Hospitality in Bozeman and a layover in Coeur d'Alene

Hello again!!  Sorry about the long periods in between posts.  I'm not able to blog until we get to our destination with free Internet service.  

I guess that means we've arrived. :)

Well, after our beautiful stay in the Black Hills we headed further west to Bozeman, Montana to stay with our friends Scott & Amanda.  I suppose we didn't technically stay with them, but we did stay in our home outside of their home.  The two day stay was a wonderful break from all the traveling and their hospitality couldn't have been better.  They cooked us dinner, let us do laundry, we used their shower, and we even hooked up our trailer to their water and electricity.  Now that's 5 ✭ service!

The first morning we went for a small city tour and stopped at the park before going out for lunch at La Parilla.  Maria had a grand ole' time playing "chuck it" with Kitch (their springer spaniel).

By the end, Maria perfected her swing (for a 3 yr old) and wore out Kitch in the process.  Poor thing was so pooped out she would take the ball and run away!

While and Maria her new canine friend played, Ginger was having fun on the swings and taught herself how to climb up the stairs and slide down the corkscrew slide. She couldn't keep the smile from her face or from mine :)

That evening we had a wonderful dinner at Montana Ale Works and did a bit of shopping the next morning.  Upon our return, Scott greeted us at his home where we said our final goodbyes.  Maria was sad to leave the puppy and we were sad to leave our friends.

But no worries!  We had our next destination already in the making.  We were hoping to reach Coeur d'Alene, Idaho before nightfall so we could see the beautiful terrain, but it didn't happen due to a later than anticipated start.  We made our camping debut in a Walmart parking lot just outside of town.  We awoke the next morning to fog!  Oh Darn it!

Fortunately it broke a bit for us to take a tour of the city, but not before I treated the family to THE MOST DELICIOUS breakfast ever!  I found out about The Garnet Cafe on my phone (thank goodness I have some Internet at my fingertips) and immediately loved the sound of their meals.  The girls had pancakes, Scott had an omelet, and I had green eggs & ham.  Yes... that IS correct.  Eggs topped with pesto and Parmesan, a grilled slice of ham, deliciously grilled Yukon potatoes, and crunchy rosemary toast.  That alone made me realize that I could reside in this quaint town and eat breakfast here at least once a week.

Well, that and the beautiful scenery which reminded me of Duluth... only cuter!

My daydreaming in Coeur d'Alene quickly came to a close as we headed back to Walmart to pick up the trailer.  Westward bound on I-90 and a few hours later we stopped at a rest stop because Scott was worried he didn't tie the fridge shut. Having a spilled pint of half & half on the floor would NOT have made me a happy camper.

The fridge wasn't tied, but luckily no messes were made.  Whew!

It was a great excuse to get out of the car, stretch our legs, walk around, and of course... let the kids wrestle.

To my surprise, Ginger loved Maria tackling her to the ground and sported a smile each of the several times it was done.  Their playful act was so cute and I'm glad I had my camera with me.

All good things must come to an end, and we had to get back in the truck.  We had roughly 100 miles to go until we reached Seattle, Washington.  The last hour of the drive was magnificent!!  It was sunny with blue skies and the mountains were so pretty.

We rolled into town around 4:30 to pick up the twin Airstream mattress'.  We found a KOA campground about 10 minutes south of Seattle, ate dinner and got the kids in bed.

Tomorrow we'll be heading into town to check out all the sites including the space needle and Pike Place Market.  Super excited!!

I'll also be meeting up with an online friend over coffee at the original Starbucks.  Can't wait!!

Hope to share our Seattle excursion with you all tomorrow night!!

TaTa for now!