Coeur d'Alene/Sandpoint, Idaho.
What do two Idaho gals do for a girls weekend after being reunited following several months of separation?
ANSWER:
We started out by gathering all of our favorite travel items- Kris and I KNOW how we like to travel and we're not embarrassed about it. Some Kate and Kris essentials for most trips include the following:
1. Battery operated turtle string lights for wherever we are staying
2. Honey-Mamas chocolate bars
3. Neon glow stick bracelets
4. Wine
5. Glow Granola Bars
Next we loaded up the SUVs and drove up to the Idaho/Montana border by Lookout Pass and hopped on the Hiawatha trail for 15 miles of downhill bike-riding through the mountains and old train tunnels.
Let me just say- we rocked those helmets and headlamps.
Tip: An adult beverage will help you not notice the rough terrain as much as well as the fact you forgot to buy the cushy bike seat for your bike before embarking on this adventure.
By parking a car at the bottom of the trail before starting out, we got to spend more time on the trail, meaning more wildlife spottings and fewer bodies out on the trail!
We ended the day by sipping on some wine, cider and sampling the BBQ at Relic Smokehouse in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The next morning we woke up- repacked the day packs, grabbed the pups, and headed north to Sandpoint for a hike on Lake Pend Oreille.
This hike is awesome: you cross several small creeks, and walk through some beautiful groves of flowers along the way.
The Grand Finale:
This is what dog heaven looks like, by the way.
Yes, the lake really was this pristine. Yes, we really did have it to ourselves and counted our lucky stars that we only had to share it occasionally with the intermittent arrival of a family on a boat. We had bought cheap tubes at the store and just about passed out from getting them inflated but it was all worth it for the float in the lake.
Nothing, I repeat- nothing, beats sipping on an icy cool drink, covered in sunscreen fingerprints, with a few sand particles, while relaxing by the lake.
These are the days that get you through the brisk winters, the hard days at work...this was the kind of weekend that dreams are made of. I arrived to North Idaho feeling like I was coming home, and left feeling like I had just been to the most epic summer camp you could've imagined. It made me re-evaluate my priorities and where I'm allocating my time in my life.
A few months ago, Kris gifted me a deck of cards called the Animal Spirit Deck and we have so much fun drawing "spirit animals of the day" for ourselves and anyone else who will tolerate our relentless offering of whimsical animal spirit card descriptions. If I had to choose a spirit animal of the weekend, and one that I've drawn multiple times since this weekend, hands down the biggest energy of this weekend was: THE OTTER.
The otter symbolizes joy and playfulness in the purest of forms. It is said that otter energy is often observed in the playfulness of a child, that full grin that spreads from ear to ear. It is available to all of us, and when we experience it, we often find our worry, anxiety and fear slip away, only to transport us to a state of absolute bliss.
Choose otter energy. How can you welcome the otter into your life more on a daily basis?
June 2018.