September 12, 2015
I see my humans putting things away. I bet that means I will be riding in the
smaller house that moves. I guess I will
catch up on my sleep.
Today is getaway day.
Our 'business' is done. Coeur
d'Alene is a beautiful town, but busy.
From what we hear, home prices are way out of hand and it is expensive
for the commonfolk to live here. As a
visitor, there is lots of eye candy. The
lake is beautiful. There is all sorts of
recreation: golf, hiking, and water sports.
But, after 8 days, we ready Hannah for moving on.
We head west to Spokane.
Supposedly, there is a killer botanical garden, Manito. We punch it into the GPS and off we go. It is only 35 miles down the road. It is amazing how when we cross the border
into Washington, the fir lined mountains turn into hills with some fir
trees. When we get off I90, the streets
are narrow. We can negotiate them, but
it is not comfortable towing Hannah. We
find a place to park on a side street and decide to use the bikes to pedal
around the park. It is beautiful; there
is a rose garden, Japanese garden, dahlia garden, etc. But, I must admit... I have been ruined by
the Huntington gardens. It still is a
nice visit and fun bike ride. But now we
get to negotiate the streets again. We
were going to head to the Riverwalk, but there was no way we could make some of
the turns. Between that and beggars on
the corners, we blew that town and headed west on hwy 2.
We really did not have a preconceived notion of which route
we would be taking, but we wanted off the main highway. The landscape is rolling hills for as far as
the eye can see. Farms with spent hay -
brown grass. Occasionally, there is a freshly
plowed field with the rows curving with the contours of the hills. We decided to take the scenic route from
Coulee City to the Coulee dam. There are
a series of dams here making lakes. We
turn north on hwy 155.
What a stark change of scenery. It feels like we are in the southwest. High mesas and rugged buttes tower over the
Banks Lake. It is calm and glassy - a
water skiier's dream! And there are no
boats! How can this be? As we drive on, we finally see a couple of
boats; fishermen. The valley floor is an
odd combination of desert scrub and riparian reeds. The lake is a result of dams on the Spokane
River. We are travelling at 60 MPH, and
we are parallel to a boat that is pulling away from us. That is FAST on the water!
We see a sign for a state campground (Steamboat Rock) so we
decided to check it out. We were not
planning on stopping so soon, but when we saw the 3 sites that were available
(boating haven on a warm saturday night) we decided to stop. There was someone in our site, and they asked
us if they could leave some of their stuff on the side for a while so they
could do one more ski. I said sure, and
they invited me to ski with them. Duh...
Do I want to ski... No flies on me! Three seconds later, I was in my bathing suit
on the beach at their boat. Sorry
Spouse, I will help you set up when I get back.
They live only 2 hours away so they come here often. The originally had our space for tonite, but
had to leave so we were lucky to get it.
They reserved it 9 months in advance!
There were 8 people on the boat, so we were loaded down. It came back to me just how much I love being
on a boat. It is a boat geared for wake boarding so it
has a big wake. The glass is long gone
but the conditions are not too bad. They
were all skiing on double skis. I can
only ski on a single. When it came to my
turn... it has been about 4 years since I have skiied... I put the cold wet
vest on. It fit kind of ok. I put
the big ski on. It was a little sloppy
on my foot but 'them's the breaks'! I
slide into the water. Oooh, that is
chilly; probably somewhere between 65 and 70 degrees. The driver lines me up... Will I
be able to get up? Will the driver be too slow or too fast? Do I
still have it? Yes! Piece of cake, I am gliding, I am
cutting. There is a bit of wind chop, but
no boat wakes and I am smiling from ear to ear.
I cut, I cross the big wake, I glide.
I cut again... I AM SKIING! An hour ago, we were riding on the highway
plotting our course, and who would have thought I would get to water ski! I tried not to be a hog with the time and
finally let go with only one little drop of water wetting my hair. My glee and elation filled the boat. I knew tonite's vodka tonic would be the best
ever! I can't believe that as I approach
60 years old that I could be this giddy about getting to ski on the spur of the
moment. I think I am worse than a 5 year
old at Christmas!
I helped them load their stuff in the boat, and slipped them
some money to cover my gas and bid farewell.
Our site is huge and backs up to the path to the beach. There are several boats anchored on the
beach. This is a boater's paradise! Easy access to your boat, great grassy sites,
and lots and lots of water on which to play!
What a stroke of timing to stumble onto this spot. But it is reserved 9 months in advance...
wow.
Spouse... will you PLEASE
close the cabinet door?
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