About That Flathead Lake (July 22 - 28 )

Dear Family and Friends,

We have really enjoyed our first of two weeks at Flathead Lake and Polson, Montana. Flathead Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. It is 28 miles long and 15 miles wide with 160 miles of Shoreline. We are at Polson Motorcoach and RV Resort. Our site overlooks one end of Flathead Lake with the Mission Mountains in the background. It is truly as beautiful a place as I have seen and in my opinion rivals the lakes in Europe. The resort is the best that we have used, with friendly owners and RVers.

 No kidding, this is the view of Flathead Lake with the Mission Mountains behind it, from our front window.

 Roger and Bear are checking out our new site.

 The front view of our site shows the full barbecue area on the terraced patio, below our Tour.

 Bear loves the dog run!

 Fun with Bear's favorite pal Roger.

As you can see from the above pictures, we are enjoying our stay at Polson RV Resort. The only thing that could top it off would be a visit from our son and grandchildren. Rob, Abby and Jackson arrived on Wednesday (from Dallas) and left on Saturday. It was a quick visit, but we had so much fun being with them. Thank you Rob, for bringing the children to visit us in Montana.

Before the grandchildren arrived, our Bear had a mishap. While hopping out of the Tour, he managed to snag his nail on a hind leg necessitating a trip to the local vet. Happily we found a wonderful vet who snipped off the nail and placed Bear's hurt paw in a bandage. Bear is on medication for a week. Below are the pics from our eventful week.

 Our poor Bear who was a trooper throughout his split nail ordeal.

 It wouldn't be a visit to Mimi and Grandad without presents.

 Our superhero Jackson loves Star Wars!

 Rob, in a rare moment of relaxing, on our patio.

 Jackson, Abby and Grandad had lots of fun at the pool.

 Bear's friends Skyla and Erica

 More Star Wars fun.

 Abby is zonked out. She can sleep through anything.

Even though he is on vacation, Rob still has a law practice that keeps him very busy.

Our four days with the grandchildren went quickly. An all day trip to Glacier National Park, a ride on the Happy Hippo (complete with pirates) on Flathead Lake, swimming in the resort pool, playing with new toys, and just generally hanging out with the family was a thrill for Mimi and Grandad. Although we had to say goodbye on Saturday, I look forward to visiting Dallas in October (Mimi duty) and then with Roger, spending 6 weeks in the Ft. Worth/Dallas area for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Thank you for your interest in our blog. We will be at Flathead Lake for another week and then it is on to Missoula, Montana.

About That Second Week in Idaho (July 15 - 21)

Dear Family and Friends,

Our last week at Blackwell Island RV resort was filled with lots of fun living our unique lifestyle. We have loved meeting so many people on their vacations with their children, especially those from Canada. In fact, I think that is one of the best things (besides the opportunity to see this great country) about this lifestyle. This week we spent sightseeing, celebrating our anniversary, hiking, cycling, and relaxing on the Spokane River at the RV resort. Bear continued to practice his swimming. The shots below show our activities.

We drove to Post Falls, Idaho to see "the falls." In the early 1800's, a Mr. Post negotiated with the local tribes for the water rights to the falls. This enabled him to build a mill using the water power source. Though the mill is long gone, the falls remain.

 Lots of Canadian Geese at the park near the falls.

Roger and I celebrated our 41st wedding anniversary on Tuesday. We went to dinner at an amazing floating restaurant located on Blackwell Island. Besides the unique setting, the food was outstanding.

 The happy couple with a view of Lake Coeur d'Alene through the window.

The canoe in the restaurant rocks gently and that is the only way we could tell that we were actually floating.

On Wednesday morning we went to Hull Island to get a hike in that runs along the lake. Bear loved being off leash! There were many overlooks that display the beauty of the area. Thank you Bear for bing such a patient photography subject.

At this point, Bear refuses to follow Roger across the swinging bridge. He was very happy that I carried him across it.

On Friday, we left  Coeur d'Alene in the morning for our move to Polson, Montana and Flathead Lake. Our trip took us through the beautiful mountain passes of the Northern Idaho panhandle and into Montana. We left I-90 and headed north on Montana 200 and then US 93. Throughout the entire trip, we experienced those gorgeous mountains and pine/fur trees. It was a great trip.

