Day 13: Seattle to Coeur d’Alene
Back on the road again…if you’re wondering where Day 11 and
12 went. Well, we were on vacation (a vacation within a vacation if you will), which means the blog was on vacation, too.
It was difficult to start the journey again after the nice
three-day break from driving.
After re-packing the car, we set off eastward towards Coeur d’Alene,
Idaho. We decided to leave Daisy
behind, as many of our activities on this leg of the trip were not
dog-friendly, and with the country suffering through a pretty widespread heat
wave, letting her stay in the car for even 15-20 minute stints wasn’t an
option. Grandma & Grandpa were
happy to accept Daisy with their family for two weeks. And their poodle, Lacey
seemed happy to have an extra playmate around the house. Even though we knew we’d miss her, it
was difficult to get on the road and say goodbye, even temporarily.
As we started the drive and worked our way through the city
and up into the Cascades, we settled in for the next long phase of the trip, 3000
miles to Charlottesville. One thing we were note expecting was how quickly we
arrived at the long expanses of farmland and high desert once we passed over
the Cascades; we didn’t quite expect it to be so barren and empty for long
stretches of road. Another thing we noticed was that after crossing
through the mountains, the temperatures began to rapidly increase, as we passed the 90
degree threshold shortly into our drive. It wasn’t much of a big deal, as we
had not planned any mid-drive excursions; we were pretty focused on getting to
our destination as soon as possible. However, just to illustrate how barren it
was, even as we approached Spokane, we would never know we were approaching a
major city until we came within about 5 miles of the city limits.
The reason for the focus on Coeur d’Alene was due to the
recommendation from one of Aimee’s Juneau friends (thank you Lawlers) to visit
the Triple Play Amusement Park.
The park was connected by a short walkway to the Holiday Inn Express
where we were staying, we didn’t even have to walk outside to go there. With a
waterpark, bowling alley, go karts, mini golf, etc. all connected to the hotel,
it was the perfect setup for our family; lots of things to do without having to
worry about driving anywhere. We checked in as soon as possible and quickly set
out for a round of miniature golf.
After about 14-15 holes, Ash & Alex began to succumb to the heat
(even after 6:00, it was still quite hot) and started to lose interest; with a
little prodding, we all pressed on to finish. After the golf, we retreated to the much cooler indoor area
where we ate some pizza and plotted the rest of the evening: a round of bowling,
then onto the waterslide park. After
about two hours of playing in the wave pool and riding their various slides, it
was enough to call it a day.
Knowing that we were all coming back tomorrow (Greg only for a few hours
after playing golf), the kids didn’t protest all that much, and went to sleep
quickly.
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| Ash lining up her putt at the Triple Play Miniature Golf Course |
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| Ash & Alex in front of the Wave Pool at the Triple Play Amusement Park |
Arriving in Coeur d’Alene marked the passing of the 3,000
mile mark on the trip, we are now officially on the back-end of the move!…and
now with the movement predominately in the eastern direction, we feel like
there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
However, we still realize there’s a long way to go...and much more to
see!
Tomorrow: Butte
Wildlife sightings:
None
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