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| Post Falls Dam wide open! |
Over the weekend our friends Jacquie and Grant from Canada came down to visit. It was their first time in the area surrounding Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls so most everything we did was a new and exciting adventure for them. The beauty of our area makes it easy to entertain guests.
Our first day as guides we loaded into the truck and provided them with what we called the Falls Tour. Starting in Post Falls we visited the dam and viewed the city's namesake. The water going over the dam was very high due to a large amount of snowmelt. I admit it is a very impressive site.
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| Footbridge over Spokane River. |
The next stop was in Spokane, WA. This city has several falls with footbridges or bike paths that give you spectacular views of the rushing water. We parked on the north side of the river and walked the footbridges of Riverfront Park to the south. It was a wet and wonderful walk. Below one of the footbridge sections, we spotted a big blue exercise ball that someone had tossed into the river. It was stuck in an eddy and kept circulating around. At times it would enter the turgid water under the falls and get spit out, only to float down and catch the eddy line again and again. It was quite mesmerizing. We watched it for quite some time before we walked on down and looked at the lower falls.
When we had enjoyed the views the falls provided we went to lunch at PF Chang's, where we had a wonderfully relaxing lunch. Once we were finished the group did some quick shopping and then walked back to the truck.
Now you can't visit Spokane without dropping by Manito Park to view all the flowers, so that's what we did next! We were a bit early for the spectacular viewing of the petunia beds. They had just been planted and were not blooming at this time. We visited the greenhouse and got a chance to see the plants in bloom there.
After we finished the park tour we drove down to the Perry District and Linda and Jacquie went shopping at the Title 9 clothing store. Both ladies purchased some beautiful clothes. Grant and I did our best to stay out of the frenzy.
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| The big blue ball that we watched. |
Saturday we went down into Coeur d'Alene and showed off my hometown. We ate breakfast at Bakery by the Lake and then we hiked around Tubbs Hill. After the hike, we did some shopping at the stores along Sherman Ave. It was nice to be able to show off the place I was raised.
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| Looking at the lower falls in Spokane. |
Each night we had a special dinner either cooked at home or out at one of our favorite restaurants. On Sunday we went out along the lake and hiked a trail up to the top of Mineral Ridge. The views of Lake Coeur d'Alene are spectacular and we had a beautiful day to show off these wonders.
We did our best to give our friends a taste of the region without completely wearing them out. In the evening Jacquie beat us in Skip-Bo and we made plans for our stay together in Mexico next December through the middle of March. We hoped it was a restful, relaxing, and fun visit away from school and home for our friends. It ended too soon.
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| Run Forest, run! |
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| The big blue ball again! |
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| The Mineral Ridge hike. |
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| Lake Coeur d'Alene, from the top of the ridge. |
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| Ridgetop selfie! |
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| Jacquie and Grant. |
The next stop was in Spokane, WA. This city has several falls with footbridges or bike paths that give you spectacular views of the rushing water. We parked on the north side of the river and walked the footbridges of Riverfront Park to the south. It was a wet and wonderful walk. Below one of the footbridge sections, we spotted a big blue exercise ball that someone had tossed into the river. It was stuck in an eddy and kept circulating around. At times it would enter the turgid water under the falls and get spit out, only to float down and catch the eddy line again and again. It was quite mesmerizing. We watched it for quite some time before we walked on down and looked at the lower falls.
When we had enjoyed the views the falls provided we went to lunch at PF Chang's, where we had a wonderfully relaxing lunch. Once we were finished the group did some quick shopping and then walked back to the truck.
Now you can't visit Spokane without dropping by Manito Park to view all the flowers, so that's what we did next! We were a bit early for the spectacular viewing of the petunia beds. They had just been planted and were not blooming at this time. We visited the greenhouse and got a chance to see the plants in bloom there.
