Walla Walla, Washington to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho – 10/24/2014

OCTOBER 24, 2014 (Friday)

The drive today is to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, about 200 miles (4 hours). We decided to take the back way, which was a little slower but really pretty. We were mainly going along the route of the Lewis and Clark trail. We weren’t sure if there was going to be a time change and were sweating it a little because we had made a car appointment for our Toyota Prius at Parker Toyota in Coeur d’Alene. The appointment was for 1:00 PM.

Leaving Walla Walla, we were surprised to see hot air balloons taking off.

Edie liked the eerie looks of the sun filtered through the clouds.

We are starting to see a Dayton in every state we go through.

Lots of agriculture activity in eastern Washington in October. I think winter wheat is the crop.

Edie liked the church in the trees with fall colors.

The most dangerous thing we do, the van has a mushed front end. — The most dangerous thing we do; the van has a mushed front end.

The matching mushed rear end. Hope they are all okay.

Time for the free 15,000 mile service on our Prius.

We left around 9:00 AM and got to Parker Toyota right at noon. No time change yet. Really nice Toyota dealer. We decided to just wait in the lobby/waiting area for the Prius to get done (regular service check). Very friendly employees who were very helpful.

The waiting room was pretty comfortable with free WiFi.

The Prius was finished around 1:30 PM. Michael is still refusing to go to the urgent care until we get into Montana tomorrow. He knows they’ll want MRI’s and X-rays and things and we need to be somewhere for a while in order for all tests to be done. I guess he’s right. After we got our Prius back, we drove to our hotel in Post Falls, Idaho. We stayed at the Red Lion. It was beautiful. Nice large room and it faces the river. We ate lunch in the restaurant attached to the hotel, Mallard’s Restaurant, and then were able to take a little nap/rest before we left to meet Dave and the kids for dinner in Coeur d’Alene.

Clean room, with comfortable beds, overlooking the river. — Clean room, with comfortable beds – overlooking the river.

Don't know what happened to the boats. — Don’t know what happened to the boats.

It is a nice place, though we have been cursed with elephant people above us lately.

Standard bath, though it had a very deep tub that pleased Edie greatly.

Edie's strawberry martini. She liked it a lot. — Edie’s strawberry martini. She liked it a lot.

Haven't had one of these in years and years, a red beer. — Haven’t had one of these in years and years, a red beer.

The drive into Coeur d’Alene took about 15 minutes. We got to Tomato Street around 4:45 PM. Really fun place. What I liked was that they had a huge black board for kids to write and draw on. They also had fun things for the kids to do at the table. Makes it nice for the kids and for the adults. Dave and the kids got there right around 5:00 PM. Samantha and Scout sure have grown. So cute and so well behaved. Dave looks really good. Danielle had to fly to Seattle and hadn’t gotten back yet. While we were eating and talking, Dave got a text from Danielle saying the plane had to return to Seattle because of some malfunction. Scary. Anyway, she got back to Seattle safely and was scheduled to get home around 8:00 PM.

We talked, had dinner (which was excellent), talked some more, and made arrangements to meet for breakfast at a place in Couer d’Alene tomorrow.

Scout is Edie's great nephew, and he is a great nephew. — Scout is Edie’s great nephew, and he is a great nephew.

Edie's nephew Dave is a great dad. — Edie’s nephew Dave is a great dad.

Edie ate bollos. Pizza dough with meat balls. She gave me a bite, pretty good! — Edie ate bollos, pizza dough with meat balls. She gave me a bite, pretty good!

Samantha choose pizza. — Samantha chose pizza.

Scout had mac and cheese. He went to work on the string and pasta necklace.

I had a chicken salad, it was delicious. I was trying to help Scout and totally knocked over my huge water glass, couldn't believe I did that. — I had a chicken salad, it was delicious. I was trying to help Scout and totally knocked over my huge water glass. Couldn’t believe I did that. (Keep in mind the man was in pain from his knee.)

Samantha proved an artist and made a snowman out of her play dough.

So nice to see Dave and the kids. Dave had to leave to go to an appointment around 6:15 PM. Looking forward to seeing them all again in the morning, including Danielle. We left the restaurant and headed back home.

That was our day. Hope yours was great!