How to Enjoy a Day in Coeur d’Alene

The morning in Coeur d’Alene started out wet and loud! We got an awesome thunderstorm that lasted almost until noon. I loved it, while watching from my hotel window.

I totally took advantage of my favorite type of weather by reading a book in anticipation of the upcoming book club at my family reunion. Have you read Watership Down? It was my first time, but I enjoyed it.

I always request a high room when I stay in hotels. They provide the best view possible. This particular view provided beautiful mountains and lots of green stuff.

After a few hours of letting things dry up, it was time to wander around on foot to find a place to enjoy lunch. It ended up being ninety-six degrees today and was still quite humid because of the earlier thunderstorms.

Yuck. I was hoping to spend most of my day outside, but it was simply too mucky for that to happen!

Thankfully, lunch happened. This place was just a few blocks away from my hotel. Mexican food always sounds good to me!

Well, the menu looks pretty authentico. I think that we’re off to a good start.

I wish that I could say that I got a salad. But underneath that lettuce is a delicious burrito. It couldn’t be helped today. I’m sorry, gym clothes.

I found a different way to get back to my hotel, just to ensure seeing as much of town as I could. Again, the heat was stifling. I then felt silly for expecting northern Idaho to feel cooler than home.

Golly, it’s been so long since I’ve been home. Maybe I’ve just forgotten what it’s like!

Eventually, I made it back to the Holiday Inn Express. It was now time to enjoy my free pass to Triple Play, attached to the hotel!

While walking around the hotel to the Triple Play entrance, I was teased by the view of a water slide. This place houses a giant indoor water park, so it would be a wonderful stop for kids year-round.

You know, in case you’re ever wandering around northern Ideeho and are looking for a place for kids to play. I’m sure that happens to all of us now and then.

Good grief. How cool!

On a side note, I guess the owner of these facilities, who picked up my passengers and gave us a day pass to Triple Play, had a little accident while they were swimming today. His wife hit something while coming down a slippery slide. She ended up breaking her collarbone, which makes me cringe just thinking about it. As I was walking around town, I heard and saw an ambulance at my hotel. The next day I found out that it was there for someone that I knew!

Luckily, she is OK. But I felt that a sound decision was made by me to not utilize the swimming facilities.

Besides, it’s just no fun swimming alone.

Anyway, it was time to enjoy my free pass in ignorance of other’s pain.

This is a map of Triple Play, which offers bowling, miniature golf, go-karts, water raft bumper cars, laser tag, and the water slide.

I was the only one on the course, after a slow family let me go a head of them on the first hole. They quit after the first hole, so I was all alone outside. I think the temperature got to people.

And now I know…that it is way more fun to play miniature golf with people. When I tried to cheat, it wasn’t funny to anyone but myself. And you can only laugh at that joke once or twice before it starts to get creepy.

The course was cute and well-done, but it was just too sweltering outside to enjoy it. I played my fastest round ever, and not just because I was a superb golfer. All I could think of was an air-conditioned room!

The bumper boats probably would have cooled me down, but who likes to get pool water sprayed all over them? I loved the awesome pirate’s ship in the center of the course, though. It reminded me of Disneyland, the most magical place on earth.

Just two days after seeing this boat in person, I found out that we were headed to Disneyland for work just the following week! Woooooohoooooo!

Maybe it was an omen…

Anyway, back to the present. It was time to get some wind blowing through my hair on the go-kart course. There was no line.

And for some reason, I considered flip flops appropriate attire for such an event. Maybe that’s why I lost?

This is the sight that I beheld for pretty much the entire race. The guy teenager running the show probably didn’t know it at the time, but he gave me the slowest kart on the track. It was just embarrassing. I’ve always thought myself better at go-karts.

Reality can be a bummer at times.

But I played along. I pretended that it was fun losing to small children. And, other than the fact that I was way behind by the time the finishing bell rang, I did enjoy myself. It cooled me down, at least.

And I am always going for that wind-blown model look, you know?

On my way back to the nice, cool hotel room, I stopped to take a picture of the indoor pool area. Don’t you love the dinosaur theme? Look closely…there is a T-Rex at the far end of the pool.

Maybe that’s why I didn’t get in…