Day 20

Spokane is completely impossible to get through on I-90. We backtrack to Coeur Da'Alene and stop.

A.J. radios me that he has an idea and asks if he can take the lead for a few hours. Sure thing, I don't know Idaho at all. I don't know if A.J. knows Idaho either but his ideas have been good so far so why not trust him when he says he has one.

We took back roads, dirt roads, and might have made our own roads a couple of times but we arrived on tree covered ridge that was about as desolate as could be, we were overlooking a lake. Priest Lake.

He pointed east, "That's Ruby Ridge."
"The Ruby Ridge?" I ask.
"Yeah. That Ruby Ridge. Down there is a freshwater lake, Priest Lake. We'll set up camp there for a while. We are safe for a while here. Summers hit the mid eighties, winters are cold but livable and not as cold as Alaska. We'll camp here for a few days and get rested up. Then we'll talk about what we are going to do."

Billy said he'd get the short wave radio set up and see what the latest news is. Just over two weeks into this crisis it'd be nice to confirm that things are as bad as I think they are. Nathan set up a fire and Mark and Mike along with their families found fire wood for the night and located a dead tree for wood for a few days.

Nathan unpacked a couple of fishing poles and some lures and headed down to the water line. A.J. was right, this place was all ours. Not an infected psycho or survivor in sight. Believe me we were all on alert driving up here and it had seemed like it was miles and miles and miles with no one else around. Yeah sure a few could be hiding here and there but overall I think we might be somewhat safe.

A.J. was talking to the recently widowed and shaken Shauna. I couldn't hear anything but she was nodding and agreeing as she pointed towards the treeline.
John was looking over the land. Dr. Khiem was just stretching his legs and kicking a few rocks along the shoreline.

What was really astounding was that I heard birds. I heard the sounds of nature. Birds can't be infected can they? Surely not. Maybe I can do something I didn't think possible a few long days ago, maybe I can relax. Maybe I can breathe.

I grab a couple of bag chairs and head towards the shoreline where Nathan is stringing up a fishing pole.