A gem in northern Idaho

We left Glacier and started the long drive to Seattle.  We spread this out over two days.  We spent the first night in Coeur d'Alene.  This town has a mixture of hard-core working class but also resort influences. It is in a mining area of Idaho (which might be true of most of Idaho, come to think of it) but also close to some ski resorts.  The town is on the side of a beautiful lake and is surrounded by mountains.

Our hotel was one of those old-style 50s motels where you can park right by your door.  This was a real blessing after our last night in Glacier, where we were on the third floor of the lodge!  In addition to no wifi and no TV, the park lodges don't have elevators!

We had dinner in a pasta restaurant where Matthew made is own olive and Canadian bacon pizza.  We walked around the downtown area and a large park on the lake.  We saw a sea plane land and a few brave kids swimming in the lake.

On the next day we completed our drive across the state of Washington.  The western side of the state was very arid, much like we've seen in other western states.  We crossed the Columbia river at a place with a really dramatic gorge.  There was also a windmill farm on the heights next to the river.

We then came into more fertile land and saw huge farms.

We arrived at Seattle on Saturday, the 3rd and have been having a great time.  I'll write more in a later post.