drove until it was dark, and then stopped at a rest stop to sleep for a few hours.

i got out a treat for atlas and peanut butter and crackers for me. atlas likes to eat his treats on the grass, and i was afraid to let his leash go, so i found a picnic bench by the road where there was a patch of grass right next to it.

i was sitting on the bench when my eye was caught by a two foot long snake that was wriggling its way toward me on the asphalt. it was very close. poor atlas did not get to finish his treat that night. we both went in the car immediately.

i used to be deathly afraid of snakes, and i cured it, but i am still not entirely comfortable around them when i am not sure whether they are poisonous or not. i will confess that my sleep that night was not entirely restful. i could not help wondering whether snakes could crawl up the side of a car and through an open window and that is not really the sort of thought that helps one fall asleep.