Coeur d’Alene (Cd’A): Day 1

I’m tagging along while Andrew attends a conference on grease and lubrication (insert cheeky laughter here). This a bonus ‘vacation’ for me; with my new job (from which I recently resigned), I wasn’t going to be able to take any vacation time until the end of the summer, so we didn’t plan anything for this year. So, this seemed like a good opportunity for me to ‘get away from it all’ after an incredibly stressful season.

The conference is in beautiful Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, which is located at the northern end of a lake in the most northern end of the state. We landed in Spokane, Washington, and drove about 40 miles directly East to reach this charming lake town.

One thing we noticed right away was the difference in topography here. I’ve lived and traveled up and down the East coast, in the Midwest and even the Southwest, but never the Northwest. The trees here are incredible! They are almost all pine/evergreen and are SO TALL. The land is so flat for miles, with mountains in either direction.

The resort where the conference is taking place was booked, so we ended up at a local option, The Roosevelt Inn. It’s a 16-room refurbished schoolhouse located just a couple blocks from the lake with a homey feel (including family photos and the owner’s class pictures when he attended the school here). The owner, John, is quite the character and we’ve enjoyed talking to him about the area. Be sure to check out this episode of Gordon Ramsey’s Hotel Hell, which featured the inn approximately ten years ago. (Things have improved, clearly.)

After we checked in, we headed to the main drag, Sherman Avenue, for some lunch. It was a nice day and we were STARVING by this time (up at 4:30 am East coast time, landed at 10 am Pacific time–1 pm for us–with only a few snacks to get us by). Huckleberries are big here, and we’ve seen it in teas, sauces and ice cream so far.

We did a quick ‘hike’ (it’s really more of an easy walk on a trail) around Tubbs Hill, located just off the main road and adjacent to the lake. The kids just got out of school around here (so early!), and throngs of them were sunning, swimming and jumping from rocks into the icy water.

It was a ridiculously beautiful day, and we were sad we didn’t have more time for water activities. The resort, below, has a prominent spot on the lake. To the left of the resort (in the photo) is a small public beach and the City Park; beyond the resort and to the right is the ‘downtown’ area with shops and restaurants.

After our walk, we headed back to the room to change for dinner, followed by a VERY early bedtime!

Memorial Day Weekend

OK, so this is a *bit* later than I’d like, but things have been especially hectic over here these past two weeks, and it will be about another two weeks until it slows down, but it’s aaaallllllll goooooood, mon.

*Disclaimer: You will see virtually NO photos of us from the entire weekend. Yet again, we were ‘photo-challenged’ (as my mom puts it) and failed to take A SINGLE PHOTO TOGETHER. Seriously. Where’s Andrew and his camera when you need them?!

My parents visited for the long weekend, which was INCREDIBLE. My parents are in DC and we’re all pretty busy, so visits are few and far-between; it’s a good year if I see one or both parents more than once. Having them come here and see how much work we’ve done on the house–especially the backyard–was really neat. Also, my mom and I have birthdays that weekend just a day apart, (it gets better, too–my grandmother’s birthday is the day after my mom’s) and I grew up celebrating all three of our birthdays together, either at Bamma’s house in Virginia, or at our house in Pennsylvania when we lived there. It’s been a number of years since we’ve done that, and Andrew and I have been out of the country the past three years over my birthday, so it was really special to be with my parents again. Check out the beautiful cake my dad picked out for our BBQ Monday: Continue reading “Memorial Day Weekend” →

life update – a list

The blog has been a bit quiet for awhile. TOO quiet. A lot has happened since my last post, and perhaps the best way to bring everyone up to speed is a simple list.

I quit my job. (I figured I’d start with the biggie.) There are A LOT of what I’ll call ‘peripheral’ reasons for leaving my position, but perhaps the biggest is simply TIME. I went into the job interview hoping the position was part-time, and decided to give full-time a try anyway, seeing as there would be no commute. Unfortunately, it was too much (again, for a variety of reasons), and these last eight months or so have been incredibly stressful for Andrew and me. I still have four weeks until I’m finished, but at least the stress of making the decision and telling my boss is over.
I went to Boston for the marathon! I didn’t run, but after watching the race and being only EIGHT minutes away from qualifying (once I turn 35 next month), it’s definitely on my bucket list. More on this later.
Speaking of running, training hasn’t been going so well. I’m running a half at the end of May (Buffalo, on my birthday!), and I just haven’t gotten into it. I know I can do the distance, and I won’t be setting any land-speed records, but I would have liked to have been a bit more diligent. I suppose I do have four weeks to turn it around…
Continuing with the running theme, Andrew and I made our annual trip to Carmel, IN, for Easter and I ended up running on the marathon course! Unbeknownst to me, the Carmel Marathon, Half, 8k and 5k were happening that Saturday, just as I set out on my run to the Monon Trail. If only I’d known…
I miss reading. I see MANY books in my future this summer.
Spring has barely sprung around these parts. We’ve had a few (emphasis on few) nice days so far, but it was legitimately SNOWING this morning. We’ve all started referring to this season as ‘never-ending winter,’ and we are SO READY for higher temps.
I meal-prepped this afternoon for the first time in like four weeks. Seriously. Between Andrew’s work trips, other travel and simple busy-ness, we’ve been eating out and subsisting on leftovers throughout the week for awhile now. (We hit a new low last night: week-old Pizza Hut pizza.) I missed cooking so much, I didn’t even mind the dishes.
I also miss blogging. I see more blog posts in my future, too.
I’ve been eating WAY TOO MUCH sugar. There, I said it. Now I should do something about it.
We have A TON to do around our house and the yard this year. We didn’t plan a vacation this summer (because of my job), and while we are lamenting the lack of a European trip right about now, I think we’re both ready to get our hands dirty outside. First up: finishing up the fence project. Our patio is surrounded by white cedar privacy fencing, and we’ll finish the rest of the yard with black wrought iron fencing, both for the aesthetic and ease of installation. Andrew’s already been outside, putting down new dirt and having the lawn rolled in preparation for summer.