Our next two weeks will be spent at Polson RV Resort. Our son, Rob, and grandchildren, Abby and Jackson will arrive this week for a visit and we cannot wait. Thank you for checking in with us.

About That Coeur d'Alene (July 8 - 14 )

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello from Coeur d'Alene, in the Northwestern part of Idaho! Until July 19th, we are staying at Blackwell RV Resort located on the Spokane River. The river is fed by Lake Coeur d'Alene.  After the flats of eastern Washington, it is such a pleasure to be in the pines and hills again.

We left Warden, Washington, on Sunday morning. Our route took us along Interstate 90 East with a stop for fuel near the border of Washington and Idaho. Our scenery changed from the agricultural flatter part of Washington to the hills and pines of Spokane and then continued on to Coeur d'Alene.  

 Sagebrush along the first part of our drive

 Lots of crops, including wheat, along the way.

 Leaving the flat part of Washington State for hills.

 I - 90 runs through Spokane.

Welcome to Idaho!

We are staying at Blackwell Island RV Resort, which is a lively place in the summertime. With a perfect location along the Spokane River and easy boat launching ramps, it makes a great get a way for families. We have met families from Washington, Idaho and Canada. Now that school is out, Roger and I are seeing many families using RV's or camping trailers. We like this mix. Below are pictures from our first day of exploring the town of Coeur d'Alene.

Mudgy the Moose is a local character made famous in a children's book by a local author. The book is about Mudgy and his search for his pal, Millie Mouse, along the shores of Lake Coeur d"Alene, in a game of hide and seek.  Bear and Roger are deciding that we need to take Hull Hill Hike (they are standing at the beginning of the trailhead with Mudgy) on a cooler morning.

Lake Coeur d'Alene seen through Ponderosa Pines.

 Lots of boats enjoy this lake.

The lake is surrounded by beautiful hills.

Gorgeous and well-tended petunia baskets line the downtown streets.

The week was spent touring the area, hiking and playing in the Spokane River with Bear, cycling, reading and working on our computers, meeting lots of RVers, and just enjoying our time in this beautiful area of Idaho.

 At Higgins Point, the uppermost portion of Lake Coeur d'Alene, on the Centennial Trail that runs along the lake and town. What a great bike ride!

This is one of the most beautiful lakes that I have seen.

In the past we have tried to get Bear to swim, but failed. Yes we could put him in a pool, but he would always head for the steps and didn't look like he was having too much fun. Here at the RV Resort is a doggie beach where he willingly runs into the water to fetch a ball. With Roger in the water and me tossing the ball, Bear has had lots of practice swimming and loves it.

Bear has the ball in his mouth.

That is a very happy Bear!

Thursday was one of those perfect days with a cruise on Lake Coeur d'Alene. The following pictures show our time on the lake. Before boarding the cruise ship, we stopped for lunch at a very famous burger bar in the area called Hudsons. There have been three generations of Hudsons frying burgers in this very spot.

Hudson's Burger Bar

 Roger is standing in front of Hudson's, the very popular hamburger shop.

 Gorgeous baskets line the streets.

 Roger is standing in front of the public beach. It was here, seven years ago, that our son Rob competed in his first Ironman Triathalon.

 On the cruise ship.

 This shot shows the lake feeding into the Spokane River. Our RV resort lies on the river on the left side of this picture.

 Looking at the town of Coeur d'Alene from the lake.

 The bridge in this picture is 300 feet high. It is part of Interstate 90.

Our cruise ship on Inspiration Point

On Friday, we finally had our windshield replaced. In February, our Terrain was hit by a rock in Mission, Texas. Though we had it repaired we knew it was a large chip in the windshield and were not surprised that it grew. Safelite came out to our site at Blackwell Island and repaired it. Below are the pictures of a rather interesting process.

 The windshield is out of the Terrain.

 Our new windshield weighs 40 pounds.

Back into the Terrain it goes by a technician who has thirty years experience in the business.

Thank you for reading the blog for this week. We have had a great time in Coeur d'Alene and look forward to another week in this beautiful area.