Today being Sunday, it was our day to relax. We booked a boat ride on Lake Coeur d'Alene at 12:30, so that gave us the opportunity to sleep in for a change. We decided to head over to Coeur d'Alene early to check the place out. The plan after the 90 minute boat ride was to hike around Tubbs Hill for a couple of miles if it didn't get too hot. Coeur d'Alene is only 25 miles away, and we would have stayed there over the weekend if we could have found a room that wasn't exorbitantly expensive.
     When we arrived downtown, it was quickly obvious why there were no rooms available in Coeur d'Alene . Most of the downtown streets were blocked off because they were running the Ironman Triathlete competition through the downtown streets. Of course, the boat dock for our trip was right in the middle of the downtown area. It was getting hot, so we stopped at a McDonald's close to the action to change into the shorts we brought with us, just in case, and set about looking for a parking spot. Talked to a lady cop at one of the road blocks, and she gave us directions of where to go and where to park. Luckily, motorcycles are smaller than cars, and we found a spot just a couple of blocks away from the dock.
     There were people everywhere as the cyclists were passing through the center of town. So we checked with the ticket window for the boat ride, and ducked into the local coffee shop for some iced coffees while we waited. It looked like today was going to be even hotter than yesterday, and these athletes were still competing! It was 104 degrees during the bike race portion, and by the time they were doing the running portion it was 106!
     From what we were able to see of Coeur d'Alene, it looked like a wonderful place to live, or at least vacation to . As we boarded the boat for the 90 minute cruise, it struck us as to how similar the experience was to boarding the Mt Washington for a cruise around Lake Winnipesaukee. Everything was just a little newer, but the lake and mountains were beautiful, and the houses around the lake were beautiful too. While there were a lot of really nice upscale houses, there were still some older smaller places. The downtown pier area was dominated by the Coeur d'Alene resort, and there was a large marina, a golf course with a floating hole that you had to drive the ball to, then board a small boat to get to the green to putt. There was even a driving range out over the water that used special floating golf balls that were periodically picked up with a special skimmer.
     There were public beaches, and boating everywhere. Everyone was having a wonderful time. If it weren't for the crowds for the Ironman, we would have liked to spend a couple of days here. The boat had an exposed upper deck and a closed in lower deck . As the temperature was hovering around 106, there was no one on the upper deck. We all stayed in the sheltered lower deck, though we did venture out to the front where there was a breeze and a little shade for taking pictures.
     By the time the boat ride was over, we realized that it was just too hot to hike. In fact, it was too hot to just stand around watching for the Ironman competitors to appear. We looked at the wonderful beaches, but we didn't have bathing suits with us, so it just made us feel hotter. So we decided, that the pool back at the hotel would just have to do. So we headed back to the hotel, and in 106 degree heat, it was too hot for the motorcycle, I can't imagine what the athletes are going through!
    When we got back to the hotel, most of the guests had already checked out, so the pool was basically ours for the rest of the afternoon. It felt great! We cooled off, and set out for dinner. Our original plan was to try the Thai place down the street, but it turned out to be closed, so we ended up at the local IHOP .
     Just as we're eating dinner, I look at my phone, and there's an email from the fraud squad of my credit card company. Looks like we picked up an unauthorized charge. We know the drill, called the credit card company, they cancelled the card and issued me a new one. Luckily we will be in Seattle for 5 days starting Tuesday, so they can send the replacement card to the hotel. That's why I brought along more than one card, I was afraid this might happen.
     Tomorrow, we are off to cover half the distance to Seattle. We will stop to tour the Grand Coulee Dam on the way to Winthrop, WA. The weather is supposed to be cooler tomorrow, hopefully the triple digit heat wave is over!

66.7 miles today
8064.0 miles total

0.0 gallons today
193.306 gallons total