North Idaho Bucket List: Ride the Hiawatha

There was one thing that I REALLY wanted to do before we left Idaho:

RIDE THE HIAWATHA!!

The Hiawatha Trail is a roughly 15 mile gravel/dirt trail through the mountains of Idaho/Montana.  There is a VERY slight downhill grade, but not enough to just coast the whole way down.  It was such a fun experience and I'm so glad we did it.

D and I took a day off from packing to take M up to ride in the Burley trailer with us, while grandparents watched baby J.  We started riding around 9:45 am and I'm really glad we didn't start any later because it got warm and it took us quite a while to finish!

The first 1.5 miles pass through an old railway tunnel.  We knew this, and friends told us to bring flashlights/headlamps and wear a sweatshirt, but man, even with that knowledge I was still surprised at how dark/cold/unsettling it is to ride a bike for 10 minutes in pitch black!

D and I each had 1 headlamp on and M had a flashlight in the trailer.  If I did it again, I would bring even more lights because I could really only see about 5 feet in front of me!  The folks who went through before us had flashing rear lights, so I tried to focus on following them while not freezing my fingers off.  Wear gloves if you go!  I had a sweatshirt, but that wasn't enough so I was frozen by the time we popped out the other side.

The rest of the ride was gorgeous.  We stopped for photo ops and snack breaks.  M did great until we had about 5 miles left to go - by that point he was tired of the bike trailer and the trail was fairly bumpy, so he had enough.  We made it to the end though, without any major fits, and he LOVED riding the big school bus back to the top of the trail.

The bus ride was probably the scariest part of the trip for me because there are no guardrails along the road back up the mountains, and people on ATVs were driving crazy out there.  Dude, what's the rush?  I was having some mom-heart palpitations for sure.

At the end, you ride back through the 1.5 mile tunnel again, and it got really exciting for us because D's crank fell off of his bike midway through the tunnel!  So there we were, standing there in near darkness as he put it back on.  It was comical, and he was able to fix it enough to get almost out the tunnel, so we only had to walk about a quarter mile in the dark.

It was super fun and I'm so thankful that we had the opportunity to #ridethehiawatha!  

Q'emiln Park - Post Falls, ID

Before we left Idaho, we did some family hiking at Q'emiln Park in Post Falls.  It's a pretty cool spot.

The hiking is rocky with lots of ups and downs.  M loved the adventure and we got to see lots of folks working on their rock climbing skills on the cliffs.

 

Not representative of a "rocky spot."

It's another great local place to spend a morning outside -we are going to miss it!

#7QT: Moving!

1.  We're moving to Minnesota!

2.  In one week!  Anyone want to help me pack?

3.  Why we are moving:  D received a great job offer with a great company, better benefits, etc etc.  Onward and upward!

4.  We will miss Idaho and the wonderful friendships we've made here, so much.  This is such a beautiful place to live and we found our sweet boys here!  God truly meant for us to be here at this time in our lives.  We hope to make many trips back.  I love new challenges and adventures, so I guess this will just be another chapter in our lives.  I never imagined I'd live in Idaho, and I never imagined I'd live in Minnesota either.  I hope my winter coat is warm enough!

5.  We are taking an epic road trip from here to there: hoping to stop at the Museum of the Rockies, home to the largest T Rex fossil collection in the USA, Yellowstone, and a couple of other national parks along the way. 

6.  I probably won't be blogging much along the way since we are really trying minimize everything that we are bringing with us in the car, but I'd love to share my adventure with you via Instagram.  I'm American_Annie, feel free to follow me there!

7.  Where are we going?  Not quite sure yet - our road trip will be capped off with some house hunting adventures, and probably some hotel living for (hopefully) only a few weeks until we can close on a place.

Hope you'll follow us on our next adventure across America!  

For more quick takes, check out: Kelly at This Ain't the Lyceum!

Round Lake State Park

We recently took a little hiking adventure up to Round Lake State Park. I've wanted to hike here for quite a long time, and I'm so glad we finally had a chance to get up there.

It was a beautiful morning for a family hike.  The trails on the east side of the park were closed due to flooding (spring thaw) so we didn't make it all the way around the lake, but we had a wonderful time enjoying the fresh air and exploring this little treasure.

There was still some ice on the lake, but lots of fishermen taking advantage of the quiet to sit on the docks and dish.  With a toddler and baby in tow, we probably ruined the quiet for them and scared off all of the wildlife, but the trails are perfect for exploring and they look like they would even be nice for some trail running too!  We definitely hope to be back!

Friday Quick Takes: 7 Surprises about Living in Idaho

We've lived in Idaho for a little over 3 years now.  So I've had a little bit of time to think over some of the ways life out here has surprised me with its differences from our previous life on the East Coast.  Here are seven things that have surprised me about living in Idaho:

Finishing a stroller run with a hike in the woods.

1.  It is not as rural as you might think.  Right now we are living in a regular, ole neighborhood with sidewalks and playgrounds and running water and trash pick up and all that stuff.  My childhood home in northeast Florida is more rural than where I live now!  5 minutes from Target and 30 minutes from Nordstrom (woohoo!).  On the other hand, it doesn't take long to be out in the mountains with no cell reception, surrounded by nature.  Best of both worlds?!

