On Sunday Louise and I were joined by our daughter Joelle and Peg and Bruce for a day of “biking”.  Those of you who know us probably know that Louise and I don’t bike…fact is, Louise hasn’t been on a bicycle since she was in grade school and for me, I haven’t ridden over a ½ mile since then either.  Now we are off to ride the 17 mile Hiawatha trail…thank God it is all down hill…  The Hiawatha trail was developed after the removal of the railroad tracks the Hiawatha Railroad train traveled for many years.  It started off with a ride through a 2 mile tunnel.  It was soooo dark in there that you had to use flash lights to find your way to the end and at the same time being pelted by water from the ceiling.  The pathway through the tunnels were banked from the center to the outside so that the water would flow into a trough on each side.  The problem with that was, as you were riding in total darkness on an unstable bike you were drawn like a magnet to the walls and the water trough...man I really didn’t want crash, especially in that damn tunnel.  We drove up the mountain to find the trail and for the next 15 miles we traveled through tunnels, over several trestles, and wound our way through the forest of tall Pine and Fir trees.  The views were terrific and the ride…well it was great with a possible wanting for a much softer seat (we had rented the “COMORT RIDE BIKE”) for the next time we ride.  There is no doubt, all of us totally enjoyed the ride and as they say, “would do it again at a drop of a hat”.  I must tell you however, it wasn’t without a couple of small “incidents”.  One time as Louise came to a stop, after feeling a little more confident in her riding, she found her body going one way and the bike going the other and ending with both, the bike and her, having to wipe off their bum.  The other was when Peggy ran into the back of Louise, she had stopped too quickly and without warning (at least that’s what Peggy said). That time everyone remained upright but had a good laugh over it.  It was a great day but much longer than anyone of us had imagined, from start to finish in 5 hours. 

25 June ‘07

I’m doing it again… I really don’t remember getting so behind when we were camping through Europe, but here I’ve had a problem.  Well let’s get on with it !!! 

On the 14^th Louise and I were invited to have dinner with our good friends Larry and Pauline Anderson.  We first met Larry and Pauline in 1980 when we purchased our business in Coeur d’Alene.  They had a restaurant across the driveway from us called “Larry’s 5 ¢ Coffee House” (Gawd, can you imagine, coffee for 5 ¢ a cup way back then???).  Louise and I hold their friendship close and anytime that we get a chance to visit with them (and especially when they have us to dinner) is something we look forward to when we’re back in Coeur d’Alene.   Besides having the opportunity to be with Amy and our family for Amy’s High School Graduation, we also met up with Peg and Bruce Fitzmaurice as they are one of the camp hosts at Wolf Lodge RV Park  (Peg and Bruce led us to our European journey in 2003 leading the way in 2000.). 

Coeur d’Alene was also having their “Car d’Alene” weekend so we decided to stay over a couple more days and take it in.  I’ve never seen more hot rods, antique cars and trucks in one place in all my life…it was incredible.  Larry and Pauline invited us to a private party were you could pull your chair right up to the side of the road and watch the show come by, while all along they were serving more food and drink than you could possibly imagine.  Larry was “touring” his rod through the town with all the others, and I must say he was “Looking Good”… 

12 June ‘07

This has been a heck of a week.  Louise and I have had more fun here in Coeur d’Alene, starting with being able to attend Amy’s graduation.  Right from the start the excitement at the Croson home was contagious.  Amy was “floating” from the basement to the upper floor, back to the main floor and then starting all over again.  This was her day…Friday, June 8^th…Graduation Day from Coeur d’Alene High.  The whole dang family was here to witness this day.  The first thing Friday was to get Amy into her hat and gown so that all of us could get our pictures before leaving for the auditorium.  This of course was after the 2^nd shower for the day, a pedicure, painting of the nails, re-doing of her hair for the 10^th time, and arguing with her mom and brothers about taking too long.  Then finally it was picture time.  Thank God for digital cameras…I know that I personally took over 70 pictures and I was only one camera…”can you PLEASE smile…can you stand up straight…can…can…can…”…poor Amy.  We all got some wonderful pictures and Amy held up like a champ.  Now it was off to the High School for the ceremony.  I must admit that a couple of the graduation ceremonies that we have been too have been very long and tough to stay with, but this one seemed to move along very well.  We had a great time.  Amy has a whole 6 days to let it all sink in before she has to be in Seattle for her first day on “the job”.  She will be working on the East side this summer and then in the Fall she will be going onto Shoreline Community College to jump start her studies before moving on to the UW.     CONGRATULATIONS  AMY !!!

