Idaho and Montana

The northwest was the last section of the U.S. I had yet to discover. Recently, my boyfriend and I took a long weekend to journey through Idaho and Montana. We coasted into the small town of Coeur d’Alene, located on a lake in Northern Idaho and walked lakeside while the sun set and watched the boats docking for the evening. The town is as serene and beautiful as you can imagine. We ate at The Wolf Lodge Inn. The restaurant’s country décor is reminiscent of the wild west but with a twist of humor - taxidermy as far as the eye can see, an exposed grill in the back dining room and silly signs scattered around the restaurant like the one in the front that states, ‘this building is protected by high voltage and a man with a double barrel shotgun.’ The food was as Americana as the décor with gigantic portions like the ‘Rancher,’ which is a combination of a 24 oz Porterhouse and 20 oz Sirloin, a 44 oz combination! The men at the table felt pressured to order something more masculine than the ‘Cowgirl’, which was a measly 20 oz cut of sirloin.

After dinner, we adjusted our belt buckles. Montana is truly sky country because the stars stretched across the sky and you could almost reach up and touch the cloudy mass known as the Milky Way. The next morning, we woke up early and went on a 15-mile mountain bike ride on the Hiawatha Trail. The trip takes you through 10 tunnels and 7 trestle bridges. I must admit it took a couple of minutes to get the courage to stand close to the rail of the bridges, which are suspended 200 feet above the ground. The trail, surrounded by giant boulders and evergreens, was constructed in 1906 for the Milwaukee Railroad, which eventually closed in 1977. With government funding, the rails were lifted and a path was created. Every bike needs a light for each tunnel, the longest is 1.6 miles because the tunnels are pitch black. It’s quite creepy riding through these dark cavernous damp passageways and be sure to bring a sweater because even in the summer, temperatures can drop to 40 degrees Fahrenheit in the tunnels.

Caked in mud, we dropped our bikes off and retreated to antique stores and feasted on a pizza pie. The whole trip was truly Americana.