On Thursday June 12th we left our home bright and early to travel to the Metaline Falls area of our state. Instead of traveling highway 20 to Highway 31, we chose a back road that looked simple enough to navigate. The map showed that Aladdin Road would get us to an alternate route to the town of Ione. After a while we knew we had missed the turnoff. We turned around and saw a gentleman on his morning walk so we stopped to ask him if he knew where we went wrong and if he knew an alternate route to Ione. He said he did and he had just driven it the day before and if we didn’t mind getting our car dirty we could drive Smackout Creek Road for 14 miles and get to Ione. We found the primitive road and set out slow and easy. After several miles the road changed names to Smackout Pass Road. It was a pretty but very remote road.
We did not see another vehicle until we got to about mile 12. We were relieved to finally reach the small town of Ione.
Our first stop once we reached highway 31 was Box Canyon Viewpoint in Ione.
We were happy to see a nice parking area with a clean restroom.
We saw eagles besides the nice views up and down the Pend Oreille river. Pend Oreille is pronounced ‘Pond Array’.
We made a quick stop at Eagle Nest Viewpoint but we were only entertained by swallows.
Continuing on Highway 31 we crossed the bridge over the river into the little town of Metaline Falls.
The Farmhouse Cafe was the spot we picked for our breakfast. Since it was the only choice for food we were happy the food and service was good.
After breakfast we stopped at a Mercantile for a little shopping. We bought a puzzle for me and a hat for Greg.
We got some extra information about the area from the owners of the shop and set off north again on Highway 31. We had two planned stops that were about 1 mile from the U.S. – Canadian Border.
We knew the next two stops were something we’d enjoy seeing in person because our son, Dan, had been in this area last month and had sent photos via text of what he saw.
I’ll save those stops for another post.
Yesterday we had a nice Father’s Day starting with church and then we enjoyed a quiche for brunch.
Our Colville kids brought us a wonderful homemade Curry for dinner along with a Strawberry/Rhubarb Pie that Addy and JJ helped bake.
They forgot to bring a strawberry for the top so they improvised with the fresh cherries we were enjoying.
It was high time to take a fresh generations photo of the guys.
Enjoy the last days of Spring!
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
Thank you for telling us how to pronounce the name of your destination!! The Washington Hotel is unique in appearance. My first thought was it looked like a train station! The view from your first stop is breathtaking! Thanks for sharing with us.
I still crack up about how I used to pronounce it! Thank you for stopping by on a Monday morning!
It would appear that you had an adventure going to lone. But honestly, when I saw the picture of the road you were traveling my first thought was, “Ahhh…my kind of road!” The county we live in is filled with roads like that! 🙂
Looking forward to the pictures of the last two stops that you made.
That picture of JJ and Addy with the pie that they helped make for their granddad is so precious! Both of them have the sweetest smiles. And I always love generational pictures!
Thank you, Dianna. You’d feel right at home in our area because we have loads of primitive roads.
…thanks for taking me along on this fabulous road trip. It had a sweet ending.
And thanks for coming along…
I love a scenic road trip, beautiful views and photos.
Take care, enjoy your day and have a great week!
Thank you, Eileen.
I love a road trip that has some unexpected (not in a bad way) interruptions. Such a pretty spot and that biscuits and gravy sign is cute : ) Your quiche looks good! Have a nice week.
Joyce, we had the best interruptions. Thank you for stopping by on this last Monday in Spring.
I can always count on seeing something beautiful when I visit here! Thank you for sharing this road trip! Such spectacular country! Awesome that your family was together for Father’s Day!
Thank you, Monica. We live in a beautiful part of our country.
Smackout Pass is such a great name 🙂
I enjoyed traveling with you and could almost feel the fresh air along the way.
Thank you, we have been spared the smoke from the fires in Canada so far. This is also fire season for us and hopefully fires won’t be the major news around here! Have a wonderful last few days of Spring.
It’s great to be on the back roads without the traffic. It looks so scenic. I’m off to find a map to locate your journey. Great photo of your boys. B x
Wow, I am very impressed with the trip you too. I enjoyed seeing all of the photos. You guys are pretty adventurous. Glad your food service went well. Looking forward to the rest of your adventure. Looks like it was a nice Father’s Day.
Ah, “the last of spring,” you say. It’s been summer here for abut 2 months, with much more to come. Anyway …
Thanks for taking us along on your trip via your blog. I like the “mind your biscuits” sign!
Celebrating nature and family – oh, so good!
What a great road trip. I like quiet country roads like that too. Pie looks delicious and I love the pie plate!
I love traveling the back roads. There is more to see and less traffic . . . both good reasons for me! Sounds like your last road into Ione had a lot less traffic. 🙂
Your quiche looks yummy, as does the pie! So special that the grands had a hand in making it! I love the three generation picture!
This looked like a nice relaxing drive with pretty scenery. Yiour father’s day looked happy! We hosted Father’s Day dinner at our house and also celebrated our 3 family June birthdays together.