Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Location: Coeur d'Alene Casino; near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (elev. 2,600 feet)

pictures taken with Nokia Lumia Icon 929 cell phone, Google Pixel 2XL cell phone and Nikon (something 00)

Stop #13. This is as far north
as I'll be going.

Well, Coeur d'Alene was the destination I chose a little more than one month ago when I was planning this trip. There wasn't anything special about it, it was just a place that I hadn't been to and might as well go see it. In the back of my mind, I hoped to get a feeling of my father while here since he was briefly stationed here during the war. Sadly, that didn't happen. 

The trip up here from Kennewick, Washington was surprising in how much the landscape changed. Ultimately ending in tall trees everywhere. It was a very nice change since I hadn't been around trees since leaving East Texas several weeks ago.
 

As I mentioned in the last post, I picked up a new water pump for Liberty. Sure enough, the old one went out the morning I left Kennewick. I arrived at the Casino Campground soon enough to install the new one. It took about 30 minutes. I'm glad the makers of Liberty put the water pump in a convenient location.

About half way between Kennewick and Coeur d'Alene

These nice looking trees showed up about an hour before getting to Coeur d'Alene. The rain showed up too.

About 30 minutes from the campground. One thing I noticed about this area is that every farm-able piece of land is used for either growing a crop or raising animals. 

Casino Campground campsite. I got a nice site on the end.

My view out the door of Liberty.

Lake Coeur d'Alene dominates this entire area of northern Idaho and eastern Washington. It is a very large natural lake that averages about 100 feet deep. Before cars, trucks and railroads; steamboats did the work on the lake. They were packed in by mule trains in the late 1800's and assembled locally. They hauled timber, mineral ores and people all over the lake. The St. Joe river located at the southern end of the lake is also naturally navigable for quite a ways. It is supposedly the highest navigable river in the world. But, I haven't checked that out, so take it with a grain of salt. When the steamships wore out or were put out of business by the railroads, they were purposely scuttled and sunk. Some were set on fire as part of the the fourth of July celebrations. 

There are scenic boat cruises on the lake. Several of the cruises are 90 minutes long but I chose the six hour tour. It is offered only on Sunday and includes a lunch. The price was right so I signed up online and printed my ticket. When I showed up for the tour, I was surprised by the public parking near the dock. The parking price was $3.00 per hour. I thought that was a little bit high but since I didn't know the area and I didn't see any other parking lots, I had no choice.  Oh well, I would have still signed up for the cruise even if I had known about the parking price. I did think the cruise company could have mentioned the parking price on their web site. The weather was not nice. It was raining off and on with low hanging clouds and mist everywhere. The temperature was in the upper 50's. Most of the pictures look as if they were taken in black and white. Even with the bad weather, the cruise was nice and so was the fried chicken. I enjoyed both.

The day of the cruise with overcast skies. I had to turn on a space heater in Liberty to warm up after a shower.

Low hanging clouds. I hadn't seen this since I was in the Great Smoky Mountains a few years ago.

A view astern.

Nice flag flying

Those are the cheaper fishing camps. Cheaper compared to some of the multi-million dollars estates along parts of the shore.

An old railroad bridge with a swing span that has since been locked in place. The bridge and the railroad track bed has been converted into a bike path. Part of the "Rails to Trails" thing.

This is at the southern part of the lake. The cruise went about 5 miles into the St. Joe River.

One of dozens of Osprey nests on the lake. The boat captain said there are more Osprey on the lake than most anywhere else.

An old house that had no road leading to it. Boat access only.

Remnants from old piling along the shore. Timber was stationed here to be picked up by the steamboats. Some of the piling was close to 100 years old.

An older lady lives here by herself. The Captain said she usually comes out and waves as the cruise boats go by. I guess the weather kept her inside during this cruise.

My vacation home after winning the lottery. Condominiums with 7,000 square feet, boat slip and country club membership for two. 

A true floating island green at the gold course. After teeing off, you get in a boat to ride to the green. They can move the green in or out to vary the yardage. 

A look back at the boat, parking lot and weather as I was getting in Freedom. It was a good day. 

Needing something else to do, I googled what to do in Coeur d'Alene and discovered there was a "scenic byway" that passed along the eastern shore of Lake Coeur d'Alene. I drove it and was about half-way disappointed. The road is hilly and curvy, so taking pictures through the windshield was too dangerous. There were only a few pull-offs and most of those were grown up with trees blocking the view. Overall, it was a nice drive, but far from scenic.

A nice view of the lake on a better weather day.

I was able to take a couple of pictures through the windshield. 

Moving day will be Wednesday, two days from now. 

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.