Graduation Trip Days 1 and 2: Coeur d'Alene

 Over Mother's Day weekend we took at trip to Spokane for Michael's thesis defense and graduation! If you don't include trips to visit family, this is the first family vacation we've ever taken. Especially after a long and grueling semester, it was so nice to spend time all together and have some fun!

Day 1: The Drive Out
We started our 12 hour drive at 3:30am in the hopes the girls would sleep through a good portion of the trip. It worked! These three were awesome troopers. They behaved so well the whole way. In Missoula, Montana Lenora started to get a bit fussy. We saw a sign for the Elk Country Visitor's Center so we stopped to check it out. It was a fun little place and a nice break from driving. After the short break we hopped back in the car and they were fine the rest of the trip.

Day 2: Coeur d'Alene
We spent our first night and the next day in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho which is about a half hour from Spokane. It was amazingly beautiful! The drive in to town, the mountains, the lake. Everything is stunningly beautiful. 

 

While looking up places we wanted to see I found the "Mudgy and Millie" trail. A local author wrote a book about a moose and a mouse playing hide and seek. Then she worked with a local artist to place 5 statues around the downtown/board walk area of the lake. You follow the trail to see all 5 Mudgy and Millie statues plus see all the major sights along the way.

The girls LOVED it! Because of construction we couldn't follow the trail exactly and did some statues out of order but it was still great. We spent all morning tracking them down while taking in breathtaking views of the lake. Then we enjoyed a picnic lunch in the park. It truly was the perfect day!

Statue 1 - Tubs Hill

Lenora and Millie are hiding

Shhhh!

Statue 2 - The Library

The world's longest floating boardwalk.

Statue 3 - 3rd and Sherman

Statue 4 - City Park

Statue 5 - Independence Point

 After lunch we spent about 2 minutes splashing in the lake. It was honestly the coldest lake water I've ever felt!

Then we buckled in to drive the rest of the way to Spokane. That night we found a local favorite for dinner - Mike's Bugers Royal. It was awesome! 

Lovies need to keep safe too!