Coeur D'Alene: The Forbidden City

When we look back on our trip to Canada in the summer of 2016, we will remember the hikes to the tea house at Lake Louise, the "fancy" room service at the Chateau, the family reunion in Banff. What we won't remember (selectively) will be the scenery in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho.  Why? Because the damn place banished us before setting foot in its city limits. 

If you'll recall the deer incident en-route (see: "Deer 1, Me 0: http://beyonddwheel.blogspot.com/2016/07/deer-1-me-0.html) we didn't quite make it to Coeur D'Alene. And alas, on out way back home from the "great white north" we once again didn't make it. 

Bonner's Ferry, ID: about 30mi south of the Canadian border. "Blondie" needed to pee and there wasn't a gas station in sight. I did what any attentive dad would do: I pulled into the nearest vacant lot (which happened to be a Menonite church) so the boy can relieve himself. About 3min later or 2miles down, the car started making s rumbling sound, emanating from the rear left tire. As fast as it was happening I had noticed. Then just as fast, the tire blew out and low pressure light went off. 

Pulling into the nearest parking lot, of course there was no food establishments for Prudence and the boys to sit and eat while I changed the flat. She called Enterprise right away as I jacked up the car and put on the donut. As she got off the phone, I could tell it was going to be an even more interesting trip. 

Enterprise's policy for roadside was to change the flat, but I'd already done that. Next option was to find a car repair close and have them put new tire on and Enterprise would reimburse us. Option three was to drive to closest Firestone or Tire-Rama and they'd replace the tire and directly charge Enterprise. The final option was to find another Enterprise and get a different rental. 

We opted for option 2: find a Tire-Rama. The closest location was in Coeur D'Alene, ID about 50mi away. We packed the. boys up and started to make our way at a snails pace of 50mph-the suggested speed limit on a donut. Within the first 10min, something wasn't feeling right (besides the snails pace at which we were moving). I decided to call the Tire-Rama and (I'm sure you can assume what transpired next) after talking to the clerk on the phone, he told me that "18-in tires are an odd size. We don't have that here, but can get it in about a day-and-a-half."

In what country is an 18-in tire odd for a SUV?! To my knowledge that's standard sizing for a Sports Utility Vehicle....

....so option 3: drive to Spokane, WA for a new vehicle. This was an additional 47 miles on top of the 50 to Coeur D'Alene. You can get about 100 miles out of a donut - were pushing the boundaries here. 

So once again on this trip, we didn't make it to Coeur D'Alene, ID. At this point, I don't even care if I ever get there in this lifetime. 

Deer 1, Me 0

As I sit here on I-90N about 50mi from Butte, MT waiting the wrecker to come for the van, I am reflecting on how fortunate I am. Unlike the buck that decided to cross the interstate mere feet from my bumper. 

Looking into that poor s.o.b.'s eyes, still fixed on the full moon he was chasing, I am reminded how short life is. How precious each moment is. That poor deer was just going on a moonlight stroll, albeit in the middle of an interstate. There can always be other outcomes of this same scenario. Those eyes fixed upon the full moon, while bleeding out on the side of the road could have been me (or one of my precious passengers). Everything amounts to a series of moments - what if we hadn't stopped before Butte so baby can stretch and "Blondie" can pee? What if we drove past Ennis to find more vegetarian options or spaghetti? Would I be writing this? 

I was alert, awake and defensively driving. Determined to make it to Coeur d'Alene, ID in the next 3hours. I lucked out. Many other people have their noses in the phone or are nodding off on a dark, rural interstate at 11pm. It's all a series of moments and the choices we make within those moments. I'm not 100% sure this is one of those "better him than me" situations, but when I turned around to see my family, in one piece and unharmed, it made the previous 30-seconds fade away. I didn't think about the car or the buck. When I eventually did come back to the deer, I exhaled deeply and thought "better him than me. 

So maybe it's more like Deer 1, Me 5

Tents and Tentacles

Roman had fall break this past week, not quite sure what the hell that means, but we took advantage anyway and decided to go camping. We'd had reservations -2 to be exact- at Palomar Mountain State Park down near San Diego, but last Saturday afternoon, Prudence received a call notifying us that the park was closing permanently on Tuesday. Great! Our reservations were from Sunday through Wednesday! In a whirlwind of finishing shopping for supplies and getting packed, it was up to me to find a suitable new campground for us and our friends The Engels. The difficulty lies in the fact that Liz has a fear of heights which meant Big Bear was out of the question. Up until this point, I'd spent more time that week researching fishing spots, bait, styles, lures, hooks, etc than I had audio equipment. Now with few hrs to spare and a very energetic 5 year old boy on my watch, I had to research campgrounds.

