Winter in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho...
What does that look like? Many people with homes in this lake town are snow birds and head for the sunshine and warm temps in the winter only to return for the summer.
As you can see, we are having more of what the locals who have lived in Eastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle their whole lives would call a more "normal" winter. We have had multiple snows in the 6 - 10+ inch range and many, many days with temperatures below freezing. This has led to many mornings and/or evenings of shoveling, snow-blowing, and plowing, all the while being bundled up like little brother Ralphie from "A Christmas Story" that can't put his arms down!
The cold weather and snowfall has created a truly aesthetically pleasing winter wonderland, giving us reason to take pause from our day-to-day activities to appreciate and explore. Wade and I did exactly that today, as we braved the cold and ventured out to Higgens Point to get some fresh air, enjoy the sunshine, and of course, take a bunch of pictures. The air was brisk, but the sunshine made it all worthwhile!
After hiking through the snow at Higgens Point for a little while, we headed to the Coeur d'Alene Resort, and the entrance to Tubbs Hill, a gorgeous lake-front hike popular with locals and visitors year-round. You may recall this post, with pictures from a walk on Tubbs Hill last year.
During the summer, the marinas are teeming with boats, the resort employs many young adults to work on the docks, ice cream cones aren't more than 50 feet away, and the lake is a busy place. However, the marinas are pretty barren this time of year as most boat-owners have put their boats in storage or somewhere less harsh than the frigid waters of the lake for the winter. A thin layer of ice covers most of the water close to the shores since we have had several weeks of temperatures below freezing.
The Coeur d'Alene Resort is known for their firework displays occurring on most major holidays as well as their light display during the holiday season. The town's main street is lit with string lights down both sides of the road in front of the shops and is ironically cozy despite the cold weather. Blue bird days like today make it easier to slog through the other drearier, gray days we are given during the winter. But, we have to remember that we can't be so eager for summer to arrive that we forget to soak in the icy beauty of winter.