Scenes of Coeur d'Alene...

I thought I'd share a few scenes of the beauty of our current hometown.

A good day begins with a stroll on "The World’s Longest Floating Boardwalk".

This stunning boardwalk, which seems to float on top of the beautiful Lake Coeur d'Alene, is 3,300 feet long and provides the best views of the lake. It was completed in 1985 and to this day is one of the highlights of the City. There's something so magical about walking down the boardwalk and simultaneously walking deeper into the massive lake.

"Life is Beautiful" here in Coeur d'Alene.

Oh and this town is old! I found sidewalk concrete stamps dated 1911 and 1913. I'm searching for even older ones! I love the hunt.

There is no way I could blog all the amazing homes we see along our walks. Wow.

After two days of stay-at-home rain days, it was off to Fort Sherman Playground. This cool area, at City Park, offers a sprawling, 14,000 square foot wooden 'fort’ play space on 17 acres near the lake’s edge.

It is the perfect place for 'boys to be boys'.

There is history on every corner. This is the electrical box in front of the historic Northern Pacific Freight and Passenger Depot.

Originally built in 1915, the Depot was a local industrial mainstay in Coeur d’Alene for the first half of the 20th century. The year 1883 brought the Northern Pacific railway to northern Idaho and transformed it from a dense forest to a populated developing region. With the building of the railroad through the Silver Valley population grew with its inhabitants and created an economic thriving community. The Northern Pacific Railroad brought population to principle areas of northern Idaho’s mining and lumber mill towns. According to the 1940 census 10,548 combined residents resided in Coeur d’Alene , Moscow, Sandpoint and Wallace recorded 3,839 residents . These four towns were the only towns in the Northern Idaho region that had a population exceeding 2,500 people. The Northern Pacific Railroad was the first railway to enter through the Silver Valley, and connected the Silver Valley with coastal seaports. I'm hoping to learn more of this history over the course of our stay here.

Mudgy & Millie are characters from a darling book with the same title. I have read this story dozens of times to my granddaughters in order to introduce them to this town. In the book, Mudgy Moose searches high and low for his friend Millie Mouse along the shores of Lake Coeur d'Alene. "Children will join in the fun as Mudgy wanders into town in his quest to find Millie, only to discover that she was hiding close by all along."

Author Susan Hagen Nipp partnered with a sculptor to place Mudgy & Millie all over town. The search for them is an ideal way to motivate little legs to keep on moving. So fun!

While meandering, I stumbled into WOOPS! Bake Shop. I am officially a devoted fan.

A fun find was the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department Museum. While small, it was a treat to be able to climb aboard a vintage truck and make the mechanical siren roar. Used on emergency vehicles beginning in the early 1900s, the siren was driven with a hand crank. So dang cool!