I hugged my cousin Debbie and said goodbye. My first stop after pulling away from the house was at the gas station. It is 2,531 miles from home to Missoula, and I have put 285 gallons of gas in the RV. I was really hoping for 10 mpg, but I think the mountains have taken their toll. Crossing the state border into Idaho put me into Pacific time, so for a little while I have gained another hour - three hours borrowed that I will have to pay back. A band of thunderstorms danced with me all the way to Spokane and so the mostly up and down drive also featured limited visibility and slick roads. I had thought I would catch an open mic in Spokane, but apparently the one I found on openmikes.org is no longer going on. I pulled into an RV park just off the highway and waited out another downpour before going out to hook up to the utilities. Eventually the sun came out. The guy who checked me in came by as I was hooking up my sewer connection, and saw that the previous occupant of the spot had screwed the cap for the drain on really tight. He retrieved a wrench and got the cap off, then gave me the wrench. He said someone had left it behind a couple of years ago, and he had others. A bit of random kindness to go along with the clearing skies. Tomorrow I plan to start early and drive all the way to Pleasant Hill, Oregon where my aunt Ruth and Uncle Mel are. It should take me about eight and a half hours to get there, if all goes well. If the stars align, maybe I can make it to the Alan Brothers 5th Street Beanery in Eugene for their open mic tomorrow night - signup at 6:30.