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Alpine Country Store & RV Park in Hayden, ID
We left
Livingston, MT on August 1, 2015 and stopped at Jim & Mary’s RV Park in
Missoula, MT for one night. On August 2, 2015 we arrived at Alpine Country
Store & RV Park just outside of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. It was a small park
behind a convenience/gas station – not the best park we ever stayed at, but it
was quiet and convenient! We stayed for six days.
Coeur d’Alene,
ID
Coeur d’Alene is
northern Idaho’s largest city and lies along the northern shore of Lake Coeur
d’Alene. The Schitsu’umsh Tribe made their home here and were given the name
Coeur d’Alene which was an attempt to describe their sharp trading practices.
They were said to have hearts (Coeur) as sharp as the point of an awl (Alene).
Carved by Glacial waters, this valley has long been a destination for travelers of all kinds. The centerpiece is Lake Coeur d’Alene, 25 miles of pure, blue water lined with pine-studded hills. National Geographic once called this one of the five prettiest lakes in the world! Coeur d’Alene Lake has more than 109 miles of shoreline and abounds with sailing, boating, jet-skiing and cruising opportunities. And you can hike around the 135-acre Tubbs Hill peninsula or drive along the Coeur d’Alene Parkway State Park.
We have never seen a floating food boat like the one above!
A friend, Margaret, told us about Coeur d’Alene, where she grew up. She said Sally Fields lives in her grandmother’s house in town. She used to play on the merry-go-round at the park now known as Independence Point on Lake Coeur d’Alene. Today, there is a City beach, the world’s longest floating boardwalk, and a marina with lots of boats.
A friend, Margaret, told us about Coeur d’Alene, where she grew up. She said Sally Fields lives in her grandmother’s house in town. She used to play on the merry-go-round at the park now known as Independence Point on Lake Coeur d’Alene. Today, there is a City beach, the world’s longest floating boardwalk, and a marina with lots of boats.
We strolled along Sherman Avenue downtown and shopped in the eclectic shops.
We also celebrated our one year “on-the-road” anniversary with dinner at Scratch Bistro.
We purchased the picture below to remind us we need to sing and have a big heart!
Beyond the boats
are mountains where Margaret used to play and collect mica. She said instead of
Girl Scouts she belonged to Camp Fire Girls and they camped in the mountains.
Her brother used to run white water rapid tours and is now a chef on one of the
Deadliest Catch boats. Her dad used to take campers into the mountains by horse
and mule train; he fished and cooked for them.
Timber was the big
business for that area and as kids the logs would be sent down the lake and
they used to run them. Now she says, she would drown! Margaret recalls that
there used to be a large match factory that the logs were sent to. On Sundays
her father would sit at the bottom of the logging trails after towing her and
her sister to the top and they would ski down!
During the winter,
snow blankets the area in prime powder for winter recreation. Margaret said
that Coeur D’Alene gets so much snow that they used to go to school on a flat
sled pulled by a horse and carry cross country skis or snow shoes!
We were happy to
discover Coeur d’Alene and we will return another day!
Star
Garnet Mining in Emerald Creek
We drove a few
hours along the White Pine Scenic Byway to Clarkia, Idaho to find Emerald Creek
in the Idaho Panhandle National Forests.
Rare star garnets are found in only two places in the world – India and
Emerald Creek. Rockhounds come from around the world each summer in search of
unique six-ray garnets. The garnets found here are called “star garnets”
because of a unique property that causes some of them to display a reflection
like a four or six pointed star.
We hiked a quarter mile to the site, purchased
a $10 permit and grabbed our shovels, buckets and screens provided by the
Forest Service. We enjoyed the thrill of discovery for half a day looking for the
rare star garnets!
In the past, prospectors
once hiked in with their own equipment and dug several feet down in the stream
bed of Emerald Creek in search of the garnets. Today, due to concerns for water
quality, aquatic habitat, and public safety, the Forest Service provides a
stockpile of garnet bearing gravels from which people can gather material to
run through one of two sluice boxes in search of garnets. We were surprised at
how many people showed up soon after we arrived.
After hours of
digging and sifting, we came away with a nice collection of garnets. Mike found
an eight-sided star garnet, the best find of the day!
 |
| Eight sided star garnet |
On the drive out of the forest we came upon a herd of cows on the run and a turkey!
On the drive home...
Irv’s
Rock Shop in Spokane, WA
Another day, we drove to
Spokane, Washington where we visited Irv’s Rock Shop. Mike found Irv’s after searching on-line for
a place to cut, cab and polish the star garnet and some of the other stones we
had collected. Sharon will design a 40th anniversary ring with the 3
carat four-star garnet. She will design
a pair of earrings with the two square cabs of the petrified wood we found in
Bisti Badlands in New Mexico. She will design a pendant from the Agate that
Mike’s fly fishing guide found in the Yellowstone River in Montana.
After our stay in Coeur d'Alene, we headed to
Gig Harbor, Washington. Stay tuned for our next blog post!
Mike & Sharon
“Life is a train
of moods like a string of beads; and as we pass through them they prove to be
many colored lenses which paint the world their own hue, and each shows us only
what lies in its own focus.”
Ralph Waldo
Emerson
