Larrys Lodge Newport

Day one on the road

Well ... it was looking like it might be overcast when we left the house on Tuesday morning ... obviously we underestimated just how overcast it was going to be.

We left Calgary around 9 am (which was a little later than we were planning) and stopped at the Cochrane Truck stop (Humpty's) to put on the rain gear. It rained from there to Fairmont Hot Springs. At on point the rain and fog was so bad we thought we missed a ...

The house is a mess and I can't sleep. We are preparing to leave on our first snowbird adventure. As would be expected things are taking longer to get done than planned and disorganization is the rampant. Dan took our car to Spokane to get the tow hitch installed and we hope to leave Sandpoint on Wednesday 10/8 with the coach to get hooked back up with the car. Towing a car behind 36 feet of house is ...

We left the great state of Washington and headed east. Haley was keen to see Cor de Lane and an amusement park near this quaint Idaho town. We stayed a night at Farragut State Park just North of Cour de Lane. It was pretty late ...

... Spokane, Washington, that I thought, "What if Washington and Idaho were to merge into a single state? Would they call is Washaho?" Hmm, sounds more like a charity event... I stopped for the night in Sandpoint, Idaho - a resort town on a lake here in the Rockies. I'm staying in a severely overpriced Best Western but the bed is comfy and the view is spectacular. Today's mileage: 808km

... my goodness - she couldn't even finish the short stack and it was only two pancakes - Chalire experienced a similar fate! So much for healthy eating on one's birthday! After breakfast we made our way to Snoqualamire Falls - it really was like a miniature version (not that we have seen them yet) of Niagara Falls. The power of the water was awesome and in fact they have two turbirnes under the waterfall to generate ...

... miles left. thus far, we usually go swooping past them at some point in the day. after we went by, george and maxine decided to give us a little run for our money and went tearing past us on their tandem. dan is a little competitive, so he took off, and then so did i because i'm supposed to keep up with him (and going fast is fun). we managed to overtake them again, but not without a lot of effort on our parts! we stopped near the town of ione for lunch ...

On Wednesday, May 7, Don and Loretta stopped in Sandpoint, Idaho to have dinner with Ken and Christy Dart, parents of Miranda Bodus, one of our members. Ken and Christy are a very congenial couple and generous, too! They paid for the Stevensons' dinner and breakfast, and put them up in the Quality Inn as well! I've attached some photos that Christy emailed after their meeting. See ...

... and Breakfast is our family home of over 6,000 square feet, where we have enjoyed raising our 15 children... Take a stroll and visit nearby Pend Oreille River." This morning a man by the name of George Douglas bought the Stevensons' breakfast in Priest River. Today the rain is pouring down, but Don plods on toward ...

... town, where there is a motel and one restaurant for sale, we headed for Waites Lake and a camping and cabin resort owned, along with his family, by the manager of 49 Degree's rental and retail shop. The lake looked to be about 50 acres and was quite populated on about 2/3 of the shore by tightly spaced cabins, homes, camping resorts and restaurants. While not unattractive, it was still far different than many of the more "wild" lakes ...

... the only open campground in the area, a place called Reeder Bay where we were the only campers, and had an elevated view of Lower Priest Lake. Deb had the place set up before Jeff's return and the afternoon was spent letting Rubi chase sticks and balls in the water. She needed to be worn out after doing little for days. Even Jeff got in the water. We spent the evening planning the next day's paddle, playing cards and yes, writing this blog!