Embarking with Bear and Roger: About That Coeur d'Alene (July 8

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.