Hopeless RoamAntics: Connecting with Friends (Coeur d'Alene, ID (7/30-8/4) and Yakima, WA (8/4-8/9))

The next two stops on our route were planned to connect with friends. Some who planned an overlap with us on their own travel plans and some live somewhat nearby and were kind enough to come meet us.

Our objective in Coeur d'Alene was to be close enough to town so we could meet up with our friends who were staying downtown. I selected a Kootenai County Fairgrounds RV Park adjacent to the country fairgrounds. It was a wide open area with pretty nice spots. Very utilitarian but had good power to support our air conditioners. We needed them to work hard as it was going to be very hot during our stay.

Roomy spot, sadly, no trees for shade.

We arrived in Coeur d'Alene without incident and
were treated with another beautiful, if not, uninhabited drive from West Glacier.

We met up with our friends for a cocktail and dinner at the very lovely Coeur d'Alene Resort right on the lake. It was quite busy and seemed to be the host hotel for a celebrity golf tournament as we saw a few ex-NFL players in the lounge and the lobby. We enjoyed a lovely dinner in the restaurant overlooking the lake. It was a nice introduction to the area.

We started out in the morning at the lovely Kootenai County Farmers' Market with planned 11AM tour of an alpaca farm. There was a variety of produce, meats and goodies to choose from. We left with a 3 berry pie. Although the temperature was to hit 100 degrees that afternoon, nothing could stop me from my tour at the Seven Stars Ranch alpaca farm.

The family that runs the farm gave a guided tour of their history and the animals. We were put into service to wrangle the alpaca herd into their grazing field. We did so gracefully and without incident. Due to the hot weather, we were also encouraged to hose down the alpaca's underbelly to cool them down. Some of us had fun doing that. The ranch was also home to some miniature donkeys, wild turkeys and goats. After all that life on the farm, we were hungry and lucked into a "hole in the wall" Mexican restaurant that was truly authentic and delicious. Time for nap, oh and some pie.

We had an adventurous day of ziplining, another day on a boat exploring the gorgeous lake Coeur d'Alene and a 30 mile e-bike ride on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes. There was some haze and smoke around the area due to the wildfires, but the daily high temperature had moderated and we very much enjoyed our visit with friends and our time exploring Coeur d'Alene.

Our route to Yakima Sportsman RV Park proved to be our most bumpy, Ruth-shaking roads so far on our trip. We took a route that was not interstate and it turned out to be more "rustic" than we'd hoped. Our teeth were still chattering when we arrived.

Our plan was to arrive, set-up and then the next day head to our friend's cabin in Ronald, WA for a visit. These same friends would then bring their camper and spend the weekend in Yakima with us.

The plan soon hit roadblock when we pulled up to check-in to our reserved spot. The park ranger informed us that there was a squatter there who had not vacated the spot we'd reserved and the Ranger was working on kicking her out, should only be a couple of hour delay. Did we want to go to another spot? No, we have friends coming and would like the spot we reserved. After many conversations throughout the very hot afternoon it was clear the vagrant was not moving. We finally set up in a nearby vacant spot for the night, knowing we would have to move.

We took off the next morning, leaving the problem in the hands of the Ranger. Shortly after our departure for our friend's cabin, she texted that the squatter had moved. We took a lovely before dinner walk through the woods right from their cabin to a nearby lake. As we stood on the beach, loud airplane engines roared from above and two large forest service "Super Scoopers" hovered and touched down on the lake to scoop up water to drop on a raging Washington wildfire several miles away. It was an unbelievable site to see.

Unfortunately the RV rodeo we had to do back at the park cut our day with our friends a little short. That evening, another Ranger was driving around informed Mike that we may want to secure our bikes with more than a locking cable, as they had had some thefts recently. The park itself was nice, but our experience there was not a positive one.

We found a really good group of pickleballers one morning and played for 3 hours before our friends arrived in the afternoon. The weather had turned hot again during the days, but we cooled off at a couple wineries in the area and had a lot of laughs catching up around the firepit. We are looking forward to seeing these friends again soon as they are camping with us again at our Bend, OR stop.