Coeur d"Alene, Idaho; bike riding, hiking, gourmet breakfasts and right wing politics
After our fun week in SLC celebrating Aria's 2nd birthday we headed north 700 miles to Coeur d"Alene Idaho for a week trip. We stayed in a different airbnb from last year (a 3 night/two day sampler visit) since when we made the reservations we were hoping Pat and Mark would join us and this new airbnb had two rooms..but they already had plans for a long 4th of July weekend trip, so it ended up just being the two of us. We love this area, lots of beautiful lakes, mountains and the nicest bike trail we've ever ridden. The trail of the Coeur d'Alene's is 71 miles long and goes from near the Montana border east of Wallace Idaho to Plummer, Idaho, mostly along the Coeur d"Alene River and Lake. It is one of 15 trails in the rail to trail hall of fame, and deservedly so. Donna rode 125 miles and I rode 175 miles over the week. Really enjoyed the new bikes. I also rode the centennial trail to Spokane (thus the extra 50 miles) one day (it's mostly along the Spokane River), while Donna drove to Spokane and visited with her friend Cathy. I joined them late that afternoon and we had a nice dinner together. A nice week of weather with one evening rain storm. We took a day break from bike riding and drove around 70 miles north to Priest Lake where we did a 6 mile hike along the lake. Would love to come back and kayak the upper part of the lake, which was very beautiful (a USFS lady said it was the best way to see the upper part of the lake).
Donna loves it so much that she wants to do a family vacation with the kids up here maybe next summer. Donna even talked about moving to the area, but with none of our children there realistically we won't be doing that. Another reason we won't be moving there is the extreme right wing politics of the region. Our airbnb hosts (different ones this time; Bruce 64 and Kristen 69, moved from Houston a few years ago) were very friendly and their home was great - our own master bedroom suite, home on 13 acres 6 miles out of town overlooking the mountains and Spokane River, really wonderful old English sheep dog, and gourmet breakfasts by Bruce who is a chef, and is doing a high end sweet and savory business. However, Bruce is extremely conservative - very libertarian, the smartest guy in the room, and extreme (in our view) in his politics (for example - the US should have nuked Russia and China at the end of WWII when we were the only ones with the bomb). The food was fantastic, and the accommodations great, but probably couldn't return to their home - ironically, they loved us, and if we could have avoided the political discussions, we enjoyed them too. Bruce's extremism caused me to do some more internet search on the area, and the region has turned in the last 30 years or so from a fairly democratic union area, to an area that has attracted very conservative and often very extreme folks. A lot of conservative Californians have moved there (cashed in on their homes and moved away from the increasingly "blue state" politics of California) - and the region now only has Republicans in all elected positions. So, a fun place to visit, but not a great place to move to.
Donna loves it so much that she wants to do a family vacation with the kids up here maybe next summer. Donna even talked about moving to the area, but with none of our children there realistically we won't be doing that. Another reason we won't be moving there is the extreme right wing politics of the region. Our airbnb hosts (different ones this time; Bruce 64 and Kristen 69, moved from Houston a few years ago) were very friendly and their home was great - our own master bedroom suite, home on 13 acres 6 miles out of town overlooking the mountains and Spokane River, really wonderful old English sheep dog, and gourmet breakfasts by Bruce who is a chef, and is doing a high end sweet and savory business. However, Bruce is extremely conservative - very libertarian, the smartest guy in the room, and extreme (in our view) in his politics (for example - the US should have nuked Russia and China at the end of WWII when we were the only ones with the bomb). The food was fantastic, and the accommodations great, but probably couldn't return to their home - ironically, they loved us, and if we could have avoided the political discussions, we enjoyed them too. Bruce's extremism caused me to do some more internet search on the area, and the region has turned in the last 30 years or so from a fairly democratic union area, to an area that has attracted very conservative and often very extreme folks. A lot of conservative Californians have moved there (cashed in on their homes and moved away from the increasingly "blue state" politics of California) - and the region now only has Republicans in all elected positions. So, a fun place to visit, but not a great place to move to.
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