Highway Wi-fi part II

The wi-fi rest area near Sprague, Washington was a great place to stop. First there was the wi-fi I told you about earlier. And then there were some interesting people. And a long-haul trucker dog.

Hoss and Kelly drive for Stewart Transport hauling kit cars for Factory Five Racing. They were on their way to Iowa to have a new crane installed inside their trailer when they pulled into the wi-fi rest area.

If you stop in a highway rest area you see trucks. Over the years I seen lots of trucks in rest areas. I've never seen one with a ramp for a dog. Hoss and Kelly take their dog Phoenix with them when they travel and the dog leaves and enters the cab of the truck via a ramp.

Phoenix is a Newfoundland, or Newfie, but he isn't as massive as most of the breed are. I guess that's why Hoss and Kelly can fit Phoenix into the cab of the truck with them. Hoss warned me to be fast with the shutter wshen taking the dog's photo because he really bounds up the ramp. You can check out the photo yourself above. I won't tell you that I was aiming to take a photo of the dog's rear end, but that was the shot I got.

After Hoss, Kelly and Phoenix got back on the road I was packing my bike when I got into a conversation with Gary Stempin and his wife Therese who were parked next to me in the lot. Gary is retiring for a second time, this time from the department of public works and utilities in Port Angeles, Washington, and returning to his family home in Montana. Therese is a librarian who hopes to land a position in Montana in a school library.

From the rest area I continued east to Deer Lodge, Washington for the evening. I was planning to test my newly adjusted headlights, but about the time the sun went down I found myself in an area with deer warnings, so I called it quits for the night. The motel where I am staying is vintage. But, it has wi-fi. The restaurant next door closed at 10, but promises to be open in the morning for my complimentary breakfast.

The goal for tomorrow is to get to Minnesota if not closer to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan where I will head into Canada. The forecast for the morning is rain and snow. Snow? It's late May. I didn't get snowed on above the Arctic Circle. How can I get snowed on just days before the recreational start of summer in the lower 48?