Côte d'Azur: The French Riviera

The things that I have enjoyed most in France are the outdoor cafes, boulangeries and the tiny streets in the old parts of town.  My least favorite thing is the smoke.  The outdoor cafes are so cute and have such a great atmosphere, but the big puff of smoke that hits you in the face as you chew your food is not cool.

We arrived in Toulon on a Sunday evening.  When we left Lyon we drove south following the Rhone river for quite a while.

Rhone river on our drive south.

Holy Toot!

The wildfires of Washington meant we had to make a last minute change in our route and skip the Winthrop stop.  It was a bummer, but with only one road open in that direction we were nervous that we might get stuck up there, not to mention the air quality was not good.

We rerouted to the Leavenworth area and stayed at Wenatchee County Park.  The air was okay the first day, but then, depending on which way the wind was blowing, was not great.  The campground was okay.  Next to a busy highway, but quite a few trees and was well maintained.

We started our week out with our first day back to a little book work for the school year.  We were testing our some of our new material and seeing how we liked it.  The afternoon of our first day we went to Cashmere, WA.  The town is very small and has a candy factory that has been around for generations, called Aplets and Cotlets.  We took a tour and picked out a couple of boxes to take home.

Heading behind the scene for our tour.

The Finger

Yup, we are in the finger... of Idaho.  From Flathead Lake we headed south and then west towards the "finger" of Idaho to Coeur d'Alene. We stayed at Coeur D'Alene RV Resort and it was okay.  Nothing special, but was fine for visiting the area.

Between preparing for a new school year, "can I have" requests, sisters arguing, and lots of other every day activities, here are some of the thing we did in Couer D'Alene, ID:

Downtown and Lake Coeur D'Alene:

Lake Coeur d'Alene

Lake Coeur d'Alene

The first full day in the area was Diego's birthday.  He got to choose the activities and they included: sleeping in, football, and sushi.  After the football game we went down to the lake and downtown area.  We walked and the weather was beautiful.  Warm with a great breeze.  Awesome playground with water splash pad.

Do You Like Ninjas?

From Missoula we headed north up to Flathead Lake.  We are staying at a state park called West Shore and it is about 10 minutes south of Lakeside, MT.

Our site at West Shore State Park

Our site is beautiful and just up the hill from the lake itself.  The water at the lake looks like the Caribbean.

The lake from the campground

It is so clear, but the water is fresh and a little chilly depending on how hot the day feels.

Mi-zooooo-la

Next stop............Missoula, MT.

Campground was great.  Lots of shade trees, friendly staff, nice restrooms and laundry room.  They even had a concert one night, but we missed it.

Our spot for the week.  The flowers all over the park were beautiful.

Missoula is home to the University of Montana and quite a happening place.  I love all the activity that the city had going on.  It was a small, big city with every shopping and food option you could want, but had a nice vibe.

"Go Get Chu One"

After hanging in out in Victor, ID area, the whole group relocated together that weekend and headed up closer to the west side of Yellowstone NP at Henry's Lake State Park in Idaho.  Very pretty park with a lake and mountain view.

More Tiny Towns

I could probably write this blog entry with one sentence because we are in Palisades, ID and our campground is the only thing here :)  Just joking, but close.  Not sure of the population here, but I'm thinking it's in the teens.  The gas station here is the hardware store and the grocery store. :)



We drove up from Bear Lake with a dip back into Wyoming and returned to Idaho.  Country roads and small towns were again the theme of this drive.  Those are my favorite kind.

Cave, Lake, and Crepes

So the plan was to avoid extreme seasons.......snow and intense heat.  We should have researched a little more thoroughly because the intense heat won't let up.  We have done all kinds of research and reading about why it's colder at higher altitude when it seems it would be warmer cause you're closer to the sun and why is the sun so intense and ready to burn your skin at such high altitude.  This weather has inspired all kinds of learning opportunities :)

So from the beautiful luxury of Mountain Valley Resort we headed north through Utah and even dipped into Wyoming briefly and back into Utah up to Bear Lake.  It's amazing how much of this country is land as far as the eye can see with the occasional house, farm or trailer.  We have seen so many signs similar to "Welcome to _______.  Population 121"  And so many times we have said "who is living here?"  I want to knock on their door and hear their story.  Not just because it's a microscopic town without a grocery store, but because some of the towns look abandoned.  Like a scene out of The Walking Dead.

So as we arrived to the Bear Lake area, things started looking more lively.  There was a cute little town called Garden City on the southwest side of the lake and several boat rental places as we drove up the west side of the lake.

Garden City down in the distance and Bear Lake from top of a nearby mountain.

The water was beautiful.  Almost reminded me of the Gulf of Mexico on a clear, calm day.  I had just seen what the Great Salt Lake had in store, so when the lady at the campground told me the most fun thing to do in town was swim in the lake, I was skeptical.

Great Salt Lake......Not So Great

From Dinosaur National Monument we headed west on hwy 40 and continued our trip towards Heber City, UT.

It was Father's day while we were traveling and that morning we gave Diego his cards and in the evening drove to Provo, UT to see the new Avengers movie.