Day 23 – Coeur d’Alene, ID
I was shocked and surprised this morning when I heard Don open the door to the coach, which I always respond to by joining him at the door to retrieve the (phony) paper, and found that he was setting out without me, and there was no paper! He assured me that he hadn’t intended to rouse me at this early hour, and he was just heading over for a shower. Somewhat mollified, I returned to bed for a little more snoozing. True to his word, he was back soon, and we went through the paper retrieval process, with the proper reward. A little later, after breakfast, he and I left for our morning walk, which was an exploration of parts of the Park that he hadn’t visited. It was all pretty mundane until we got down to Dog Beach, where Geri had taken me last night. At that time, I hadn’t felt like going in the water, but this morning I was in the mood for some wading. I walked into the lake like I owned it, and got in as deep as my belly! It felt really good, and I stayed in for quite awhile, Don was encouraging me to go deeper and swim, but I was happy staying on my feet. When I got out of the water, I felt like a good run, so I launched into a wild Crazy Dog routine in the grass next to the beach. I wound up charging Don at high speed, but managed to stop before I ran into him, unlike the other day in Bothell. It wound up being a fun walk!

Given the warm and glorious weather we’ve been having here, Geri and Don decided to do some touring north of Coeur d’Alene, up to a town called Sandpoint, about fifty miles up the road. Don has always wanted to go there, principally due to what he had heard about it from one of his favorite media figures, actor and essayist Ben Stein, who has a vacation home there. It didn’t take long to get there, and we found it to be a very attractive lakefront town. We walked the main street of the downtown area, and found that everyone there is a dog lover! I got more attention and adulation there than I’ve gotten anywhere! Must say, I ate up on it. We stopped at the visitor center, and the lady there recommended some sightseeing routes to them. They chose a drive up to the ski lodge area at Schweitzer, where we got a great view of Lake Pen d’Orielle and Sandpoint. The ski resort area is pretty big, and must be very active in winter.

Downtown Sandpoint

Schweitzer Ski Resort and Lake Pen d'Orielle

 

Sandpoint from up high

Heading back toward Coeur d’Alene, we stopped at Farragut State Park, which is on the southern end of Lake Pen d’Orielle. Geri and Don were both interested in visiting the Park, because of its historical association with the Navy, which they apparently graduated from some years before my time. Back during WWII, this was the site of Farragut Naval Training Center, which turned out a total of over 280,000 swabbies during the War. They had never heard of the place before, and were astounded to get the details concerning the place. While it was in operation, it was the largest city in Idaho! Now, nothing remains of it except the Brig, which was where errant sailors were incarcerated for behavior unbecoming a sailor. The Brig is now a museum containing artifacts of the Training Center, but which was, unfortunately, now closed for the season. There was a fine memorial at the Brig location, which they photographed extensively.

An American Seaman Recruit

Images of many Recruits

Lake Pen d'Orielle from Farragut Park

When we got back to the rig, Don was fixing to cook some hot dogs and baked beans, until a problem arose; the baked beans could not be located. They had disappeared completely! Don told me he suspects Gary might have spirited them out during one of his visits. So, they opened some cans of soup and chili, and we all made do with less than stellar eats.


America’s Got Talent occupied the TV for most of the evening, while Don and I worked on the Blog (though we did watch a few of the acts). Don’t know for sure what’s happening tomorrow, but the weather promises to stay good, so more touring will probably be in order. That works for me! Will I give you a full report? You betcha!