Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #18 – Travel and Touring and Enjoying Married RV Life!

 

Sunday, May 1^st., 2022…… We shuttled back to the casino and went to the restaurant for breakfast. I said dinner there last night wasn’t my favorite so I didn’t expect much. But breakfast was very tasty!  After that, we came back and got ready to hit the road. The drive today was 215 miles to Coeur d’Alene RV Resort in Post Falls, ID.  We are probably 6 miles from the city of Coeur d’Alene. The drive was made with no issues, but I definitely have to change out the tires! They rub on corners and turns. My plan is to call the dealer first thing tomorrow morning to see what they can do for me.  Once we got in and parked, we left to go to the local cemetery. Cathye used to live here and in 1973, she lost her baby girl right after birth. She hadn’t been back since so we thought it was time now. Problem was we couldn’t find the baby section in the place we went, so we will need to research and double check other cemeteries in the area. That will have to wait until tomorrow. We came back and walked the dogs and went off to Rancho Viejo for dinner. It was really good food and drink!  We came back and checked out the pool. Too bad they close each day at 5:00pm!  Cathye found info on the lake’s dinner cruise and, after checking with the others, I booked us six seats for tomorrow night’s cruise. We were tired and went to bed early.    

Monday, May 2^nd., 2022……  The plan today was to fix breakfast in our rig for everyone. We made a skillet breakfast and biscuits and gravy. I made the call to the tire store in Pendleton and explained my situation and he agreed to switch them out – at no cost to us. He will have them in on Wednesday and we will stop by on the way to the next campground on the way back on Thursday. Problem solved!  Then it was time to tour Coeur d’Alene. We took the scenic drive about 10 minutes and got to the town. We quickly found the boat dock where we need to be later this evening, and then drove around the town and saw some of the homes along the lake!

We also made the requisite stop at the local Walmart! After we got back and rested a bit, Cathye and I headed off to another cemetery, this one closer to Coeur d’Alene. We found the baby section, and with the help of her plot map, we found Tamara Michelle. We spent a few minutes cleaning up the area and left a white tulip. Very moving and we’re both glad we did this!  When we got back, we rested and hung around with the dogs before leaving for the cruise. We got there and parked and boarded around 5:45pm. The ship got underway right at 6:00pm for a 2-hr. cruise. We all sat at the same table and the boat filled up pretty quickly. When they announced dinner, we were right there!  The buffet was really first class!  I think all of us chose both salmon and roast beef! As I said, it was all very good! We didn’t spend too much time outside because it was chilly but the cruise was fun and we saw a lot of the lake as well, including the homes we had driven by earlier. They were described as ‘elite’ living!

Once we got back to the docks, we made the 10 minute drive back home and took the pups out for a walk before calling it a night.     

Tuesday, May 3^rd., 2022…… No plans today so we slept in a bit and made our breakfast (leftover skillet) then hit the road again, this time to Spokane. Neither of us had ever been and Mike and Cheri told us about their trip here for the square dance convention several years ago and said they had a riverfront park we’d enjoy. They led the way and we got parked and fed the meter and headed off. I didn’t think it would be so enjoyable!  We hit some local stores and then walked the park. The Spokane River went through it and it was beautiful! We decided to ride the gondola (sky trams) and we really enjoyed the 20-min. ride over the river in front of the falls and back. We also saw the statues and carousel and other displays in the park.

After that, I walked back to the other side of the river and got the car. When I got there, I quickly discovered that I didn’t feed the meter enough quarters so I got a $30.00 parking ticket. Oh well!  We drove back home and had a sandwich and rested and watched American Idol and then fed the dogs and headed to Cabela’s and Walmart. We got shoes and shirts from Cabela’s and another Ninja blender for the motorhome at Walmart. Once we got back, we were done for the day and relaxed with the girls before bedtime.    

