Missoula and Coeur d'Alene

Blog 5 Roadtrip 2010

Montana, here we come! We arrived in Missoula and stayed at a local Walmart. Walmarts are great for overnighting in your RV when you don’t have plans to stay long. Since we didn’t know about any exciting activities in Missoula, we asked the ladies working in the Walmart women’s department the following question: “If you only had one day to spend in Missoula, what would you recommend?” One said, puzzled for an answer, “hmm, I don’t know. Let’s ask Sandy”. Sandy said, “Oh, definitely hike to the M.” Apparently hiking to the “M” is the locals’ idea of excitement. Well we had to find out why. The M is a huge letter on the hill above the University of Montana! It is quite a steep hike up the 11 or so switchbacks to get there. Apparently the view is the best to be had of Missoula. Locals hike/run it for exercise. Normie and I rode our bikes to the bottom of the M and decided that photos were quite enough, we could just “say” we went to the M. The University campus is quite beautiful and “old school” at the same time.

Missoula has a river running through it. There is a specially built concrete structure underwater that causes a rapids wave in the river. It is a big attraction to local kayakers who apparently love the reverse “wave” that they get to ride upstream! Kinda cool, actually. Oh, and the city has the bragging rights to the fastest carousel in North America. Eight mph doesn’t seem fast in a straight line, but going around on this thing can make you incredibly dizzy in no time at all. And forget the 1-2 minute ride like you get at Disneyland. This thing seemed to go on forever!! We left before it stopped because it was going for so long. Oh, did I mention we didn’t actually “ride” the carousel? The girl operating it said she wouldn’t ride it either, makes her sick just to sit and watch it whiz by. We concurred. Here is a video of it. Missoula Carousel Video

From Montana, we ventured west to Idaho. Wait, didn’t we just travel north FROM Idaho into Montana? Hmm, seems we were surrounded by Idaho. Upon arriving in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, we saw that there was a local farmers market in progress. So we dropped the rv at the local rv park and got back downtown for the market. Whilst perusing the vast array of arts, crafts and victuals, Normie noticed a gentleman at a sidewalk café attempting to down a plate of spaghetti with a single, 4 inch, meatball!! All of a sudden we were hungry for Italian. Of course, she had to order that spaghetti and “meatball”. It was more like a round meatloaf! At the time, it seemed like a good idea to each order our own meal. In retrospect, our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. We could have easily split one dinner and been just fine. If you find yourself in Couer d’Alene, Idaho, put Tito Macaroni on your list for dinner.

While in Coeur d’Alene, we decided to look up Steve Craun, who is an old co-worker and friend from my GTE days. Many of you don’t know that I actually had a job at one time! Back then, visiting Couer d’Alene was one of the many “chores” I had to endure for my job’s sake! I always looked forward to visiting and enjoyed connecting with Steve and his wife, Barbara when I was in town. Well, this trip was no different. It was great to see them both after so many years. We got together for dinner and re-capped and reminisced for a couple of hours that seemed to go by in minutes. They are retired and enjoying their own little slice of heaven on their property that butts up to the national forest. They have their own stream, and pond, on their property. Pretty cool. It’s always good to see old friends and re-ignite that relationship every once in awhile. We look forward to future encounters along our path with many others of you out there.

Of course, you all know that “Serendipity” is our name; mainly because we happen upon interesting events that deserve our attendance. In CDA we were fortunate to be there while the annual Art on the Green event was going on. It was held at the local university and seems to have “poured” out into the town. I say this because it has hatched an annual street fair and food festival, A Taste of Coeur d’Alene, throughout the downtown and lakefront as well. This is considered the biggest weekend of the year for CDA and we were glad to have been here to experience it. Just being around the art, music and beauty of the surroundings was well worth the price of admission. Oh, but it was free!!! Later into the night we ventured into the area serving the local students. OK, the clubs and bars. It is quite interesting to sit back and watch the parade of peacocks and pheasants all out in their regalia hoping to find some fun and/or “hook up”. So glad we don’t have to do that anymore! But it was very entertaining to see such a variety of people in various stages of inebriation, some chatting us up as they passed, others oblivious to our presence. Go figure. We’re hot, why is nobody noticing? Lol. Two old people in shorts and t-shirts sitting next to their bicycles. . . . we got game!! We did get close to SOME action at one point, when a bachelorette party came by and the future bride opened up her jacket and offered to sell us some of the condoms that adorned the inside of her coat! We declined. Ahh, kids.

Coeur d’Alene is a magnificent stop on anybody’s road trip. It is right on Lake Coeur d’Alene and is as picturesque as can be. We recommend it to anyone who is within 200 miles of it. Totally worth the detour, or even as a destination! It is a very bicycle friendly place, with bike paths along the lake and river to enjoy the beauty that Nature so abundantly provides.

Blog 4 Roadtrip 2010

Blog 4 Roadtrip 2010

Before arriving at Marc & Jan’s, we were lucky enough to have the chance to stop at our Dunes Neighbors, Karen & Brock Yates. They have been building a home on the Salmon River, just 30 miles upriver from Marc & Jan. (upriver is actually south! Go figure. The Salmon runs north.) They were home, and we were so thrilled to get a chance to see the fruits of their labors. We have been hearing their story of how they were building as they had the funds. They have much to be proud of. This place was awesome! It was also cool to see that the entire construction was done by their own hands, not hired labor. They will be opening a small diner on their property in the coming weeks, so If you have reason to be going north out of Challis, Idaho, stop in and get some teriyaki chicken or fried wontons from Brock’s kitchen. They are located just past the bridge that crosses over the Salmon River as you are going north out of Challis. Tell them we sent you!

