Started this trip with the Longest Friday EVER!

We are back on road… clicking off 3 more states on our journey to 50…. But….Oh. My. Word. Today has been the longest day!

Our Friday started this morning at 5am to be up, out the door and on our way to the airport by 6am. We arrive at 6:30, checked our bags, had time to use our Starbucks gift card and BOOM, it’s wheels up at 7:20 EST

They are really excited for all the pictures

Leg one: Greensboro to Detroit. ✔️

Leg two: Detroit to Minneapolis ✔️

They are serious about the masks on planes. We had to pull ours down to smile and then quickly put back on so we weren’t busted by the stewardess.

Leg three: Minneapolis to Spokane ✔️

* Side note we had 2 layovers today so we only have one 15 days from now when we are grumpy and ready to kill each other 😉

Arrived at Spokane airport – the boys got the luggage, I got the rental car and just like that, we are leaving the airport by 2pm PST (or 5 pm our time). We had heard about the heat wave out here before we arrived. Hazard signs were all along the highway as we headed out.

Clearly we have a different definition of “excessive heat” 🤣

Check out the temperature (top left corner)… 75° and about no humidity … they’d never survive a North Carolina July!

It was warm but not the 90° and humidity that we are used to at home. Here we go – checked off a new state: Welcome to Idaho!

We headed to the first stop of our journey – Coeur d’Alene, Idaho! This town is beautiful, and situated around Lake Coeur d’Alene. We checked into our favorite, Holiday Inn Express, and let the boys get in some swimming (read wrestling) to burn off a little energy before dinner.

When we checked in they suggested with try Dockside for dinner and to be sure to get a “Gooey” for dessert. So off we went for our 4:15 pm dinner… no, we aren’t 70 years old – that’s 7:15 EST. Dockside was located inside the Coeur d’Alene Resort right on Lake Coeur d’Alene which is gorgeous!

Dinner was fantastic: Mike and Leo had Salmon Tacos, and Michael and I had Grilled Salmon Oscar. We were so full, so we decided to order one large dessert and share. Good thing we did because the large CookieMonster Gooey was HUGE!

We finished our early bird dinner and killed some time swimming in Lake Coeur d’Alene. There are park areas surrounding the lake and the Resort where people just come and hang out. And I mean all kinds of people… families, older folks, families, college students… everybody!

We had 2 things to accomplish in Coeur d’Alene: parasailing (AAA Travel Book) and cliff jumping (the Stewarts). So what can be better than sunset parasailing!

It was a little scary to be so high up (500 feet up!) but oh my goodness – the view!