Josh had recommended Lake Isabella, but the pictures Prudence pulled up on her BlackBerry looked like beach or desert camping - alas, another hurdle: it had to be woodsy, autumnal and lower altitudes. After hours of searching and 30+ tabs open on my browser (and a few cold beers) the back and forth brought us to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park. It was about 3.5hrs north, just past Kern County....this turned into 5hrs because of the drive up and over the mountains...eek.

We arrived Sunday night about 9pm and Roman was asleep in the car. Prudence and I scurried quickly to set up the tent and he awoke midway. I finished and then started a fire for the boy to warm up. We opted for soup and grilled cheese sammiches on the fire. DELICIOUS. Followed up with the appropriate S'Mores explosion. With our bellies full and bodies tired, we locked up the dirty dishes and all our food in the designated "bear box" for washing in the daylight. We washed our hands and faces so's a bear doesn't smell us and tear open our tent like a sardine can in search of 'mallow-scented family.

The Engels were due to arrive in the afternoon so we decided to go for a hike. It was a really nice time, we found acorns, skipped rocks, saw grasshoppers, growing bamboo, climbed and snacked. We saw some deer running across the meadow, but I didn't get a picture so my credibility better stand up.

Back at camp, we moved our tent off of what felt like a concrete slab, but for better visibility of the stars. I rigged my fishing rod with sinker egg, swivel clasp, leader and hook while Prudence and Roman played soccer. We were slowly getting more and more concerned that the Engels weren't showing up due to the drive up to 7,000 feet then back down to 4,600 feet. Just when I was getting ready to go to the store to use a PAY PHONE to check my voicemail, they arrived. They barely parked and Dash was jumping out of the car towards Roman.

They set up their tent and we started the fire for dinner: hot dogs and portabello heads (for Prudence), baked beans and grilled onions. After dinner we had S'mores and grownup beverages while the boys played with glow sticks, peed in the trees and coloured in the tents (Liz put together a cute little art kit for the boys, she's so crafty!)

Tuesday we started the fire, made coffee and nutella-banana open-faced sammiches for breakfast; Dash and Roman had trader joe's 'pop tarts'. Our excursion for the day was driving to find fishing. I'd asked one of our neighbor campers who seemed very fishermanly where we could go. I got the name of 2 places and we drove to the first--after parking, it turned out to be a 2mi hike each way to get to the watersource; that wouldn't bode well for Roman & Dash or the multitude of gear we had (4 rods, tackle, snacks, booze, extra layers, etc.) So, off we went to the next location 10mi on the other side of our camp. It was cold and rocky - did I fail to mention to the fishermen neighbors that we were taking two 5-year old boys fishing?! After much deliberation, we decided to go back to the place Prudence, Roman and I hiked the day previous as there was the stream there. We hiked a little, fished a bunch - caught NOTHING - but had a BLAST. Dash & Roman had matching Transformers fishing rods and they had so much fun. It was a success in my eyes for 2 reasons: nobody got hooked and everybody had a good time.

Since we caught no trout, dinner turned into quesadillas, grilled onions, corn on the cobb and baked potatoes. (I can totally get used to cooking on an open fire). We did the dishes before it got pitch black and then the fun ensued...S'mores, adult beverages and nearly-bouted fisticuffs....(which is another story). Nobody was hurt, just a little mis/ill-communication between neighbors and one of our party who will be kept nameless....

Tuesday night the rain started and i had to put rain cover on...it didn't stop. We packed up in the am IN THE RAIN and made the drive back....no food for 2.5hrs.

All in all, it was a great time and I'm looking forward to smelling like campfire again.

check out some shots from our trip:


the family


no jokes


"here's a good rock to skip."


this 12" stonehenge replica is drawn to spec....it's also in dobly.


showing Roman what happens when you go to sleep with s'mores on your face...a bear comes and eats you.


snack time.


"curl of the burl" ?? (see: Mastodon)


"now, that's niiiiice."


"Bear Face!"


"Bear Face! (part 2)"

For full photos, check out my flickr page

also, check out Liz's blog at Little Dash.

-Uncle J.