Arrived at our best friends, Marc & Jan Dell’Ario’s, vacation home in Elk Bend, Idaho. Elk Bend is a small hamlet 22 miles south of Salmon, Idaho. Their house is situated on the Salmon River. The views that surround them are truly gorgeous. And the night sky so filled with stars that you could read a book by them.

This visit was for a “garage-raising”. Kind of like a barn-raising, only not. We were joined by other long time friends, Dave and Jody Wilson. You might remember them too (see 2007 blog roadtrip to Maine). Anyway, the fellowship was fantastic, the work was hard and the nights were welcome and filled with much laughter. Kind of like a Newport Dunes party without the Security guys coming by to tell us that it was “quiet time”. You all know we cannot be quieted!!! Doesn’t matter where we are.

Since I love to cook, I volunteered to be “chef” for the group. Or I was appointed. Depends on your perspective. I made several meals with “pot-luck” ingredients, most turned out to be quite tasty. I was especially happy with the Elk Chili. Yeah, one of the crew members had some elk lying around, so he volunteered it for dinner. It was amazingly good. We were expecting “gamey” to be on our tongues, but it turned out to have a unique flavor unto itself. I would recommend it to anyone if you ever have the chance to try it.

Two long weeks of construction resulted in a beautiful 18 x 50 foot garage, complete with doors at each end and a finished roof! We were all very proud of our efforts for a bunch of out of shape old guys. And it actually passed county inspection!!! It was great being a part of this experience, even if I did miss out on fishing. . . . oh, wait, I’m retired, I think I will go fishing now.

Marc and Jan had to leave to get back to their lives in Fullerton on Saturday the 24^th of July. Two days prior to that we found some river rafts on sale in Salmon. We bought one and Dave and Jody bought one. They were the perfect addition to our lives of leisure. Marc & Jan borrowed kayaks from a neighbor. Suffice it to say, that we have been floating down the river 3 times in 3 days and enjoying every minute of it. There is a spot along the river called the “eyeball”, where the river flows into a huge eddy about 250 feet across. Perfect swimming/fishing/picnicking/wine-drinking spot. We have taken full advantage of the “eyeball” in all categories of enjoyment. Mostly the picknicking and wine-drinking. There were no mishaps if you don’t count Marc’s falling into the river and losing his good prescription eyeglasses, his shoe, his paddle and his dignity. Fortunately Dave and Jody were downriver and rescued the flotsam minus the eyeglasses. Also fortunately, we were upstream in a position to “save” Marc, who was standing in the middle of the river trying to maintain his balance on one foot against the current while standing on slippery rocks. Apparently our idea of “saving” him was to run into him with our raft and sweep him off his foot! Since I was sitting backwards while paddling my raft, I failed to look to see where he was standing in order to position myself for this maneuver. We weren’t exactly trained for this rescue effort. It would have made a Three Stooges movie look boring. Suffice it to say, everyone thought it was funny except the “victim” Even Jan had a hand in it by retrieving Marc’s kayak. Oh yeah, did I mention that he also lost his BOAT?!

We didn’t realize how dependant we had become on having a cell phone and internet service. Fourteen days in Elk Bend can make that very real. We only got signal when we drove into Salmon for any reason. Actually, EVERY reason! If you need paint, Salmon. If you need internet, Salmon. If you need to make a phone call, Salmon. If you need groceries, Mankato, er, Salmon. Kind of like Little House on the Prairie!! I’m going into town, anybody need anything? That seemed to be the phrase of the day. Every day, somebody made the 44 mile round trip into Salmon. Oh, and you had to watch out every inch of the way, because daily, several deer are hit by cars along this stretch of road. So it is a very eerie feeling to think that you could end up in the river at any time because of a deer on the road. Sign and memorial markers all along the roadside attest to this reality.

During the building process, we found out that we were in Idaho at the right time for “Logger Days” in Darby, Montana. Montana? Yep, just around the corner, and two hours straight up the road. Couldn’t miss this one! How often do you get the chance to watch loggers competing in cutting wood? Ok, more than “cutting” wood. Sawing, hacking, chipping and rolling wood. The best part was the chain saw built out of a giant V8 engine! It was like a high fuel dragster without the frame, steering wheel or tires. But it could cut thru a 30 inch log in about 2 seconds. Tim, the “Tool Man” Taylor would have had a coronary watching this one.

Two weeks in Elk Bend passed way too quickly, and we said goodbye to our friends and we all went our separate ways knowing that this would not be the last time we would gather here together. Got that, Marc & Jan? Freddie and Freida Freeloader will be back (Homage to Willie Comstock, love you, Willie). We made copies of the keys, just kidding. “We don’t need no stinkin’ keys!” Good times, yeah, good times. We see many future trips back to this idyllic little corner of the world. Combine good friends with good places and you get great memories.