3 June ‘07

Sunday

We have been in a period of hot weather here this week.  They are telling us that it is most unusual for the temperature to get this high this early in the year.  We’ve topped out at 98 each day and our air conditioning has been running quite a bit to keep us comfortable.  Yesterday we went into the little town of Soap Lake to pick up some groceries.  While shopping we came across a couple of blow-up cushions that we thought we would enjoy floating on when we got back to the campground.  Earlier in the morning we had walked out to the shore of Soap Lake, took off our flip-flops and went into the water…water with about 6 to8 inches of sticky mud…  The water is warm because of the shallow depth of the water and the fine-sticky mud sitting just 6 inches under the surface.  You can walk out in the water about 100 yards and you will most likely be deep enough to finally swim.  Each and every step is taken with a “squishy” feeling as you put pressure down onto the new foot print and then there is the “sucking” sound as you pull it up to take the next step.  The water feels “silky”.  When you put your hand in it, it almost feels like you have just taken a bar of soap and started to wash your hands.  My legs felt like I had suntan lotion on them throughout the whole day.  They say that when you swim it is like you are swimming on the very top of the water, you never seem to sink.  And then they tell us of the healing qualities of the water and the mud.  The stories are told by just about everyone that you come in contact with…one person healed to a whole group being healed because of the water and mud of Soap Lake.  An interesting note about the water is that it has minerals and other elements that float at different levels.  If your looking for mineral “X” you find it on level 3 (just kidding), but those who know say it does lay in a number of different levels and doesn’t permanently mix. 

Well so far we haven’t taken our swim in the lake but we will before we leave, I promise.

Friday night we purchased tickets for an off Broadway play in town.  It was called See How They Run by Phillip King.  It was a British satire.  A little slow in getting started but as it went on, it got funnier and funnier.  Overall it was worth the time and money and we would recommend it to anyone who is suffering by not having any culture around them for a long period.  Last night we went to one of the most popular “eateries”.  Don’s has been here in Soap Lake for quite a few years and is “the“ spot for the locals to gather for a Friday or Saturday night dinner.  We got there about 7 and didn’t get our dinner until after 8.  It was good, but not worth writing home about.  We did have an “interesting” bottle of wine.  It was called “Working Girl Wine”.  The name should have warned me… The last couple of mornings we went over to the clubhouse here at the campground for breakfast.  For what they were charging, we couldn’t do it at home.  The rest of the day was spent sitting around the pool and meeting and chatting with the rest of the campers.  There aren’t too many of us here.  I would guess that maybe 25 units out of a possible 140.

1 June ‘07

Friday

It has been too long since we’ve taken the kayak out (at least a week) and with the lakes that we have around here, it was a “no brain-er”.  We were in the “toad” just before 9am as the forecast was said to be “HOT” in the late afternoon, and we wanted to enjoy ourselves without burning up.  Our first stop was at Alkali Lake because it was one that had some of the most interesting rock formations and grasses that called out for our examination.  The other day as we were checking the area we found the trail to the caves at this location and as we got to the top of the cliffs and the caves, the view down into Alkali was magnificent.  This morning as we pulled off the highway and into the lake to find a place to put in, we encountered this sign that told us that we “Must” have a permit to park and enjoy this and all lakes that sit in or on Washington Fish and Wildlife grounds or pay a $65 dollar fine and have your car or truck towed…  Well CRAP, we didn’t have one…  OK, we’ve got to get one, now were do we get it ???  The sign didn’t say and Louise wouldn’t let me stay without one so back to the campground (about 6 miles) and see if they either sold them or knew just were we might be able to buy one.  We go a couple of places to check out, but when we got there they were both closed.  Well we’re out and trying to do the right thing, so we head even further up the road.  After 3 more stops and not having any luck we finally find what we are looking for at a Mini Mart about 20 miles up the road.  I’ve done quite well in keeping my temperature down but this almost did it….this DAMN state and its fee’s and then not having the “system” set-up so that a person could get what is needed without having to search all over the countryside.  ( DEEP BREATH …)  OK, change of plans, and besides this darn pass will give us a full year of stopping at these Fish and Wildlife locations all over Washington state.  We are now much closer to Dry Falls State Park.  When we were here earlier in the week we saw at least 4 lakes below us that looked like we could enjoy ourselves with a day of kayaking.  We stopped by the Information Center above the falls and got directions as to how we could get down there.  After leaving the highway, going through the State Park, turning left, and then following a dirt and big rock road about 3 miles we found ourselves parking beside the bank of this beautiful little lake.  It sat about 400 feet below the cliffs that at one time made up those magnificent falls.  This dark blue lake had its own rock islands and reed grasses that we explored from one end to the other.  We were there kayaking for just over 2 hours and enjoyed this unusual and beautiful spot far below the cliffs.  We didn't see any 4 legged wildlife but we did see some waterfowl that we were new to us.  It excited Louise so much that she had to finally purchase a book on North American Birds.  She has wanted this for sometime and now the excuse to finally get it done.