Have you been there?

Here is a question for all of you fine folks, filling out that Facebook survey map thingy, showing the states you have been too. Have you been there? Seems like an easy question, right? Well, not so fast my friend. Here are the rules according to long time blog favorite, Jay.

1. Airports don’t count. Just because you took off and landed from the Denver airport, doesn’t mean you’ve been to Colorado. In fact, that’s why we haven’t been to Colorado.
2. Driving through a state only counts if you do something local. Pit stops, either for gas or pooping, doesn’t count. Neither does McDonald’s, BK, or Wendy’s. Local attractions and restaurants do.
3. Overnight stays do count. Spent a night at the Red Roof Inn, Charleston? Sorry pal, you’ve been to West Virginia.

Those are the rules gang. Please take stock of yourselves, double check your Facebook questionnaires, and adjust accordingly.

The reason I spelled out the rules is because Chrysa and I had never been to Idaho. Sure, we drove through a huge chunk of it while on the way to Utah, but see the rules above. We got gas in a podunk town, and maybe even had fast food, but as we know, that doesn’t count. We have been to Iowa (not that they are at all the same). Here’s why… The World’s Largest Truck Stop. Got gas and got to see an attraction all at once. Gotta love those loopholes!

All of the above being said, I can now safely say that we have been to Idaho. It turns out that we live only 14 or so miles from the state line, and only 20 miles from the idyllic town of Coeur d’Alene. Chrysa and I visited the town in the first couple weeks that we lived here in Spokane. It’s in all of the tourist brochures and word of mouth pointed us to it as well.

I scoped it out first and then we crossed the state line when Chrysa was off from work the next day. We had a wonderful time while we were there. We parked in the visitor center lot which also had convenient access to the Centennial Trail. We started the afternoon by doing a 5 mile run that took us along the lake shore, then along the Spokane River. The weather was warm that day, but you could still see the snow capped mountains in the distance.

After our 5 miler, we headed over to Tubbs Hill, for a short hike. Tubbs Hill is a rocky outcropping forming a peninsula into Lake Coeur d’Alene. The hill itself is littered with trails, all providing wonderful lake and mountain views. There are also numerous beaches in hidden coves that are available to the public. It may not be the Pacific Ocean, but I’ll take a secluded beach on a lake without question.

After our hike we took a walk through town. We stopped into a local bar and had a snack and some beer to reward ourselves for all our hard work. We also stopped into the towns running store. Shopping lead to lake front cocktails in the sun, followed by the short drive home.

We really loved our day in Idaho. In fact we have been back to Coeur d’Alene again. I can’t believe we haven’t been to Idaho before, it’s awesome. Are you planning to mark off Washington on your Facebook questionnaires? Are you driving west via the Idaho pan handle? If so, follow the above rules, stop in Coeur d’Alene, and check two states off of your list.

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