We went out and explored yesterday. Donna rode her bicycle down to Lake Coeur d’Alene in the morning. She rode east along the lake on the Centennial Trail to the end. On her way to the lake, she rode down Government Way and found a few stores she was looking for – a FedEx store and a Natural Grocers store – both within easy walking distance.

After she returned, I unloaded my mountain bike. We had lunch together, then I headed out. I followed her route down Government Way to the Coeur d’Alene City Park. Preparations for this weekend’s Ironman competition were already underway. They had the transition area with bike racks set up and fencing all around it. Vendors were setting up canopies and tents.

Vendors setting up for the Ironman

There were signs along the road advising of closure on Sunday for the event. City Park is well maintained and beautiful. It also has a beach area on the lake with a lifeguard on duty. People were enjoying the nice weather, sunning on the beach and swimming in the lake.

View to the west at the City Park beach

The Centennial Bike Trail runs along the beach, then follows the Spokane River which empties into Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Beach view from the bike trail

I rode up the bike trail past another park and more beach areas on the Spokane River. I had left my water bottle on the kitchen counter in the coach and was riding without water. Luckily, there were a number of parks along the way with drinking water fountains.

At Riverstone Park, the trail turns north and leaves the river. The Centennial Trail is mostly paved, but there were parallel sections of gravel and dirt tracks for mountain bikes. At I-90, the Centennial Trail turns west toward Spokane. The route north becomes the Prairie Trail. I followed the Prairie Trail north to Kathleen Avenue.

There was another bike path along Kathleen Avenue that brought me back to Government Way. The ride was a little over an hour and I really enjoyed it.

Later, I scootered Donna over to the FedEx store. She had documents that needed to be scanned and she also shipped our EMS – PT50C off to Progressive Industries. I like to have protection against power surges and bad pedestal wiring, the EMS – PT50C gives me peace of mind. I’ll have to go without it for a couple of weeks before I have an address for them to ship it back to us.

While Donna was at FedEx, I went to the bank and then stopped at The Fish Market on Kathleen Avenue. The Fish Market is a seafood restaurant and fish monger. They had a good price on Copper River sockeye salmon, but I spied fresh king salmon in the cooler. I couldn’t resist – I paid the premium price for the king salmon.

I soaked a cedar plank and grilled the salmon for dinner. Donna served it with a side dish of pierogies sauteed with onions, red pepper and broccoli from the natural food store. We sat outside and dined at the picnic table.

Dining al fresco

Fresh cedar planked king salmon

My friend and former colleague, Allen Hutchinson, arrived in Coeur d’Alene with his family last evening. He will compete in the Ironman Triathlon on Sunday. We’re looking forward to visiting with him and his family, and cheering for him on Sunday.

This is the second time we’ll see him at an Ironman event. He competed in Lake Placid when we were there last summer.

We had a rain shower this morning. The forecast calls for passing showers through tomorrow afternoon. Saturday looks good, but we may have showers again on Sunday.