The last night in Glacier, Chris got a bit of a sneezy head cold, so we all scheduled Covid tests in Couer d’Alene to be on the safe side. It didn’t present like Covid, and we were vaccinated, wore masks everywhere and washed our hands, so it would have been a long shot that was what he had. However, we wanted to be good citizens. Since this town was only a short drive from Glacier, we had plenty of time to wait out the results and eat some carry out lunch. When we got negatives across the board, we were unsurprised but thrilled.

We arrived at our campsite and were told that the septic tank was not functioning – that we’d have to find somewhere else to dump our sewage. This was a minor inconvenience for a two day stay, since we could easily use their restrooms; however, it meant using bathrooms with unmasked people in a state that by-and-large is unvaccinated. This was something we wanted to avoid by taking our own bathroom with us. All that said, we did like the campsite. It was quite lovely and offered free firewood.

That evening, we explored downtown Coeur d’Alene. I cannot express how absolutely lovely this town is…the houses, the businesses, the scenery. We got some yummy ice cream and local craft brews, before heading back to our site, where we had a nice night around the campfire.

The next morning, we drove around town again, and explored the beach. One thing of note – and it might just be the days we were there – was that nearly three-quarters of the people walking around looked like airbrushed pictures. And were wearing far more expensive clothes than I expected to see in a small city in Idaho. It was like being on Rodeo Drive…if I’d ever been on Rodeo Drive. Being two weeks into a camping trip and looking like it, this may have been more notable than had we just flown in and hung out there. Either way, both kids wound up asking for haircuts that day (for some reason) and so we took them to do that (masks on). Then, I stopped into a home store to pick up some items that we discovered we needed to make trailer living work better: a basket to contain the mess of shoes by the door; a couple pillows to make beds comfier; and a small rug for the bathroom floor which tends to get pretty wet during showers.

In the evening, both kids seemed to have mild versions of Chris’ cold, so we kept our distance from others and took a drive up a scenic road near our campsite. It turned out to be lined with multi-million-dollar mansions hanging off the mountainside. We caught a breathtaking sunset over the mountains and across the lake before turning in for the night.