Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

The first stop on our road trip: Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Destination: Leavenworth, Washington.

Mike and I had always wanted to go to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The pictures that we had seen made it appear to be so beautiful and so different from the dry area of Southern Idaho that we had come to know while growing up.

It didn't disappoint! It was so lush and green and beautiful! We absolutely loved the drive and took in as much of the scenery as possible (when we weren't watching the road).

When we got there we went to a place that had been recommended by people on some travel app. The Garnet Cafe. When we pulled up we weren't so sure about it, but isn't that how all good restaurants appear at first?

They served the juice in mason jars. It was a cute idea I thought.

The food was absolutely delicious! Ohmygoodness! Mike got an omelet with some sort of cheese that he spent the rest of the trip trying to find and purchase; I got an omelet with veggies and Smoked Salmon. Holy hannah - it was delicious!

I kept telling Mike it was our second honeymoon. I don't really know what a second honeymoon is, but I am pretty sure this could have been one. Mike kept saying it was just a trip. We found this heart in Coeur d'Alene and we decided whatever the trip was - it was a trip about love. LoL.

(And we look homeless because Coeur d'Alene was just a pit stop on our drive and we hadn't showered or gotten ready since the morning before (driving through the night)).

Our next stop....

The World's Longest Floating Boardwalk.

Seriously. Don't be jealous. I am sure it's on everyone's list of things to see and walk on before they get too old... Yep. Crossed off our list ;) Actually, we never knew it was the world's longest floating boardwalk until we were there - and then we saw the sign.

"Welcome to the World's Longest Floating Boardwalk
Boardwalk completed and dedicated April 1985

The Floating Boardwalk is 12' wide and over 3,300' long. Beneath the walkway is a 10' curtain of wood which creates a calm inner harbor... The Boardwalk and Marina were built with more than 16,000 cedar float logs; 28,000 pounds of spikes; 16,000 lag screws; 8,000 pounds of bolts; 500,000 board feet of lumber; and over 5 miles of bumper stripping. The Boardwalk and Marina were built by Fred Murphy & Sons, and were Fred's final projects on Lake Coeur d'Alene."

It was a beautiful little walk. Everything was perfect. The company, the weather, the scenery. I just wanted to jump in the water.

Afterwards, we went to the beach and we did get in the water. Mike was kinda worried that it would be freezing like Bear Lake, but it was actually warm. It was fantastic! (Not only that, but check out the beach - it was like deserted!)

Pictures of the beautiful lake.

 

They had tons of things that you could do on the lake. I wanted to go parasailing but Mike said he wouldn't watch me because he would be too nervous. I saw this girl with her dog, and if I lived on a lake and had a dog, I would want to do the very same thing.

 They had these awesome stairs built along the lake on one side so you could either just sit and take it all in - or you could walk down into the water. Either way, they were pretty neat.

 The boarwalk and marina from a ways away.

 Leaving the lake :(

It was a pretty small town and although we had a list of things that we could do, we were ready to head out and get to Leavenworth. I thought, "Ya, we have seen Coeur d'Alene, we don't really need to go back." But really, I would love to go back and get some more time at that lake!