Falling in love with Coeur d'Alene

Coeur d'Alene is a cute, little town, perfect for outdoor recreation lovers. Lake Coeur d'Alene, a beautiful clear-blue lake nestled among green mountains, was once listed by National Geographic as one of the top five most beautiful lakes in the world. It lies in the panhandle between Washington and Montana, just 100 miles south of the Canadian border. The lake is alive with activity. The kids enjoyed watching the pontoon planes take off and land in front of us. There's one in the photo below.

We hiked Tubbs Hill for the best views and to find relatively private coves to swim. 

Check out the food boat! Seriously, it feeds people while out on the water or from the docks!

Lately I've been finding myself carrying around my kids wet underwear (impromptu swimsuits). 

It makes me happy to let them be spontaneous and enjoy the moments.

The playground and splash pad at McEuen Park, wow! The kids were in heaven. One fun thing about our travels is that our kids always have a new park to play on, rarely returning. This one we went back to a few times.

Asher mastered the zip-line.

The Coeur d'Alene Resort is top-ranked. Their marina sits along the world's longest floating boardwalk (.75mi). Guests can order room service delivered right to their boat. They also own the world's first floating, movable golf green. The 14th hole is an island that can be moved around to increase the length of the hole from 75 to 175ft! Golfers must board a boat to finish the hole.

I wandered thru a fantastic antique shop that could easily be a museum. Cisco's Gallery includes a cowboy hat, boots and saddle all delicately carved from wood. My other favorite was the Tramp Art.  Intricately carved wood furniture with secret compartments that you just have to see to really appreciate. The kids danced at "Music in the Park" and then enjoyed the tiniest ice cream cones I've ever seen. I with I would have taken a photo. 

Another day at Tubbs Hill, with swimsuits this time. Asa swam the entire time!

We were fortunate to be in town for the Street Fair/Art festival/Taste of CDA. Yep, three festivals in one. They're split into sections, but right next to each other, so you easily move from one to the next, from downtown to the lake. It was hot. We ended up swimming, which I found the perfect way to end a festival. The water was so clear, even when standing almost five feet deep in the water, we could watch fish swimming around our feet.

The kids were super excited to get their first bow and "ah-yoh" (arrow) set at the festival!

It seems like every RV has this sticker map. Now we have one too! The kids helped me fill in the 27 states we have experienced since we launched. We don't count it if we just drive thru it (Kentucky). Now it's proudly displayed on our slide with our Fulltime Families sticker.

Newberry National Volcanic Monument, Oregon

This is one of those unplanned things we stumble across and turns into a day we treasure. The Newberry Caldera is 50,000 acres of volcanos, lava flows and lakes within the Deschutes National Forest. The featured visitor areas are spread out around the Monument so you need to drive from one destination to another. We began our day at Lava Butte, a 500ft cinder cone. The park conveniently shuttles you to the top so you can leisurely hike around the crater while taking in the views. I counted 74 peaks visible from this point, some snow-capped at the end of July! We later learned they normally have more snow on them, but it was a super mild winter with very little snowfall.

The ride back down the volcano provided a great view of the lava fields.

Next we went into the lava river cave. Beware, if you have been in any other cave, you will have to wear different shoes or decontaminate them due to WNS (white nose syndrome) which is killing a large number of bats.  I had forgotten about this and since we were in Carlsbad Cavern a few months ago, it was a problem. Fortunately we had a spare pair for me and Journey, but mine and Asher's shoes were the contaminated ones, so I put Journey's shoes on Asher and the spare pair on Journey. Thank goodness for similar-sized twins! After our game of musical shoes, we were ready to enter the cave armed with a lantern and flashlight. There are no lights inside the cave, only what you take with you!

 The kids took a short nap in the truck, which continued on the picnic table for a bit. 

Then it was time to walk thru the Lava Cast Forest. This place is unlike any other. When the volcano erupted, the lava flowed down (and somewhat up) around the tree trunks. The trees later died, crumbled and left this empty tube sticking out of the ground.

Some of the casts are very deep, even 10ft underground.

Asher is explaining how these tree casts were formed. Pretty cute to listen to him explain it!

The kids found this the ultimate hide and seek venue. Here's Journey scaring Asher. They 

even hid together to scare the one. and. only. other group of people we saw here. Funny.

Asher still points out the Indian paintbrush whenever he sees them. Rachel told him what these are called in California's Sierras.

Wolf lichen grows on so many trees in this area. It used to be used as a dye or to color paint.

A quick stop at one of the alpine lakes, East Lake.

The Obsidian field, where black volcanic glass and pumice cover the ground.

Lake Paulina