Suburban life!

2.  The seasons are amazing.  I know I talk about weather so much that I am starting to sound like an old person, but seriously, the weather is fantastic.  We get all four seasons, without a crazy hot summer or a crazy cold North Dakota-style winter.  (So far.)  Half way through October, I was still wearing flip flops.  It's February, and I'm back in flip flops.  Take that, Boston! 

The view from Lookout Pass

3.  Idahoans love their motor sports.  We live close to four different downhill skiing spots, so I expected that there would be a lot of downhill and cross country skiing enthusiasts.  But I did not expect sports like snowmobiling and motor cross (i.e., the noisier outdoorsy sports!) to be so popular here.  Seems like everyone has a couple of snowmobiles or dirt bikes stashed in their garage!

Hiking in the National Forest - we saw more ATVs than hikers!

4.  Nobody is actually an Idaho native.  Well, I am only slightly exaggerating.  =)  It seems like even our friends who went to grade school here, weren't actually born here.  Which makes it a lot like Florida.  I mean, I'm from Florida, but then again, I'm really not. ;)

 5.  Lilly Pulitzer, smocked baby clothing and little Stride Rite shoes do not exist here.  Dorothy, we are not in the South anymore! Fashion (for adults too, not just kids!) is completely different in the inland northwest.  I'd love to do some more posts about Idaho fashion, since I love fashion, but I'm not very fashionable myself, so I'd certainly not be an expert!

Smocked bubble suit!

6.  No air conditioning.  There are brand new homes built here without air conditioning.  That seems so strange to me.  But there are plenty of people who seem not to mind?  My university dorm did not have air conditioning, but it was built a hundred years ago or something!

I just had to post another of his cute outfits. =)

7.  People are *passionate*.  For a small town, there are a lot of people who feel very strongly (and make their opinions known!) about a lot of different things - just take a look at the letters to the editor of our local paper! ;) 

And a bonus: People are really nice here.  During my first week here, my car died in the Lowe's parking lot.  As I was trying to crank it up, a man walked over, simply popped the hood, worked some magic and got it going for me!  I was so amazed by this random act of kindness and have met many other kind people here.

I'm sure I'll discover more surprises and I know there are others that I can't recall right now.  We feel fortunate to live in such a beautiful spot, just hate that it is so far from family.  Thank God for Southwest Airlines!

Have you been to Idaho?  Are you an Idahoan?  Any surprises about life where you live?

Go here for more Friday Quick Takes! 

Nature Walk/Back to English Point

We hiked a new-to-us trail at English Point this weekend.

 Three miles was a long way for our little runner.

 But I think you can tell he loved it!

Have a wonderful week, friends.

7QT: Special Cousin Moments

Seven Quick Takes from our week with my sister and her son (aged 3).

 

 My sister and her son came to visit us for a week recently, and my parents also flew in from the East Coast for the weekend.  I was so glad to get to spend time with them!  It is so much fun to watch M play with his big cousin - he really wanted to wake him up everyday, and would greet him with an extra joyful "Hi, E!" as soon as he saw him.  Here are some scenes from our time together.

1

Lunch time at the craft table - we were breaking all kinds of meal time rules here - toys at the table, etc.  Living on the edge!

--- 2 ---

We took them to story time at one of our local libraries.  It is a fantastic program and the boys loved it!  And they loved showing the librarian the monster on their (matching) shirts.

--- 3 ---

Walking to the playground in the bike trailer.  It makes a great double stroller!  A slightly older girl and boy came over and admired the airplane (not pictured here) that M & E took to the park.  There was a little bit of a staring contest between the big kids and our boys, which my sister and I observed without intervening because it was no big deal.  Later, E told my husband that the big kids called them "spiny heads."  Hm......

--- 4 ---

You can't come to CDA and not visit Mudgy and Millie!

--- 5 ---

We stopped to visit the dam in Post Falls too, it had a great, old-school playground with some of the (not) dangerous playground equipment that has probably been banned from the newer parks (i.e., the spinning carousel). =)

--- 6 ---

Playing at the train table in Barnes and Noble after we took our parents to the airport.

--- 7 ---

TV time in Buffalo Wild Wings.  

We loved having our family visit.  We spent a lot of time outside, went swimming, explored the woods and spent a day up in Sandpoint too.  

In case you are wondering, yes, we did dress them alike the whole time they were here.  When my sisters and I were growing up, my mom and her sisters dressed all of us girl cousins alike when we got together.  So we are just keeping the tradition alive. =)  

We are so thankful for our family!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Outside Family Fun (in the Summer)

Well, now that fall is "officially" here (it is still 75 degrees outside, yes, in North Idaho!), this will be my final post extolling all the wonderful things we got to do during summer.  Until this summer, we have been real sticklers about M's bedtime, which often means that he goes to bed two hours before the sun goes down!

