Ahh, Kalispel! We have fond memories of Kalispel, from when we were moving to Victoria 14 years ago. We chose to go through the States, and being amatuers, we picked a secondary route to travel instead of the interstate, because on the map it looked closer to the border to cross back into Canada. After driving for about 14 hours one day, we ended up in White Plains, Montana, in an absolute dump with cochroaches in the bathroom ( I had never seen one before!) My husband spent most of the night jumping up to look out the window and make sure that our vehicle was still there. We left as soon as humanly possible the next day, and drove like crazy to get as far away as possible. We were driving all day in blistering heat, no a/c, and basically a long, straight road stretched out forever in front of us. Grasshoppers were hitting the truck all the way along, and I even got smacked by a few. After a very long and difficult day, we started through Glacier National Park and the cool breeze felt like we had died and gone to heaven. We came through the park and there was the Oasis we call Kalispel. We pull up, tired and sweaty, to the Red Lion Inn ( probably a fairly forgettable hotel, but to us, after the 24 hours we had just had, it was the Taj Mahal!). There was a gentleman in front of me who asked for a single room, and was told they were all booked. I was next up and asked if they had anything at all available. The clerk asked if we were a family, my response: "We can be". We ended up with a family suite with 2 king size beds for just the 2 of us. We were starving, and burning with the heat in equal measure, but because the pool closed for the night in 15 mins, we had a quick swim to cool off, and then headed for a family restaurant we had never heard off (Perkins) and had a feast. We dined at Perkins for breakfast, and then spotted "Payless Shoes", which we had seen advertized on American t.v. We decided to shop there, and our life long love affair with Payless, Perkins, and Kalispel began.
Moral of this story (and one we have frequently noted over the past 14years): No matter how bad a situation is, it still isn't White Plains, Montana. Thank you for your indulgence while I enjoyed a (jr.) Alzheimers' moment.
