Brent, my sister an I met early one Saturday morning to drive to the Spokane area where we would be meeting Brent’s parents and mine. It was almost the perfect meeting location. Almost as in it was close to half way. We got the “long” end of the stick and had to drive about an hour or so further than all the parents who carpooled together. We left bright and early so we could spend some extra time hanging out in downtown Spokane. We wondered around the stores only looking as we are all trying to save money. The parents finally arrived and we wandered over to the closest PF Changs restaurant. Back in May, Brent and I each received a $10 gift card for Changs because they were a main sponsor of the Nashville Marathon. We wanted to take probably our only chance to use them.
After eating, we wandered around downtown Spokane some more with the parents before taking off. We decided to go check out the gardens that are in Spokane. They were beautiful with fields of roses and various other flowers. They even had a tropical room. These were the only ones inside. It was nice to be out walking since we all spent a several hours in the car. It was nearing early evening, so we decided to go check into some wonderful accommodations Brent and I had made. Well, not so wonderful, but they were cheap, clean and a roof over our heads. We tossed everything into the rooms and then headed out to go do what everyone does when they are in a strange place, eat! This time we ventured towards Coeur d’alene. After eating, we walked around some more before heading back to the hotel.
We decided to take the parents for a joy ride as they were following us. We made our way to Walmart to pick up some cards so that we could entertain ourselves in the hotel room. After playing a few games, I prepared my running clothes for the morning and headed to bed. I woke up bright and early for my run. I got ready to go and Brent did as well. We headed out of the hotel just before 6:00 in the morning. I wanted to get my run in without taking too much time out of “family time.” I had an eighteen miler planned, so the day before I noticed a nice trail that went alongside the interstate. It turned out to be the Idaho Centennial Trail that ran for the length of the panhandle of Idaho into Montana and then into Washington on the other side.
Our hotel was about 2 miles from the Idaho/Washington border, so I decided to run towards Coeur d’alene since it seemed to have the better views. I was just excited that I didn’t have to spend time mapping out a long run in a unfamiliar location. Brent ran the first 4 miles with me which was great because they were the most boring. The trail ran mostly along the interstate with a few sections that deviated into the various towns. Coeur d’alene was 9 miles away from our hotel, but with the deviations, I did not make it. I ran 9 miles out before I turned around to go back to the hotel. It made for the perfect place to run. I finally got a few hills in on miles 6-9 which were very welcomed. This meant I got hills from mile 6-12. Not bad considering I didn’t know any locations with hills. I will take any hill that comes my way, especially with the Nike Women’s Marathon coming up in about a month.
I had the trail mostly to myself until I neared the end. It was getting close to 9:00 am and people were finally starting to wake up. I was in my last mile and I saw some strange people walking down the path. I thought they were strange because it looked like my family. And..It was! They all cheered me on. It felt kind of funny, but it was nice. Brent was there and ran the last 1/2 of a mile with me. It was a great run and I felt amazing. At least as amazing as anyone could feel after running 18 miles. Brent had some chocolate milk waiting for me. It was terrific.
We spent the rest of our time wondering around Coeur d’alene. There is so much to do around there. I think it might be a perfect getaway for Brent and I in the future. We enjoyed a nice relaxing boat ride on the lake. After hours in downtown, we finally decided to make our way back to the hotel. Brent, Krista and I hopped in the pool for a quick swim and then we headed off to bed. The next morning I went out for a short 4 mile run that turned into a 5 miler. It was a beautiful morning. This time I headed for the border. Our hotel was 2 miles away so I figured that I would just run to the border and back for an easy 4 miler. Turns out they were doing construction on the interstate so they de-toured the trail. This is where I got my extra mileage in.
After the run, I got everything packed up and so did everyone else. We headed towards Spokane as we had a breakfast/brunch place picked out to eat. It turned out that that place was not open on Monday mornings. We went one block away and found a fun place called Frank’s Diner. It was delicious and totally worth the 45 minute wait! I guarantee I will be stopping back by even if it is on the way to or back from Oregon. We said our goodbyes and then we all hit the road. The smoke got worse and worse as we headed back into Montana. We were glad for the few smoke free days that we had. All in all, it was a fun trip spending time with the parents, all of them! Love you guys!
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