Coeur D'Alene, Idaho

Team Monty is so excited to be journeying EAST!!!

First stop:  Coeur D'Alene, Idaho!

We've heard for years that Coeur D'Alene is beautiful...and 

it definitely lives up to the hype!

We did not stay at a "resort" park, but even the middle of town is this pretty!

We only stayed for two nights, so we did a whirlwind sightseeing trip through town.  This town is on the banks of Lake Coeur D'Alene.  The quaint downtown area is full of mom and pops shops.  We only went into one... 

Figpickles Toy Emporium!

This was such a fun store...with logic games, puzzles, toys that take imagination and some thought.
May toys we were able to play with in the shop. :)
If you can see in the window... there is a LARGE moveable K'Nex ferris wheel!

Faith's dream:  to be a missionary doctor

We ate lunch downtown because the kids wanted to do one thing in Idaho...eat Idaho potatoes :)

Well, all I can say is we tried :)  We ate at the Iron Horse Grill, a local establishment downtown.
Unfortunately, they served frozen Ore-Ida fries!  Boo on that!!
I believe though that the Ida in Ore-Ida is Idaho...right???  Well, that's what we're choosing to believe :)

Time to explore more of CD'A, as the locals say.

Our favorite area was Tubbs Hill, a nature preserve and hiking trail right on the edge of the lake, in town.

Beautiful hiking trails!

Daniel and Jolie, first to the top!

Every view was a great photo op :)

A cloudy day, but still gorgeous!

There are little parks all over the town.  There is a local author who wrote a book called "Mudgy and Millie".  The book was written about a moose and mouse in the town of Coeur D'Alene.  The town is so supportive of this book and author!  They have made 5 statues that are placed around the cutest parts of town that you can find on a walking tour. Super cute idea!  There is a page of the book you read at each statue that take place in that spot.  It really makes the book and town come to life!
Mudgy and Millie website

We found all 5 statues!

Oh...and the playground scored high marks, too :)

Jon got the kids spinning fast!  Their ankles got to be level with their ears!

While exploring the town we found a small college campus.  As we drove around the campus that borders the lake, we found this:

Baby goslings!!!!

We really loved this area.  There were so many things we didn't get to do (next time we're coming in the summer!) and so many places yet to explore (and we'll be spending more than 1 day here!)  It is a very family friendly place.  

We'll be leaving a part of our hearts in C'DA, ID

We had some excitement when we came home from our day on the town.  We walked into our camper to a very strong smell of propane. :(
It was almost 5:00 and we were planning on leaving for Montana in the morning.  Well, we started reading instructions for what to do now.
We immediately shut-off all the propane and opened the windows.  Then we called our nearest Keystone repair shop.
God's favor was upon us, as they said bring it in first thing in the morning and we'll take care of it.
The repair shop was only 30 minutes back and just over the border in Washington.
We took it in, made a quick trip to Walmart and got a call while still there that is was ready!
We had a leak that they found and repaired.  We are so thankful that they got us right in and fixed our camper for us.  If you need any service in the Spokane, WA area... check these guys out...ask for Frosty.
http://www.rnrrv.com/


By 10:00 am we were on our way to Montana!