Get ready for Part XI of our cross country road trip recap: Idaho!
To recap, we drove 3,815 miles through 12 states, coast to coast. Our route took us through New York, Ontario in Canada, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, to Portland, Oregon. Check out the route:
After the 3 hour drive from Montana, we arrived in Idaho!
We instantly saw snow on the mountaintops but the weather was gorgeous!
We had only one stop planned in Idaho (Coeur D’Alene) since we were driving through the narrowest part of the state in the Idaho panhandle.
Coeur D’Alene is the second largest city in the state of Idaho. It is located on the lovely, 25-mile Lake Coeur D’Alene and is bordered by the Coeur D’Alene National Forest.
The lakefront was lovely! There were people out and about, sailboats out on the lake, runners, dogs, sunbathers, tourists, babies, and smiles everywhere!
We quickly fell in love with Coeur D’Alene. The vibe is so laid back and the city itself is absolutely beautiful. It is a very special place.
We walked around downtown Coeur D’Alene for a while window shopping and exploring.
The shops here are all so wonderful. We stopped in Mary Jane’s Farm, Mrs. Honeypeeps Sweet Shop, and Figpickles Toy Emporium just to name a few.
After walking around for about an hour it was time for dinner. We went to Grille From Ipanema which, in addition to having an awesome name, was a really great Brazilian churrasco restaurant. So good!
After dinner we wandered around some more downtown and ended up in the Old City Hall building.
Old City Hall has been converted into little shops and we visited Coeur D’Alene Chocolates for some dessert.
And with that we were back on the road for the 2 hour drive to our final destination for the day – Coulee Dam, Washington!
Goodbye for now Coeur D’Alene, we will definitely be back!
Stay tuned for Part XII – Washington!
Domestocrat 
I love that the stores have names right out of Harry Potter!
Aren’t they cute?!