Day 1

We got under way by 7 AM when I hoped to be gone by 6, but you know how that goes. We left the ripe, rolling hills of the Palouse behind expecting them to be all harvested by the time we return. We headed north past Lake Coeur d'Alene turning east to Montana a place of many fond memories for us.

This is a picture of Cataldo Mission built in 1846, the oldest building in Idaho. After I took this picture, the battery in my camera went dead--no more pictures today.

My plan was to stop in Billings, MT for the night, but there several big deal events taking place there, and the hotels had doubled their rates. Forget about it. We drove on to Hardin and scored a hotel at half the price with free high speed wireless Internet.

Actually, there are very few hotels that do not offer it these days. I notice that most Motel 6 properties still only have dial up service. My son called to say that he was staying in the Huntington Sheraton Hotel in Pasadena, CA, which is a fairly snooty hostelry, and it charges an exorbitant daily fee for wireless Internet.

I will be testing several navigation systems on this trip. The one I used today is the Mio Digi/Walker c520, a dedicated device that uses a windshield mount and costs less than $399 (the normal retail price) from www.buyGPSnow.com.

I was unprepared for all the features this incredible unit offers. It has a built-in antenna, so all you have to do is turn it on, and it automatically connects to the satellites. Maps for the US and Canada come pre-loaded with millions of Points of Interest.

Let me just mention a few of its features without going into detail. It has an SD card slot so that you can insert your own data and listen to your favorite tunes, an audio book, or watch a movie on its ample sized screen.

What really blew me away was discovering that it will hook up to your cell phone via Bluetooth. When your phone rings it automatically answers it. You just start talking in a safe, hands free environment while driving. Of course, you can also initiate calls and talk on it as well, and it works great. Perhaps the speaker could be a little louder. It also talks to you and tells you what turns to make so that don't even have to look at the screen.

When you get off route, it reroutes you extremely quickly and efficiently. I highly recommend it.