This year, I tried to make more of our summer nights.  D works hard all day in the office, and I haven't forgotten how that goes, so it has been nice to have some adventures when he comes home from work.

I tried to stick to quick, simple meals so we could get back out the door, and relaxed a little bit on bedtimes - at least once M didn't go to bed until 8:30 (which is shockingly late for us)!  He doesn't always make it up by sleeping in, so we don't do it every night, but as we get closer and closer to the weekend, it becomes more important to do some fun things together.  We've taken to calling Thursday evening the "little Friday" - so we have a little bit of fun on Thursday to celebrate the approaching weekend.

Here's how we spent our summer fun, without spending all of our dough too!

Family bike rides or walks to the splash pad - the splash pad in our neighborhood doesn't open until 11, but it stays open until 7 pm.  So it is great to hit it in the evening after an early dinner.  Plus, it counts as a bath!

A face not made for selfies ;)

The concerts in Riverstone Park on Thursday evenings!  These don't start until 6:30, so we can easily finish dinner before riding down there.  Plus we get in about 5 miles of biking! #fitnesseverywhere

Dispersed camping.  While I was unnecessarily a stress case on our last camping adventure, I do want to go camping again!

Friday Pizza Picnics at the Beach.  When we lived in Virginia Beach, we used to go take Chick-Fil-A and magazines to Chick's Beach and eat dinner and read on the beach as the sun went down.  It was the most relaxing way to start the weekend, and IT. WAS. AWESOME.  We aren't very fancy now, are we?  Our Idaho variation on that theme is to take pizza to the beach.  M loves to play in the sand, and he may or may not eat very much/get totally soaked.  But it is even more fun as a family of three!

Exploring in the Woods.  There is a small pine forest near our house, and M loves to go walking in the woods.  He loves finding sticks, pine cones and squirrels, and even the occasional excavator or two (since the area is actually being developed into another neighborhood!)

I heard they also had free family movies in the park downtown, but these were just too late in the evening for us, so we never made it to any of those.  Maybe in a few years!

We're still trying to get our evening walks and bike rides in as it turns (a little bit) cooler.  Forest exploration is even more fun and interesting now that the leaves are changing.  What are your best ideas for family fun outside in the fall?

Cooling Off

Do you ever have a run where you just feel like you can't get going?  That's how I felt this morning.  My legs felt sluggish before I even started today's tempo run.  I pushed myself, but it just seemed like a lot more work than last week!

Anywho - August is when we finally get some nice hot summer days up here in the Northwest.  We went down to Higgins Point to cool off on a recent weekend morning.

Higgins Point is at the end of the Centennial Trail, the paved path that we use almost daily for biking, running or walking. 

 The water is cold and clear and we found a nice secluded spot to swim for a while before everyone else in town showed up.

It was a nice, quiet morning down at the lake!

Huckleberries

I'm still not sure if this is an Idaho thing or not, but we went tromping around in the woods recently to pick huckleberries!  This was a first huckleberry adventure for our family!

He had the time of his life, eating more berries than he picked!

 Huckleberries are little blue/purple/red berries that grow in the wild - similar to blueberries to me, more so in appearance than in taste.  We have some friends who love to go pick them, and we understand people can be very secretive about where a "good spot" to find them is, so we accompanied them on a journey to a "new to all of us" spot.

We think we found the spot, after driving 6 miles up a bumpy fire road.  M had enough of the bumps and was ready to get out of the car!

We picked some berries, but not much.  According to our more experienced friends, this spot wasn't all that great.  But it had amazing views!

Huckleberry Pancakes

The next day, we made huckleberry pancakes with huckleberry sauce.  Yum!

Running & Biking - Heyburn State Park

Good morning!  How was your weekend?

Ours was great.  I got to run 8 miles on Saturday morning!  They felt fine, but I am still S.L.O.W.  But it was a beautiful morning to be out there.

Here is a little bit of what else we have been up to:

We recently drove down to Heyburn State Park to ride bikes on The Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes.  The trail is awesome, we only covered about ten miles (it is over 70 miles long!!), but it is a nice, gorgeous ride along the lake shore.

We crossed over this neat bridge towards the beginning of our ride.  M loved all of the "bumpy spots" and it was very picturesque!

We really had no idea about how heavily the area has been polluted by years and years of mining operations, however.  The trail itself is safe, but the brochure had lots of warnings about not playing/walking alongside the shoreline off of the trail, I think because of lead residue present in the sediment.  That's too bad, because it is lovely!

We had a great bike ride, and I'm excited to go back and ride further!  Check it out, y'all!

Tell me about your favorite biking spots!

Does your toddler like to ride in the bike trailer? Thankfully, M does!

Hiking at English Point

There are some lovely hiking trails just 10 minutes north of our house, and we finally got out to explore them recently!

You know our little hiker had the best time. 

We only did the shortest section of trails since we were letting him walk. 

But we'll definitely go back with the hiking backpack and do more.

M was totally soaked from jumping in puddles, but he had a great time. 

We relaxed afterwards with drinks and garlic fries at the Marina on Hayden Lake.  Isn't summer awesome?!