Idaho Vacation–Getting There

Background

Last year, while vacationing in a WorldMark resort in Bend, Oregon, we decided to attend a resort presentation. As payment for our time, we received two certificates, each good for a one week stay at the resort of our choice. Time went by and we realized that we needed to book our stay before the end of March.

After seeing very little snow on the Christmas break, we decided to investigate ski destinations. We created a spreadsheet of all the resorts that are located near ski resorts and had availability during the time we wanted to go. We ranked the six choices, then started investigating deeper. Our first choice was too far from the ski areas, and travel was too time consuming for our second choice.

Our third choice was Hope, Idaho, which is near Schweitzer Mountain. Back in 2004, I skied at Schweitzer with my friend Todd. That was part of our first vacation after Andrew’s birth. Back then,  I created DVDs of everything. I pulled out the DVD and gathered the family around the TV to watch it. We decided it would be fun to go visit the area again 17 years later.

Getting There

On Friday morning, we got up early, packed the CR-V, and left home at 4:00 am. Our first flight was from Orlando to Atlanta. We arrived at the parking lot around 5:00 and waited for the bus to pick us up. While loading our bags on the bus, Susan realized that a bag was missing. It was the bag with all of her prescriptions and supplements. She was devastated. On the short ride to the airport, she debated whether to continue with the plans, or go home and try to catch a later flight. She decided to continue as planned.

Soon after boarding the plane, the morning sky began to fill with light. The day was off to a fine start.

Early morning light prior to our flight to Atlanta

In Atlanta, we found the gate for our flight to Spokane. While walking to the gate, it was pretty clear that Susan had not recovered from her recent Pickleball injury and that she wouldn’t be skiing during this trip.

The flight to Spokane was very long. Susan and I played Backgammon for awhile, then we all tried to catch a little sleep. About an hour out, we noticed that we were still flying along at 38,000 feet. We expected the pilot to start the descent at any moment, but he didn’t. Thirty minutes out, we were still at the same altitude. I started wondering if we were going to Seattle instead of Spokane.

Finally, we started to descend, but then we quickly leveled off again. Then we started turning away from the airport. We continued making odd turns and fast partial descents all the way to the airport. Once we entered the clouds, we couldn’t see a thing out the window until just seconds before landing. While exiting the plane, I congratulated the pilot for landing with such low visibility.

Very low visibility in Spokane

Once off the plane, we picked up our luggage and our rental SUV. Susan got on the phone and started trying to find a CVS that could give her an emergency refill of her medications for the week. She struck out on the south side CVS, but the north side said they could fill it in 15 minutes. Sweet!

Being new to Spokane, I wanted to see some sights. In particular,  I wanted to see Spokane Falls. On the way, we passed by a Dick’s Hamburgers. I used to go to the Dick’s in Seattle with my co-workers. The burgers weren’t very good, but they were cheap, which was the deciding factor.

Spokane Falls did not disappoint. Right in the middle of the city, the river drops dramatically through a series of falls.

Spokane Falls

Back on the road to CVS, we started looking for a place to eat. We found a burger joint that had Huckleberry shakes. Being in the midst of a pandemic, in Washington, we couldn’t go inside, so we hit the drive through and got back on the road. A few minutes later, we arrived at the CVS, which was inside a Target. Susan filled her prescription and bought a few other necessities that were left behind in the forgotten suitcase.

Finally, we were on our way to the resort in Hope, Idaho. In Sandpoint, we stopped at Safeway and bought a few groceries. As we left Sandpoint, we saw our first of what would become many BNSF train sightings. The road to the condo followed a railroad track the entire way. When we pulled into the condo parking lot, we were happy to see that the tracks were only a few hundred yards away.

We parked at the office and went inside to check in. The lady was very nice and gave us a ton of information about the resort. We went to our unit, unpacked, and went to bed. It was a very long trip and we were all exhausted.

Click the photo below to see the photo album.