Leaving Salt Lake City we were happy to be moving on to a new state. We had been in Utah for roughly a month and had seen many amazing sights but it was time to move on. Kevin & Heidi had an early morning flight from Salt Lake City back to New Jersey so they dropped us off back at Bubbles around 6am. We didn’t mind though as we were off to Boise today which was a 7 to 8 hour drive for us. After packing up Bubbles we hit the road once again. It was a rainy and windy day in Salt Lake but once we crossed the Idaho border the weather changed and it became sunny and beautiful. We arrived on the outskirts of Boise in the late afternoon stopping at a store to pick up a small suitcase before retiring to our RV park for the night.
The next morning we woke up excited. Today we would be welcoming our first visitor of the trip. My mom, Cindy, would be flying to meet us today and traveling with us to our first major stopping point of our trip in Seattle. She was initially supposed to arrive in Boise around noon but due to delays and missed flights would now not arrive until the early evening. As this was the case Julie and I had some extra time to prepare. We hadn’t cleaned out Bubbles in a bit so we washed her inside and out (including the tanks). We still had a few hours to kill before she arrived so we checked online the list of things to do in the city and decided to go to the Boise Zoo. The zoo was located in a beautiful park in downtown Boise. After having a bit of trouble finding where to park and how to get into the zoo we finally made it. As this was early afternoon on a Monday there were not too many people there, which was great for us as we felt that we had the entire place to ourselves. For a smaller city the Boise Zoo was great. They had all the normal animals that you would expect to see at a zoo such as giraffe’s, monkey, lions and birds but they also had some that I had never seen such as a giant anteater. The zoo turned out to be a great spot to spend a few hours and we were glad we went. From the zoo we checked into the hotel that we would be staying at for the next two nights and went to pick Cindy up at the airport. We had made a “Welcome to Idaho” sign the day before which she loved seeing waved around as she saw us. From the airport we went back to the hotel to drop off her bags then walked downtown to a seafood restaurant before walking back to the hotel and calling it quits for the night.
The next morning we woke up ready to go. Today was going to be our day to explore Boise. As our hotel was located fairly close to downtown and since Boise is on the smaller end we decided to walk everywhere today. After breakfast at the hotel we packed a backpack and headed across town to the Idaho State Capital building. It was a beautiful day and the walk only took 20 minutes or so and we were there. There wasn’t much happening at the capital building as everything was out of session but the building was pretty cool nonetheless. Almost the entire inside was made out of white marble, which was pretty intense. After touring the building it was time for lunch and what’s the best thing to eat while in Idaho…..potatoes! We ventured into the Boise Fry Company where they had 8 varieties of potato. So you pick your potato, which would be turned into fries then get to pick your burger (We all had bison burgers which were excellent). From the Fry Company we continued to tour around Boise stopping in shops as we went. One of the interesting things that we found about Boise is that it has a big Basque community (the Basque people come from an area in north-central Spain). There was an entire Basque section of town. We visited the Basque museum and learned that many Basque people made the long journey from Spain to Boise as many people were sheepherders and this area was great for raising sheep. From the museum we visited a small Basque market picking up some wine before heading back to the hotel for a quick rest. Later that evening we headed over to a Basque-Spanish restaurant Barbacoa for an awesome dinner (Thanks for the recommendation Sam!) before calling it a night.
We woke up the next morning ready to go. Today would be a travel day as we were going to our second Idaho city, the city of Coeur d’Alene in northern Idaho. After a breakfast at the diner across from our hotel we were off. Our journey took us up the western Idaho border, never more than a few miles from either Oregon or Washington. Before the drive started we really did not know what to expect but Idaho really surprised us. It was 1000 times more beautiful than any of us had expected. We drove through national forests with towering mountains, rushing rivers, across farmlands and past ski resorts preparing for winter crowds. The entire drive was amazing. As no major highways go north/south in Idaho the entire drive was on two lane roads, which made it that much better. After 7 hours or so we made it to northern Idaho and Coeur d’Alene.
The next morning we woke up, had breakfast at the hotel and got ready for our day. Coeur d’Alene is a beautiful small town, located on a lake in the mountains in northern Idaho. Luck was on our side today as even though our hotel was located outside of downtown there was a bike path not too far away and the hotel rented bikes for the day. As this was the case we rented a bike for Cindy (Julie and I had brought ours with Bubbles) and hit the path. The path wound through a small shopping plaza then to the edge of the Spokane river. From there it was a quick mile past a few housing developments, North Idaho College, a great park and beach and finally to the small downtown of Coeur d’Alene. Once we reached the town we walked along its waterfront (which included the longest floating dock in the world at the towns main marina) and stopped at a craft beer tap house for lunch. We then wandered the town for a bit longer stopping at the North Idaho museum to learn a bit more about the area. We then hopped back onto our bikes and rode the path a bit longer winding through town (seeing HUGE turkeys) before heading back to town and riding back to the hotel for the night.
The next day we woke up, showered and hit the road. It was a bit bittersweet of a day as it was the last day going west for us in Bubbles. We had been venturing west since we had visited St. John’s, Newfoundland in late June and the thought of having to go in a different direction was a bit strange. Nevertheless we started up and within a few miles we had crossed into the state of Washington. While this was a travel day we were also going to explore eastern Washington’s biggest city, Spokane. We found parking and started to walk around. Spokane was bigger than any of us had expected. It was a major town, home to Gonzaga University and not too far away from Washington State University (Go Cougs!). We wandered around the town for a bit first checking out the city mall as I needed to get some clothes for a wedding that I would be in a few weeks. After finding what I needed we ventured on to the downtown park system where we learned that Spokane had been the smallest city in the world to host a Worlds Fair. The Worlds Fair was held there in 1974 and while the city park was nice the buildings that it was held in definitely showed their age. Luckily for the city it looked like the buildings were just starting to be renovated. From the park we walked back to Bubbles, got on I-90 west and headed toward Seattle.
We had a great time in Idaho with my mom and it actually turned out to be one of our favorite states. It had everything from bustling little cities, to mountains, rivers, parks and great food and drink. It’s a place that we will 100% return to again.
Next up….We visit with family & friends for a month in Seattle as well as take side trips to Bend, OR, Vancouver, BC and go to a wedding in Panama City Beach, FL!
