For many months now, Rick and I have been planning to take a road trip during the month of July when the SL Temple is closed. We thought we would drive through Idaho and Washington to attend some temples that we have never been to. We have been gone the last week and a half touring through Idaho, Washington, and a little bit of Oregon and Montana. It has been a wonderful time spent together seeing and doing some special things.
We left on Sunday the 8th after our block of meetings and drove up to Wapello to spend the night with Karen and Dennis. We got a late start so we didn't arrive to their home until after eight o'clock but we found that Lance and Jen and their kids were still there so we were able to sit and visit with them for a couple of hours. It was really delightful, especially since we haven't seen Lance and Jen for a very long time. It was good catching up with what is going on in their family and learning more about Lance's work as a Nuclear Engineer. It's pretty fascinating how much he gets to do with his work. Karen pulled out some meat and bread and brownies for a snack which we were both grateful for and we had a nice visit all of us sitting there together:)
We got a good night's rest and just as Karen was heading out for a doctor's appointment, Trent stopped by and we got to visit with him and Dennis for an hour. It is neat to see these "kids" that have grown up into fine men who have sweet families. After a while Rick and I drove out to Thomas and the area where Rick was raised. We saw the old Thomas house and he recounted some fun memories as we peeked through the windows. The house is for sale so peeking through the windows was ok:) He remembered how he and Kathy would play in the water from the irrigation ditch as kids and how they had found some beer on the side of the road and laughed as they poured it into the irrigation ditch to "get the fish drunk":-0 Oh, the joys of childhood!
The Thomas house.
We drove through two other places where he had lived then met Dennis and Karen and Lar for lunch at Tommy Vaughn's. More visiting and food!
After lunch Rick and I got on the road for the hour and a half drive to Twin Falls. We got checked into our hotel (Fairfield Inn) and then went to explore the town. We had read about Shoshone Falls on
the internet and set out to find them. Thank goodness for GPS because we were able to drive right to them....and they did not disappoint! Really beautiful falls. I had no idea that Twin Falls had such beauty running through it.
After the falls we drove over to an AMAZING overlook of the canyon with the Snake River running through it. Such beautiful views. We were able to catch a shot with the sun going down over the valley. WOW!
After sightseeing we had some Italian food at Johnny Carino's. We were super hungry and the food was super good!
The next morning we got up early to get to the Twin Falls Temple. This temple was eighth in our list of new temples attended this year. We felt really blessed to be able to find family names to do while on this trip. We started out with nine baptisms. Five women and four men. This was a special experience.
After the temple we stopped at a Deseret Book because of all things on this temple trip we FORGOT OUR TEMPLE CLOTHES!! We both bought some clothing to get us by throughout the rest of our temple stops. I did a little hemming on Rick's pants because the pants that they sell there are made for GIANTS. That wasn't too hard with a little help form a hemming kit that we bought, but I was NOT going to hem my dress by myself. I'm really not that handy with a needle and tread and I did not want to ruin a $50 dress. It was ok though. I was able to make the long dress work in the subsequent temple trips. After a wonderful breakfast at IHOP we got on the road towards Boise. We drove right up to the temple and got the initiatory done for all of our nine names that we had been baptized for in TF.
The Boise Temple! Number nine on our list for the year.
The Boise temple looks very much like the Las Vegas Temple on the outside....but the inside is completely different. I loved the picture that Rick was able to get with the panorama option on his phone.
We stayed the night at the Springhill Suites in Boise. It was nice because the hotel offered the rental of some vintage bikes to ride along the greenbelt just behind the hotel. We love biking so we rented the bikes for a bit and rode a few miles down the greenbelt path. It was quite lovely! The path ran along the Boise River and then on into an affluent neighborhood with beautiful homes and landscapinging. It was a fun little jaunt for the morning.
After getting ready for the day we drove the few miles over to Meridian.
Meridian Idaho Temple.....number ten on our list this year.
As the temple came into view I couldn't believe how large the angel Moroni seemed. It was closer to the ground than most temples and so it was much larger to our eyes. This was a beautiful temple as well. It is neat to see how each temple is so different inside. We did a session here:)
After leaving Meridian we stopped and got a sandwich at Bruchi's. I should've got what Rick got (the philly sandwich) because mine (The Cuban) was not that good:( Anyhow, we got on our way to Richland. It seemed like a long drive (about five hours I believe) but we did break it up by stopping at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. I don't know what "interpretive " means but it was a nice museum to walk through. Boy, those pioneers sure had a rough go of it. Their trek was nearly twice as far as the Mormon pioneers.
We arrived in Richland by dinner time so after getting checked into our hotel (TownPlace Suites) we found some grub at an Italian restaurant down the street. Didn't love it but all in all it was fine.
The next morning we drove over to the Columbia River Temple.
Number eleven on our list.
This also had a smaller steeple so the Angel Moroni was again, larger than normal. We did family names here in a session here as well. This temple has a beautiful celestial room with a 35-40 foot cupola ceiling right in the middle of the room with a giant crystal chandelier hanging from it.
Just spectacular!
After the temple we started toward our destination....Couer d'Alene, Idaho. It was quite a drive another 4 1/2 to 5 hours but we were able to find our b&b snuggled up in the mountains just about a ten minute drive from the town. We really enjoyed our stay here. Our hosts Roland and Diane were very hospitable and served up HUGE yummy breakfasts every morning. If we went away hungry it was our own fault. Our room was a little small with a tiny bathroom but it worked just fine for us. It was a good place to 'hang our hat' for five nights.
That evening we drove into town and got dinner at one of the restaurants at the Couer dAlene hotel. It was called Dockside and had a great salad bar. That's what we ordered and then I splurged and got their specialty dessert called a "gooey". It was gooey with lots of ice-cream, fudge sauce, and chocolate chunks. Wow! Crazy chocolatey! Rick went with the traditional berry cobbler. Good stuff!
The next morning after breakfast (Roland said that it was the first time anyone had come to their breakfast table in a white shirt and tie:) we drove back into Spokane to get to the temple there.
Spokane Washington Temple......number twelve on our list for the year.
This was our fifth temple in four days! That felt like a lot, but it was all very nice and it felt good to be doing ordinances for our family names.
After the temple we went down by the riverfront and got some bbq street food. We love street food!
Then picked up some ice cream from a different food truck. Brain Freeze ice cream was what was needed on a hot 95 degree day in Spokane.
We took a gondola ride over the Spokane River Falls, and then after that we walked down to them to get a better and closer look. They were beautiful!
That night after returning to Cour d'Alene and getting a much needed nap we went into town and hopped on a dinner cruise on the Couer d'Alene Lake. It was so beautiful. The vistas from the lake were great! I was surprised at how many lake houses there were lining the shores. Some older cabins mixed in with some million dollar cabins. They all had a nice spot on the lake, though. The dinner on the cruise was surprisingly good. Usually these buffets are just so so, but this food was delicious. They served a salad bar with a couple of different cold salads added on. The main course consisted of roast beef and salmon, three cheese mashed potatoes, veggies and a roll. Dessert was a cobbler with cream. We enjoyed watching the sun slip down into the mountains as we were cruising around the lake. A very recommendable activity!
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