Tag Archives: Coeur d’Alene Resort

Everyday Images #76

November/December Prompts – Everyday Images #76
I’ll be linking up with Kym at A Fresh Cup of Coffee for the latest photo prompts.
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Here are the prompts this time around.

Current season (quarterly)

We’ve had our first and our second snowfall.

Together

Together around the table to enjoy Greg’s Swedish pancakes. This is a family favorite!

Lights

We enjoyed some Christmas lights at the Coeur d’Alene Lake Resort

Silver

Our silver and gold Christmas wreath.

Vintage

Christmas Angels from Greg’s mother Verna’s Christmas stash.

Neighborhood spot (quarterly)

Barmans on Main Street in Colville all decorated for Christmas with a Santa Sleigh, too.
I’m in the process of decorating for Christmas here at our Country Bungalow. Trying to get inspired to write our Christmas letter and get going on our Christmas cards!
How are you getting along with Christmas readiness?

Idaho Getaway

On the way to our Coeur d’Alene overnight we stopped at a new to us restaurant in Spokane Valley for breakfast. It is an hour and a half drive for us from home to the valley so we were ready for some food. The Crimson Door was a unique spot and the staff and food were both good. Before we got back on the freeway for the 10 minute trip to Coeur d’Alene, we stopped at the Union Gospel Mission thrift store. We were happy to find 3 books by one of our favorite Pastors.

We enjoy traveling the short distance to our neighboring state for getaways or just a day of shopping. A few of the things we like are lower sales tax, lower gasoline prices, not having to pay for shopping bags and a nice variety of places to eat.

When we arrived at our lodging in Coeur d’Alene we were surprised to see a card and these roses left for us by the staff. Our travel agent had let the management know why we were traveling unbeknownst to us.

We shopped at a variety of stores for some gifts including Costco where gasoline was only $2.69 per gallon! One of our stops was at a second hand vintage and antique store where we found some Hardy Boys books for our Grands. Addy and Auntie Lolo had made out a list of the book #’s that were missing in their collection over Thanksgiving weekend.

We drove a little north of CDA for our anniversary dinner at Parallel 47 in Hayden.

We felt that Filet Mignon was appropriate for celebrating 50 years of marriage.

Full and Satisfied we made our way back to our lodging. After putting on some layers of clothing and gloves we walked the short distance to the CDA resort to walk the boardwalk of Christmas lights that they annually light up for Christmas and for their Christmas lights cruises on the lake.

The fire breathing dragon is always a treat for the kids and a little startling for adults, too.

We walked through the resort where we enjoyed a quartet of women singing Christmas classics all dressed up in clothes from years gone by. That was a treat. I recorded them but didn’t get a still photo of them. For whatever reason I’m unable to share my videos on my blog. Sigh.

On Friday morning we had breakfast in Hayden with all the locals. We made a stop at Pilgrim Market for some goodies and then headed back to Colville via one more shopping stop at Cabela’s.

Auntie Lolo put this up on facebook and we received many good wishes from friends near and far. Thank you, dear Lolo!

So thankful to God for bringing you two together, for knowing what an amazing team you would make, for the example you are to your kids, and for the love you share! We love you, we love you, we love you! Congratulations on 50 years!

 

Thank you to everyone who already left comments and best wishes on my 50th Wedding Anniversary post.

This post is up on Monday and we are in the midst of more travels heading to Canada for our Annual Mennonite Girls Can Cook Christmas dinner. We traveled to the west side of the state on Sunday after church. I’ll be missing in action for awhile but hope to get some visits in here and there.

Christmas Spirit Hodgepodge

Wednesday Hodgepodge questions that Joyce From This Side of the Pond asks each week are not surprisingly Christmas themed in December. Here we go…

1. What do you think it means to have the holiday spirit?

Going deep on this one and deferring to my hubby:

“It’s having the Spirit of Christ, who convicts of sin and enables faith in that Jesus is who He says He is and has done what He has says He has done. Without the work of the Spirit of Christ we would have no hope for forgiveness, for eternity with Him, for glory.

