Idaho, Idaho (and Washington)

Well, we are back. And it was great. I have a lot of different thoughts for you, some for this post and many for posts to come.

We Left at 9AM

But we were awake at 7 to pickup the rental from Budget. The great thing about waking up early is that you really can’t feel anything. So packing up felt easy. It’s sort of like being hungover. You can walk through a wall and not notice.

Albeni Cove Campground: 8 Hours, 1 Toothbrush, a case of Heineken and a bottle of Gin later

We arrived to a really crummy campsite that we had reserved online. There was no privacy, it was a highly trafficked areas and the site directly beside us had a child and a dog. But, we kept our spirits up and started to setup. Then Texas saved us. Or rather, two Texans. The campground attendants, a very cute older couple, told us we could easily move to another, more private site. The catch? It was a walk-in site. But a pretty easy walk. And it was beautiful. On the river, a friendly muskrat, secluded (somewhat) and just a great spot to call home for the week.

The Heat

It was hot. Pushing 100+ everyday. I don’t know what that is in Celcius, but it’s brain-melting hot. Luckily, the river was both cool to swim in and gave a nice cool breeze from time-to-time. It was really the best of two worlds: Alberta and Saskatchewan. It had the summer heat of Saskatchewan (which Alberta rarely gets) and the cool nights of Alberta (which Saskatchewan doesn’t get). That probably has a lot to do with being on the river. Nature’s air conditioning.

Leah love’s the sun or Methinks thou doth protest too much

Leah loves the beach and the sun. I like the shade and the cool. My dream spot to live would be somewhere I could wear sweaters year round. I think I look really good in sweaters. Leah looks good in a swimsuit. So, I whined a lot and Leah compromised a bit and we had a fairly good amount of time in the sun.

I hated switchbacks as a kid and I hate them now

We went on one hike and from the very first steps it was just one switchback after another in a treed area. We were moving at a good clip. After an hour of back and forth and no real sign of the top, we had enough. I peed, Leah peed and then we went back down. Got some pictures of pretty flowers and other things, but no payoff except some sore legs the next day.

Crib and Harry Potter

For the first portion of the week, we played a lot of crib. I don’t beat Leah too often, but when I do I usually skunk her. I guess, when it comes to crib, I am an all or nothing kind of guy. I attempted to read The Diviners for probably the tenth time. It’s not that it’s not a good book, but it’s just so good that I never seem to get anywhere. My mind always flit’s off to other places. Leah brought The Deathly Hallows to re-read. When she was about a quarter into the book I decided that I wanted to read it. So anytime she put it down, I picked it up. Then we began to fight over who got to read. By fight I mean that Leah told me she brought it and so she was reading it. So instead, Leah read the majority out loud to me. Nothing like a bedtime story that lasts two days.

The food, the delicious food

One of Leah’s greatest abilities is cooking. She is a fantastic cook. And when camping, for her, its the best time to eat great food. (It’s also a lot more work lugging around all the food.) It’s worth it the extra effort. We ate like champs. Bacon and eggs. Steak. Turkey burgers. Corn. Pastas. And so much more.

Spokane Falls or the Fourth of July

Being that the Albeni Campground is on the border (the road that takes you to the campground crosses back and forth onto the Idaho/Washington borders) we spent the fourth in Spokane (and a hotel). It is a really interesting town. I was surprised to find a waterfall in the middle of downtown. I had never seen that before. I don’t know what it was so surprising, but it just was. We even took a little gondola across the falls. Fortunately/unfortunately we were asked if three 14 year old girls could ride with us because they didn’t have an adult. That was interesting. In my earlier days, I was a camp counselor so I might say (crazy) teenage girls are not that shocking. However, I have never been locked in, what could only really be called a giant plastic bubble, suspended over waterfalls, with teenage girls. I wonder if that scenario makes teenage girls even more crazy. In any case, they were loud, hyper and liked to wave and yell at cute teenage boys. It was really something to behold. Oh and the fireworks were nice.

Check out all the pictures on Flickr.

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