Idaho Or Bust

This year for Valentines Day, I surprised Brad with a trip to Coeur D’Alene the following weekend. This would be a great last little getaway before I head back to work from maternity leave and would be our first real roadtrip. One of the best things about a roadtrip, besides all the snacks you can get for $100, is how many more shoes you can bring 😉 The drive from Sandy is the perfect length, about 6 hours each direction. Kent did pretty well on the drive. He slept for most of it and only got fussy when hungry or when he realized he was lonely. As much as I love flying, roadtrips are definitely easier with a baby. We were able to bring any and everything we needed to Kent (except for the Dock a Tot we forgot at home) without any size or weight limitations. We were also able to go at our own pace. If we had to stop relatively frequently for feeding breaks, bathroom breaks, or to stretch our legs, it wasn't a big deal. And most importantly, we weren't as worried about breakdowns. If Kent got fussy and started being dramatic, we were the only ones that had to deal with it. No more thinking about the other 100 people on the plane.

This vacation was different than our most of our recent vacations. For the most part we relaxed, hung out, and got cozy. No agenda, no set plans, and just time to be together as a family and enjoy each other’s company. It was exactly what we needed!

This was also our first time staying at an AirBnB and we loved the one that we chose. We stayed right on Hayden Lake (Hayden Lake is the lake right next to Coeur D’Alene lake, about 15 minutes away) in a condo that had amazing access to the water. This would also be a great place to stay in the summer as it had 2 diving boards right into the lake. The condo was cozy and the perfect size for us. I was very excited because the master bedroom had a California King bed which I thought would be the perfect size for us. After the first night of sleeping next to Twitchy McFlailsalot, we decided Kent would sleep in his own bed in the living room and we would just surround him with pillows (easy enough since he doesn't roll yet!) The host was incredible and located right next door in case there was anything we needed, but pretty much kept to herself.

Although we spent most of our weekend relaxing, we did eat at some amazing places in Coeur D’Alene. The first night we had dessert and drinks at Cedar’s Floating Restaurant (we couldn’t get reservations at a reasonable time and I was not going to wait for dinner till 8 pm). You need to make reservations to eat here because it’s so popular! Cedar’s is a beautiful restaurant floating on the lake with an incredible view. Very romantic. Very delicious. Saturday morning started off with delicious brunch at Belle’s Brunch House. This restaurant was adorable! Very country chic.

Brad had a delicious mimosa made with Huckleberry juice, while I opted for a traditional mimosa. Their entire menu featured typical brunch food, and even included "Oyster Crackers for your STARVING toddler". Saturday afternoon we tried to have a late lunch at Beverly’s at the Coeur D’Alene Resort. However, Beverly’s closes for lunch at 2:30 and the rude concierge failed to tell us until we walked around trying to locate it... The resort thankfully had another restaurant, the Dockside, right on the lake. All the seats have a beautiful view of Lake Coeur D’Alene. They served everything from burgers to steak to seafood while being reasonably priced.

While we didn't do much in Coeur D'Alene, we definitely reserved some time for some shopping! It's a super cute town with adorable shops downtown. We spent Saturday morning shopping for all the cutest things that we definitely did not need 😉 Unfortunately we had such a relaxing weekend that we forgot to get our tradition of a shot glass. I’m sure we’ll be back soon enough and we will remember the shot glass next time.

One thing we didn't expect was the crazy drive back home. It felt like we drove through every type of storm imaginable. It started with snow, then turned into a rainstorm. As we started across the desert we got attacked by a giant dust storm complete with tumbleweeds. Thankfully we made it back when we did because the next day we found out that they shut down the freeway in both directions for a few hours because of the wind/dust storm. Never did I expect to encounter so many types of weather in a short period of time!

This trip to Coeur D'Alene was different than most of our recent trips in several different ways. We drove, stayed in an AirBnB, and stayed in most of the trip. Although it was different than most of our trips, it was exactly what we needed: a peaceful, quiet getaway. I had never been to Coeur D'Alene , or even Idaho, but after this trip, I would highly recommend it!