August 12, 2007

August 12, 2007

Last night we took a shuttle bus back down to the dam. Grand Coulee Dam hosts the world’s largest laser light show on its surface every night during the summer. At the start, dam operators open spillways letting out a sheet of water flow turning the dam face into a white projection surface. It is like they flicked a switch and lowered the screen. The light show is cute but unmemorable.

In the morning we drive east to Spokane. We stop at their visitor center but don’t find anything interesting so we continue our drive east toward Montana. We cross into Idaho and stop at the Idaho visitor center. We learn about a free concert in the park in Coeur d’Alene and think that would be a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon. We guessed right. The rock-n-roll band is superb, the weather is delightful and downtown Coeur d’Alene seems a well-kept secret. It sits on a beautiful lake with pine-forested hills in the distance. Coeur d’Alene is very high on my list for a summer home.

After the concert we walk around downtown and then find a spot in a private RV park to the west along the Spokane River. After cocktail hour Aimee and I ride our bikes downtown along Centennial Trail past a pair of nesting Ospreys and have dinner at the Coeur d’Alene Resort restaurant complete with Idaho spuds and a view overlooking the lake.