Wednesday, May 4^th., 2022……  This morning Rick wasn’t feeling well and said he was ok but didn’t sleep well last night. So, he decided to skip on the breakfast quest I had us on. I had seen a ma and pa place in CDA and wanted to try it and this was the day. So, Janie went with us. Mike and Cheri had breakfast in their rig and then planned laundry so they passed as well. We found Jimmy’s Down the Street and had just an ok breakfast. Guy Fieri had been here in 2010 and liked the pecan rolls. We passed because they would have taken 30 more minutes to get out of the oven and another 20 before they could be cut and served. We got back home and checked on Rick. He was feeling better and Janie brought him back some chicken fried steak, which I heard he gobbled up! After a bit, we got the bikes loaded and got our helmets and took off to Coeur d’Alene and parked on the street close to the North Idaho College and the University of Idaho campus. We had a very enjoyable ride and the speedo said we did 8.9 miles on the ride. We stopped and took several pics on the way, including the big white ‘mega’ house on the lake, and the shot of their private beach with newly patio pergola….

Once we got back, we decided to hit the campground indoor pool and spa. Ok, we just hit the spa – the pool was not heated. Mike and Cheri and Rick and Janie were playing pinochle while they were doing laundry and stopped by to visit and take a pic. 

After that, we came back and sat outside and shared a lasagna dinner from Janie, with garlic bread from Cheri and salad from Cathye. Very good!  Tomorrow, we leave heading back towards home.

Thursday, May 5^th., 2022…… We said our goodbyes to Mike and Cheri, who were continuing on to Yellowstone, and eventually to Michigan. They will be out for several weeks. Safe travels, guys!  Meanwhile, we headed south (and then to I84 and west). As I mentioned before, I had called the tire shop in Pendleton and they agreed to switch out the larger tires for the correct size, and they had them and were ready for us, so we split away from Rick and Janie, who continued on to the next campground, while we drove there and parked and had the work completed. It was about a two-hour delay, but I sure feel better now knowing these are the right tires!

I even upgraded to a heavier ply (at no cost to me) which I needed for the weight of the coach so I look to get a better ride and hopefully better tire wear. I will still need to get the alignment done once we get back home. Anyway, we made the drive back west and got into Boardman Marina and Rv Campground, in Boardman, OR. This place is really nice!  I would categorize it as a state park on steroids!  They have wide open rv spaces, right along the Columbia River. Everything is green and manicured but also has a rustic feel of camping. We settled in and got hooked up and relaxed for a while. We walked the shoreline and enjoyed the sunset. The dogs sure liked it here! We had dinner in and called it a night. Only one night here. Next stop is back in Troutdale at the same park as days 1-3.     

Friday, May 6^th., 2022……  We were up and going after breakfast. The drive today was only 148 miles so we were in no hurry. We timed it so we would check in around noon. The spots were are in this time are pull-thrus. But I still needed to unhook because we are driving around in our car. Once we got settled in, we decided to go to have ‘linner’ and chose the same place we went to before because they had that really good steak bites meal!  They also had something called Irish Coddle, which was a stew with sausage, served in a bread bowl. I had one and she had the other and we shared. It was really good. It has been fun traveling with Rick and Janie and they are good sports in letting us show them around up here. We went back to the rigs and relaxed and walked the dogs and then had them over for pie cookies and then later, settled in for the night. We made plans for tomorrow. We will give them a choice of ‘mountains’ or ‘city’ tours!  We’ll see what they choose.   

Saturday, May 7^th., 2022……  They didn’t choose so we did. Cathye wanted to go up to Government Pass and visit Timberline Lodge, which she said was magnificent. So, we headed up the mountain. Bad mistake!  The weather report showed no snow at all, but when we got about half way up, it was really coming down!  Chains were required (and I don’t carry them in the Honda), so we turned around and made our way to downtown Portland. I took them down to the riverfront (where all of the political rallies and demonstrations and riots happened back after the elections) and then went by VooDoo donuts, legendary in these parts, and then through the different ‘districts’ in the city and surrounding area.  We had been out long enough but wanted to stop and eat. We found Heroes Café and parked and went in. We were sitting there maybe 5 minutes and another couple came in and sat down at the next table. Cathye jumps up and says, “hey Teri!”. It turns out that her friend Teri who did the flowers at our wedding, was there with a friend. Small world! 

After getting back and walking the dogs, we had Rick and Janie over and visited with them before settling in for the night and watching tv. Tomorrow, they will follow us back and then continue on the I5 as we split off to head home.