Idaho Vacation–Returning Home

Since we missed seeing a train last night, we had to make one more attempt to video a train at the nearby park. Andrew and I planned to leave the condo before dawn and get back quickly to eat and pack. Before we left, we heard the defect detector report a train to the East of us. A few minutes later, it went by the condo. Excited, we hurried to the park. Andrew set up the drone and we heard another defect detector report from a train to the West of us. This was what we had been hoping for. Andrew got the drone in the sky and got into position. Ten minutes passed with no train sighting. Then we realized that the report was for the previous westbound train, not an eastbound train. Oh well, no train video from this location. Before landing, Andrew thought he heard something and I pointed to the East. A truck was coming our way on the tracks! At least we got something. Then it was back to the condo to pack.

Being leaving, we had to leave the condo as we found it. Specifically, we had to eat all of the food that we bought, or throw it out. Susan made us scrambled eggs with onions, spinach, arugula, broccoli, carrots, ham, salami, and cheese. I drank as much milk and juice as I could, then put what was left in some empty bottles. Susan made sandwiches with as much lunch meat and mayonnaise as possible. We managed to only throw away a few items before saying good-bye to Pend Orielle Shores Resort. As far as I can tell, we left the condo with ALL of our belongings.

The drive back to Spokane International Airport was a race against time and fuel economy. We had to make it in time to catch our flight, but we wanted to minimize our fuel consumption. This was not a case of me trying to save the planet or anything like that. When we rented the SUV, I pre-paid for the gas, so I was trying to return it with as little fuel in the tank as possible. So, why try to drive efficiently? Because the fuel remaining gauge said X miles and the GPS said X + 20 miles. I did not want to have to stop and buy gas, and I certainly did not want to run out of gas and miss the flight.

As we got closer to our destination, the difference between the fuel remaining and the distance remaining dropped to less than 10 miles. I was so tempted to go for it. But instead, with the fuel gauge on E and 36 miles remaining, we stopped at a gas station and put in 2.003 gallons, which would give us another 40 miles. We tried to keep it under 2, but went a touch too far.

Along the way, we saw one more noteworthy train. Near Post Falls, we saw a local BNSF train being led by an engine with the green Burlington Northern paint scheme. Nice.

BNSF engine in the green BN paint scheme

After dropping off the car, which now was showing 1/8 tank of gas ( I really wanted it to be on E), we had to go through our remaining food and drinks before entering security. We ate our sandwiches and I finished the milk, but the juice and several other items met their final fate down the drain or in the trash can. Susan was able to give away a few unopened water bottles, so that was a small victory.

Our first flight was to Denver. We were hoping to see the Grand Tetons, but it was too cloudy near Jackson, Wyoming. We did, however, see the railroad tracks along Interstate 80. This is special to us because we chased the Union Pacific “Big Boy” along those tracks as part of our Utah Vacation in the Spring of 2019.

In Denver, our flight to Orlando was delayed. It was also 100% full. And when I say 100%, I’m not talking about 100% with the center seats empty. Southwest Airlines is now selling all the seats on the flight, so it was entirely full. I had the joy of sitting beside a couple that spent two hours discussing the lack of sanity of his ex-wife and his desire to do right for his kids. I tried to distract myself by beating up the computer AI on Backgammon.

Back in Orlando, we gathered our luggage, caught the bus to our parking lot, and drove home. It was a very long day, and looking back, a very quick vacation. We had two great days of skiing, an unexpected waterfall hike, and plenty of train sightings.

Click the photo below to see the photo album.