This morning I called suspension outfitters in Spokane about Sumo springs and Fox/Agile shocks for Li’l Beast. My reading suggests this is the best solution for side to side sway entering and leaving parking lots and such. The shops specializing in suspension are closed weekends as is Agile who customizes the fox shocks for the 3500 Winnie View. While I was researching suspensions, the aroma of steak and eggs with crab snapped me back to the moment. Ellen was reheating our leftover steak Oscar and potato and egg. Tender steak, with potato for breakfast? Yum.
After Breakfast, Breakfast
We decided to stay over in CDA for another day and take uber into town. Mark, our driver, arrived on time and drove us to “Bakery By The Lake at Parkside”, Ellen had a craving for an almond croissant. Mark, our Uber driver, arrived quickly and took us to the bakery, “Did you know that American Idol is filming here in CDA? They’re at the resort with the floating green. It’s exclusive with security, not just anyone can get in. I drove one of the contestants there this morning. You may see celebrities walking around today or tomorrow.” Cool, we’ll do more people watching than usual. The bakery had just one; Ellen grabbed it. I had a cherry cheese Danish. Both were scrumptious. My doppio Machiato was excellent. If we stay another day we’ll return here. The cherry Danish was so good I wish they made cherry pie.
“According To Yelp”
We walked Sherman Ave, CDA’s “main street” on the sunny side of the street. At a corner stood a kiosk about CDA’s Brewery Scene. One panel described “Draft Badger” as the best brewery in Idaho. Cool, we’ll turn on 2nd street and find the brewery when we get there.
I will not go into an art gallery if the show window does not appeal to me. I walked past “The Art Spirit”. Ellen stopped to go in. “We should check this out” she said. Reluctantly, I walked in. Nothing I had seen had appealed to me. Once inside I was struck by two hand made wooden kayaks. These were works of art that took long hours of labor to build. They were clearly created with love. Amazing. “These are meant to be used on the water. Not around rocks, but to be used”, the fellow behind the counter said. “They are amazing”, I said, stunned.
Hand Made “strip” Kayak, Made from Strips of Wood
Another
Made of wood, I expected they would be heavy. They are relatively light at 44 lbs. I cannot justify purchasing one either as art nor as a working kayak. It seems a travesty to put one in the water. We were about to leave and I asked about the kayak’s creator. There were three people behind the gallery’s counter; the fellow I originally spoke with, a woman who appeared not to be his wife, and a young girl. The guy said, “there’s information about the artist on the table.” and the woman said, “Have you been upstairs? There is more upstairs.” We about faced and went “upstairs”.
The artwork here is more to my taste. I particularly liked a collection of masks and might have been moved to purchase one. No more spending on goodies for me on this trip.
My Favorite Mask
On the way out I stopped and mentioned I really liked the masks, but I couldn’t consider purchasing one after buying a spotting scope in Yellowstone then breaking my iPhone and purchasing an XS replacement. The woman said, “Oh too bad” while the young girl said, “Ooooh, I’m jealous. Good for you.” She captivated us. Ellen said we were from San Francisco. She said, “I love San Francisco. My birthday is 10/10 and when I turned 10 we flew to New York to see Hamilton. It was great. But once you’ve seen it it’s just ok. We’re going to London and Wales next year. My mom’s from Wales.” She was so cute, confident, and intelligent.
Precocious Logan
As for my new iPhone XS, I love it.
Sometime later as the conversation progress, she became CDA’s ambassador, “Have you been to the boardwalk? You have to visit the boardwalk. One of my friends was leaning against the rope and fell in. It was winter. She was ok, but she was freezing”. I assured her we would not lean against the ropes. She was vary talkative and gave us one of her cards. She could well be very successful in life.
Leaving we walked past the art gallery with the huge bull moose head in the window. It was both disgusting and fascinating. The sheer size of the head and rack is astounding. This time Ellen went in. A hunter shot this moose.
Big Bull’s Antlers are Huge
At 2nd street we turned looking for “Daft Badger” brewing. We walked a few blocks before it became apparent the brewery was too far away to comfortably walk there and walk “home” to Li’l Beast. We U-turned and went back to take a photo of a moose statue Ellen had seen then walked on to find the boardwalk. We walked through a small mall of shops. Most were of little interest except for TreeTastic, Timberline Adventures Coeur d’Alene. They offer a 2.5 hour zipline tour twelve miles east of CDA. It’s a 4 hour excursion in total. This we may do. We also encountered an artist exhibit in which five artists were painting a seated model. Two of the artists rendition of the model’s face were striking. They were a remarkably accurate and flattering representation of the model. One fellow’s work was technically accurate, but he had somehow given the woman an austere almost angry look, which I clearly did not see on her face. The exhibit was accompanied by an accomplished violinist playing moody, touching, and unrecognized (to me) pieces. I would have love to have talked to her, but not while she played. We walked on.
The Artist Exhibit
Wolf or Coyote?
The boardwalk circles a marina adjacent to the Coeur d’Alene Resort. The boardwalk is floating on pontoons and includes a floating three story walk-up bridge that allows yachts access to the marina. Along the Marina stand a few coyote statues to keep birds away. We saw these last night at Cedar, the floating restaurant. We walked the circle up and over the bridge and back through the resort. The boardwalk offers stunning views over the lake and to Tubbs Hill. You can see a seaplane tour outfit and lake dinner cruises from the boardwalk.
Perhaps Next Year We’ll Take a Tour
Outside the Resort
That Two Story Tower is Floating, it rocks with the Waves
After finding our way through the striking posh resort, we continued walking along the Centennial Trail to the bridge over the Spokane River and “home”. We found a second moose sculpture and discovered we were on a “moose trail”. Two young women were complaining about the bugs. We had run into a few that looked like gnats. One tried to fly into my eye. We commiserated with them about these flying devils and walked on. The further we walked, the more dense these small flying kamikazes became. They were very thick in the air, landing on our jackets and sunglasses. They’re blue gray roughly 1/8 inch long and cute in a bug-like way. Eventually they grew less dense and not a problem.
Moose Trail
Mudgy & Milly, Five Bronze Moose in CDA
Ellen Learning the Red Berries are a Variety of Crab Apple
Approaching the Hwy 95 Bridge, The Meeting Place
One CDA Beach on the Lake
On the Bird Watching Trail CDA
Li’l Beast Sitting on Blackwell Island
No Fake Coyotes? Birds Gather There!
The Hwy 95 bridge over the Spokane River has a narrow bike lane. We walked it over the bridge to our RV park and Li’l Beast. Ellen did “ok” crossing the bridge and later said, “I don’t want to to that again.”
Quail Sped into the Bushes, Ellen in Pursuit
Back “home” Ellen cooked up leftover chicken soup. While I resumed writing.