Guesthouse International Inn Coeur d'Alene

... br> Leaving Saturday for L.A. where I'll meet up with Terry Chamorro and stay at her place Saturday night. Sunday morning we have a 7:45am flight out of LAX which means going to the airport at 5:45am. Ungodly time. We are flying on Mexicana Airlines via Mexico City to Guatemala City. <br>Not exactly sure yet where we'll meet up with Rose and Jim....probably at LAX before the flight.<br><br><br>

Finally got the truck back, all fixed and running beautifully. Decided to get on the road, though it was already 2 pm. Headed south along Flathead Lake through green forests and valleys to I-90, then west, west, west. All uphill, what a climb, to Coeur d'Alene in Idaho, then downhill into Washington State. Spent almost two hours trying to find Riverside State Park in the city of Spokane, finally set up the camper and tried to settle down for the night.

... would win a silver belt buckle.  <br><br>We have to mention at this stage and without fear of offending our American brothers and sisters how flabbergasted Ian and I were with the build up to the Mutton Bustin race.  In the ring was a fit looking cowboy who told everyone to give themselves a round of applause for being here and supporting the fair, then went on to "thank the troops abroad who were fighting to protect America and Americans right to independence, freedom and ...

... that his bistro will not be open by the time we get to San Fran.<br><br>We were entertained on our last evening by Bear Grass, another country sing-along with a couple who played banjos and guitars.  The kids had fun with the wranglers, Fynn crashed by the fire on the rugs supplied and slept in front of the fire and stayed there until we were ready to carry them back to the cabin. <br><br>The final ride was our best &#8211; we were taken out by Randy ...

... rakes for clearing the bunkers! I teamed up with Tim to form a Brits team against Rob and Steve &#8211; the Yanks- in a Ryder Cup style four-ball match. Tim and Rob played really well with Steve and I contributing on some holes with the match going down to the last green for me to hole a 6 footer to halve the hole and win the game 1 up. A fantastic game on a gem of a course.

... we went to the ring first to learn the basics on how to ride the horses fast.  I can honestly say I was really nervous as you tear around the ring with your reigns flapping and bottom wedged into the saddle creating a wave movement.  After ten minutes of showing Alison what we could do and her correcting us she announced we were ready to hack and we had no idea what was about to happen.  <br><br>This is a great time to ride, slightly cooler ...

... gmacht sond**n händ eifach kilomet**wiis em b**g nah däruf baut.<br><br>Churz vorem idunkle hämm** hööch üb**eme see en bär entdeckt wo det go fische isch. Er hät sini büüti as uf** bracht und gnüsslich v**schlunge. Eus hät ** üb**haupt nöd beachtet, sind v**muetlich zwiit weg gsi und drum hämm** eus mittel steiwurf (kei angscht, nöd diräkt uf ihn) für äs foti vo vorne bem**kbar gmacht. Nachh** isch ** abzottlet ...

... ponies which was surprising.  <br><br>The Western style of riding is significantly different to the English riding style.   Prior to our trip to the USA Ian and I had spent a fortune at Wimbledon Stables riding two hours at a time and paying the price physically and it was not long into our first ride that we realised that it had it been a complete waste of money.  We did not need to bob up and down when trotting, our reign was to be long when ...

... aunt, uncle and brother and wife.  This world is small.<br><br>Our log cabin was spacious, comfortable and clean.  Everything laid on with a view of the valley and the horses.  We freshened up and started to unpack the RV and then it was dinner and a chance to find out who the Green&#8217;s knew that we knew and meet our other guests, a lovely couple from Philly called Siggy and Nancy who we have nicknamed Sid and Nancy.<br><br>We were invited to a ...

... one lost marshmallow in the fire or dropped piece of chocolate. A little later in the evening we broke out the Jiffy Pop and I'm not ashamed to say that I still get excited at watching this stuff pop and enjoying it like I was a kid :-)<br><br>Bedtime came at 11:00 when we had to put the fire out (park rules) and the temperature was perfect. Montana and Madeline had slept quite a bit on the drive and were a little giddy come rack time. They giggled until they almost wet their ...