Romans 5:1 (ESV)

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

2. What’s one thing you’ve baked this month?

I baked a Chocolate Decadent Bundt cake last week for our card night.

Have you eaten the finished product?

Yes, at the card night last Friday night. It got very good reviews from those who ate it.

How much baking do you do around the holidays?

This varies from year to year. Some years I don’t make any cookies…shock!

What baked sweet something does your family insist is on the menu during this season of the year?

Roolyet is a Russian treat our mom would make every Christmas. A yeast dough rolled with a  walnut filling (walnuts, sugar, egg whites and vanilla). Now that my sister and I perfected the recipe I should make it every Christmas, too.

3. Your most recent ‘half-baked’ idea?

How about thoroughly baked. In January I clicked on the buy button for plane tickets from Seattle to London for September of this year. Then COVID-19 struck us all. Plane tickets, Air BnB deposits and many plans made that had to all be cancelled. Thankfully all was refunded.

4. Where were you the last time you ‘baked’ in the sun?

In my own backyard pulling weeds.

The top ten sunniest destinations in the world (most sun from January-December according to this site) are Dubai, Bali Indonesia, Los Angeles CA, Miami FL, Barbados, Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, Mauritius, Antiqua, and the Canary Islands Spain. Have you been to any of the cities listed?

I was born in East Los Angeles and raised in the “burbs” of Los Angeles and spent many summers baking on Southern California beaches slathered in Coconut Butter. Craziness!

Which one on the list appeals to you the most?

We do not choose sunny destinations these days. We do not lay in the sun. We look for shade and head straight to an umbrella when the sun is out and the air is hot. The only reason L.A. is appealing these days is because of our loved ones who live there and who we enjoy spending time with.

If the world were not upside down crazy and you could lie on a beach anywhere right now where would you go?

Never mind lying on the beaches, I would choose Jolly Old England any time of the year, walking down a lane instead of lying on a beach!

Now that said, we do enjoy walking on the beach at dawn in the summer and any time of day in the Winter.

5. Today I wish I had more _____________________.

Options for shopping in my little town of Colville.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

This past Sunday to Monday we enjoyed a 46th Anniversary night at the Coeur d’Alene Resort in Idaho on Lake Coeur d’Alene. Dinner at Beverly’s on the 7th floor made us feel like normal before all this craziness came upon us all.

Our complimentary Anniversary dessert! Vanilla ice cream wrapped in cotton candy with some fruit and dessert bark.

When the Christmas cards are all signed, sealed and delivered to the Post Office I feel like I should get an award. Do you still send cards?

Coeur D’Alene Resort

When we checked into the resort we were informed that they had given us an upgrade to a room with a partial lake view. This was our partial view and we enjoyed it. Our room was on the 17th floor with only the Penthouse above us. Sunday was a beautiful day.

As the sun was setting…

We enjoyed our restaurant experience at Beverly’s on the 7th floor of the resort. We started with Calamari. I ordered a salad and French Onion Soup and Dear ordered the Rib-Eye and shared some of the meat with me.

 

This over the top ice cream surrounded by cotton candy arrived at our table with Happy Anniversary wishes.

After my dessert drink arrived our server informed us that our meal had been paid for by our children. They had called the restaurant ahead of time to arrange that. We were so surprised and grateful for their thoughtfulness. Brought tears to my eyes.

After dinner we got our coats and gloves on to go out and walk along the docks to enjoy the extensive Christmas lights that the Resort puts up. It was well below freezing so we kept walking with few pauses.

The following collages will give you an idea of what we saw.

The interior of the hotel was nicely decorated as well.

This could be a good alternative for a Santa photo in this year of no sitting on Santa’s lap.

On Tuesday morning we watched the sun come up or tried to see the sunrise but soon the fog rolled in and socked us in. These two shots of the water taxi and looking east toward Montana were the clearest shots of the morning.

The hotel staff and restaurant staff all wore masks. Overall our Anniversary was wonderful and it was refreshing to get a night away and to be served a delicious meal in a fine restaurant.

On our drive home we made a few stops at HomeGoods, Harbor Freight, and TJMaxx.

Thank you to everyone for all your kind Anniversary wishes.