It’s Saturday morning. I’m behind on my posts, so I’ll catch up on the last two days. Not that there’s much to say except that rain really hampers our activities.
It rained on and off on Thursday so Donna and I spent most of the day indoors. We walked in the park during breaks in the showers. Donna decided to make blueberry muffins from scratch. She doesn’t bake very often, but when she does, the results are outstanding. She gave a few of the muffins to the couple that manage the RV park. The guy made a point of stopping by our site to tell us that they were the best blueberry muffins he’s ever had. He said, “The blueberries exploded in my mouth!”
During one dry break in the weather, we walked down the road to the Safeway store. Donna needed some fresh produce and I picked up locally brewed Outlaw IPA. On our walk to the store, we passed an old VW bus that’s set up as a shaved ice kiosk. The windy, rainy weather had pulled the banner off the front. The VW looks to be driveable, but it’s been parked in the lot since we arrived. They were busy on Wednesday when the sun was shining.
Hawaiian Lion Shave Ice
We had street tacos for dinner on Thursday. Donna reheated some leftover pork tenderloin, sliced and drizzled with mojo garlic sauce and served it with shredded cabbage and avocado on corn tortillas. It really paired well with the Outlaw IPA. After dinner, Donna made her famous black bean brownies.
Taco plate
New neighbors pulled in Thursday evening. Three rigs lined up next to us. It appears to be a family reunion. There are two 5th wheel trailers with Alberta, Canada plates and a smaller travel trailer with Idaho plates sandwiched between them. It seems as though Grandpa and Grandma have the smaller travel trailer. The big 5th wheel trailer next to us is a Raptor triple axle toy hauler pulled by a big Ram 3500 dually truck. The woman who drove it in was supremely confident in her driving skills and jockeyed it through really tight quarters. I was impressed.
The rain returned with a vengeance on Thursday night. I was awakened several times in the night by rain drumming on the roof. We were out of bed by 8am. The rain had let up. I suggested a quick walk to the Broken Egg restaurant down the street for breakfast. I wanted to get out of the coach while we could. Donna was game and we headed out. The Broken Egg serves breakfast and lunch until 2pm daily. The breakfast portions are huge and very tasty.
It started raining on our walk back. Again, we had a day of variable and unpredictable weather. Actually, it was somewhat predictable. We knew it would rain – we just weren’t sure when or how hard it would rain. It rained off and on throughout the day without really drying out in-between.
Our plan was to grill chicken kabobs and have the Hutchinson family join us for dinner. I kicked back inside and read a book, keeping an eye on the weather. Donna spent a few hours writing her monthly organizing newsletter which included suggestions for rainy day organizing projects.
Around 3pm, I sent a message to Allen Hutchinson, telling him that we needed a Plan B. The weather wasn’t conducive to grilling and dining outdoors. We decided to meet at the Fish Market on Kathleen Avenue at 5:15pm.
Our timing was impeccable. It wasn’t raining as Donna and I walked to the restaurant. We arrived at the same time as the Hutchinsons. The restaurant wasn’t crowded and we put our orders in. They serve great seafood in sort of a fast-food fashion. You order at one counter and pay. When the meal is ready, you pick it up at another counter. As we placed our orders, a long line of patrons formed behind us. We just beat the dinner crowd. I had the daily special – sushi maki (spider roll) and a poki plate (ahi tuna). Donna had a steamer platter – two pounds of steamed mussels and clams in a garlic beer broth. The food was great. Allen, his wife Crystal, and daughters Gwen and Elsa had a variety of sushi and poki along with steaming bowls of miso soup. For dessert, Donna brought along some black bean brownies for the Hutchinsons to take back to their hotel.
Allen, Crystal, Elsa, Gwen and Donna enjoying dinner at the Fish Market
Allen and I worked together in Michigan. He and his family are here in Coeur d’Alene for the Ironman Trialthlon this weekend. Allen is an Ironman. This will be his third full-distance triathlon – 2.4 miles swimming, 112 miles bicycling and a 26.2-mile marathon run – all in one day! We saw his first triathlon in Lake Placid, New York where he finished in an astonishing 11 hours and 40 minutes. He finished before I could reach the finish line to congratulate him! I’ll be sure to be at the finish line this time.
One of the beauties of living a nomadic lifestyle is the ability to plan routes and layovers to meet up with friends and family around the country. We’re excited to witness another Ironman event and grateful for the opportunity to cheer for Allen and visit with his family.
Today, the weather looks to be variable again, but much drier than the past two days. Tomorrow should be clear for the race and warmer weather is predicted for the coming week. I want to get out on my bike and ride down to City Park to see how the Ironman course is shaping up.