The tiny lake resort town of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho has grown, I’m told, but it’s still pretty small. You can pretty much walk anywhere within 15 minutes.
I spent most of my time lounging at the beach, but instead of the soft-sand of the main beach, there’s a hidden public beach on the other side of Tubbs Hill. The sand might be filled with small rocks and some driftwood, but it’s less crowded and the water is just as nice.
We also took a walk up Tubbs Hill — it might just be a hill, but there are a lot of trails winding up, down and around. It’s easy to feel like your lost, but no matter where you end up, you’re likely not that far from your car.
Pro-tips: Jimmy’s Down the Street (on Main) has the best breakfasts around: I ate there 2 out of three days. Abi’s ice cream on 4th has amazing ice cream, and for ice cream lovers, it’s conveniently located next to another ice cream shop, Sweet Peak’s Ice Cream.
After my beach day, I took a trip to the “Center of the Universe” after a recommendation from a friend. In case you’re confused, that’s the small mining town of Wallace, Idaho, right off of I-90. Well, it used to be ON I-90 and is home to the last stoplight ever to work on the coast-to-coast highway. When the light was taken down, the townspeople held a funeral procession, eulogized T. Raffuk Lyte, and buried him in a custom traffic light coffin. The light was then exhumed in 1992 and lies in state in the town’s museum.
I also learned during my brief visit not to mess with the locals: miners once blew up trains full of goods during a labor dispute, killed a governor (no one stood trial for it), withstood one of the largest wildfires in state’s history (Ed Pulaski, creator of the still-used Pulaski tool held firefighters hostage at gunpoint in a nearby former mine to save their lives), moved forward after the deadliest mining disaster at the Sunshine mine and when townspeople learned of the plans to demolish the town to make way for a larger I-90, they registered every building in town with the National Register of Historic Places.
Oh, and it’s in the Silver Capital of the World. Because of its rich mining history, I took a tour of an ill-fated mine turned high-school classroom for aspiring miners. Not only did I learn that silver looks more like coal at first, but how loud and dark it truly is inside the caves. Also helped that the tour guides were retired miners with decades of experience and jokes to match.
It’s a great town, and with the community’s help, is doing well thanks to tourism.
On the way back, I stopped in Kellogg (named for a miner who struck it rich, not the cereal). It has a disappointing historic downtown, in such repair, but as I saw a lot of construction equipment around the area, I’m wondering if they plan on renovating it. Kellogg is also home to a resort, complete with mini water park and a gondola ride to the top of Silver Mountain. I decided to save the $17 to ride to the top, since I’d already been on a gondola ride this trip. I don’t regret it, as it allowed me to make a few stops on the way back “home” in CDA.
One of those stops? The Cataldo Mission, again an easy drive off of I-90. It’s an Idaho State Park, so the fee is $5, which includes admission into the park and a 17-minute video about the mission’s history. The museum of artifacts is an additional fee, so I skipped it. According to the video, the tribes of Northern Idaho begged the Jesuits to come to their area in an effort to stop disease and change to their hunting lands. When they arrived, they built the church by hand from the priest’s design. While it burned down several times over the years, the current version remains the oldest building in Idaho. As the West expanded, the natives became increasingly upset over the location of the Mullen Road in front of the church bringing whites (including troops) through native territory. It was nice to walk around and imagine what it must’ve looked like all those years ago.
I also stopped at 4th of July Pass, as I was curious about how the pass was named. Unfortunately, there were no signs to tell me at the pullover, just more about Mullen Road. I learned from google that it has something to do with when Mullen & his crew stopped to celebrate at the top of the mountain.
Hungry for ice cream, I braved downtown festival traffic in CDA for ice cream, postcards and a sweatshirt.
It was finally time to say goodbye, so the next day, I stopped in Post Falls for a view of the falls, Spokane River and some postcards. I also found North Pole, just above Hayden. I’m sorry to disappoint all North Pole hunters out there, but there isn’t even a sign to let you know you’ve arrived. I did pass a “princess bicycle ride” though!
It was a great trip back to the Northwest, and I’ve decided my next big trip needs to be Montana!
The Wandering American Adventurer 