4/18/2008
"Day 2"
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. I'm a morning person. I shot out of bed at 5 am and smacked right into the desk. After a month of staying in a single hotel room in Arlington, Washington; I woke up entirely disoriented and went the wrong direction to the bathroom. It took almost a full minute to realize where I was. 
It finally took a good look at a bunch of giant tubes out my window to realize that I was not in Washington anymore. Expecting to see pretty much the same weather conditions as yesterday, and as forecasted, I was even more disoriented to see 50mph winds blowing across the second mountain pass I had to traverse to get home and... More clouds. Only half optimistically, I drove past the back yards full of Rams, made a mental note to ask someone about them, and turned into the Coeur d'Alene airport. 
After exactly 5 minutes of sitting in the front seat of "The Goose" watching the clouds whiz past the hilltops that were to be my gateway to "tunnel #2" I opted to stay and explore Coeur d'Alene for another day. As it turns out it was a VERY wise decision. Back into the hanger I went and met Larry's wife Liz who was about as charming as they come. She promptly set me up with a proper rental car (I was a little disappointed I wouldn't be continuing on in the spud-truck) and then pulled out a map and began reciting all of the places that I just had to visit before leaving. She and Larry held court telling me stories with great enthusiasm about their daughter who was getting married to an Iraq-bound Soldier in two weeks, the different airplanes they've known over the years, and the history of Coeur d'Alene itself. 
I was really happy I made the call to stay now, though I was aching to see my wife and Dog who have been very understanding about this personal journey I was on. I also asked if there was a more "adult" hotel catering to those who might be less likely to be in an exhaustion coma this time around, and they directed me to a brand new hotel on the lake. Two words "Hudson Hamburgers." Worth a trip to Idaho just to visit and eat there! Looking for a gift for my lady, I happened into a small wine/boutique called "Possibilities" and met several wonderful folks who were there experiencing a wine tasting. 
I ended up buy some gourmet Hot chocolate in honor of my San Juan Island experience (see march 17th blog) to send back to Mark and Christi, and of course one to take home. A couple of other gift purchases later and I made my way back for quick nap that turned into an 8 hour coma-repeat. Wide-awake I decided to hit a movie before bed again. I check the storm-update on the computer later before trying my luck with the weather, which was getting progressively worse as it turned out. I opted for the movie “21” (about the card counting college kids who go to Las Vegas) and got the idea to plan a route south instead of due east in order to skirt around the weather that now seemed poised to stay unfriendly for a whole week. Two hours later, I had coordinates set and my gps programmed to take me south through Nevada, almost to Vegas, and then hang a left over route 40 and fly low over route 66 all the way back east. Why not!?! I just hope the weather cooperates for plan b!!!
