Today started in Seattle with a 5-minute walk to the monorail, a 2-minute ride to Seattle Center, and an hour at the Chihuly exhibit. His glass-blown works are pretty amazing, and his painting (which he took up after losing vision in one eye and injuring a shoulder) is original, including blow-torching each painting. Two photos of his glass work are here, one that includes the Space Needle seen through the glass wall. I'd love to know what some of his pieces weigh (let alone cost!); they are huge.

Car pickup was relatively painless but my GPS and I had one of our occasional disagreements, with him expecting me to turn left in 100 yards across three lanes of unfamiliar traffic. We are speaking again now.

Three hundred miles later, hello Idaho. A few observations:

1) People traveling through North Carolina often mention the Department of Transportation's wildflower plantings along our interstate highways. Washington offers identifications of what is growing along highway 90: I noticed alfalfa, timothy hay, grain corn, and potatoes. From the road this early in the season it's a little hard to tell the difference, but I appreciate the effort.

2) Wind farms don't seem much more invasive or unattractive (and much more interesting to look at) than high tension wires.

3) Why isn't Spokane pronounced spo-cane instead of spo-can? Fourth grade lessons on rules of pronunciation lead one to question.

Tomorrow, a day in Coeur d'Alene.