Day 56 - 57 - 3 States in 2 Days

Today we left Glacier Park (and Montana) to start our journey back home.  We decided to break up the drive by stopping for the night in a town neither of us had been to before, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
I am always a little sad as I cross over the border leaving Montana and entering Idaho.  Despite not having lived in Montana for over 10 years, it will always be home.  But the sight of the Idaho State sign represented another state added to our Trip America repertoire and another state closer to returning to our starting point, Orcas Island.

Goodbye Montana, Hello Idaho!

Coeur d'Alene is situated on a very large lake and is a vacation desination during both the summer and winter.  Thus, there are a multitude of restaurants and bars to satisfy the hungry tourists.  We arrived in town hoping to find an inexpensive hotel close to the water. We drove around searching but eventually settled on a quaint motel, slightly off the main strip, but that boasted a home-cooked breakfast and wi-fi.

Our home for the night

We settled into our room and took a much needed shower after camping the last two nights in Glacier.  We jumped into our swimsuits and headed out for the lake.  On our walk, we discovered a bustling downtown and made a point to check out a few spots later in the evening.

Once we arrived at the lake, we were surprised at how beautiful and active it was.  It felt like being at the beach.  We relaxed in the sand for awhile before I took a swim to cool down from the afternoon sun.

From the shores of Lake Coeur d'Alene

After a quick stop back at the hotel to clean up, we set off again to try out some of the food and drink in town.  We chose a restaurant and after eating a delicious dinner, we relocated to the lounge downstairs to listen to the live music while enjoying a cocktail.  On our walk home, we stopped at one more bar featuring live music and enjoyed a beer and made our mark on the dance floor before heading home for some sleep.

Day 57 - Idaho to Washington

The next morning we happily ate our home cooked breakfast in the garden patio before starting off on what would end up being a very long day of driving.  Our plan all along was to begin our trip on Orcas Island for my birthday and end our trip on Orcas Island for my friends', Justin and Greg, birthdays.  What we hadn't originally thought of was that there is really no direct route from Idaho to Orcas Island without going through, or at least, near Seattle.  Our journey that day brought us within a few miles of our homes but when we reached the city, we kept on driving North to catch the ferry out of Anacortes.  Unfortunately it was a Friday afternoon and the Seattle traffic was, as usual, heavy.  It was quite possibly our longest driving day of the entire trip!

After two months of traveling, we were both nervous and excited to reunite with our friends.  Knowing that everyone's first question would be "How was your trip?", I didn't really feel like I had adequate words to describe it yet.  But we arrived in the ferry waiting line and within minutes felt at ease as we spotted two of my good friends, Melissa and Gabe, sitting outside their car.  We parked our car in line, grabbed our camp chairs and a few beers, and joined them in waiting.

After several hours of waiting and a beautiful ferry ride across the Puget Sound, we finally arrived on Orcas Island.  Justin and his family had rented out a small farm for his birthday.  It was dark when we arrived so we didn't get to appreciate the beauty until the next day.  We set up our tent (which by now we were pro's at) and caught up with everyone at the fire until the wee hours of the night....

-Lauren