Estelle Duggan's house at Coeur d'Alene Lake, Idaho

       It was to be a long days drive from West Linn to Coeur d'Alene Lake in Idaho, and in fact was 407 miles.  The weather was nice, relatively clear and in the 50's and 60's, and we retraced our route on I84 through the Columbia Gorge and past Multonah Falls.  Much faster trip this time, as we weren't touring!
Going through Idaho was great, and then we crossed into Eastern Washington.  The Tri-cities area of Pasco, Kenniwick and Richland are just plain boring and ugly.  Unless you like to see agricultural fields.  No mountains, lakes, interesting geographic landmarks, or anything.  Very sleep inducing, unless you're driving of course!
      The scenery did improve somewhat around Spokane, and continued getting better as we arrived in Idaho and the Coeur d'Alene area.  What a spectacular lake, and mountains/hills surrounding it!

       Our purpose there, though, was to visit Jim's former secretary from his American Airlines Seattle days, Estelle Duggan.  Estelle has been a good family friend over the years, but we haven't seen her in over a decade and never been to the family homestead where she grew up.  This was our chance! 

       Estelle's father built the home in the 30's, and she and her identical twin sister Esther (long since deceased) grew up on this self-sufficient property where they raised their own cows, sheep, chickens, etc etc.  Estelle retired there after leaving American, and it is a very lonely but beautiful spot in the winter--very few neighbors, and she is 8 miles from the main road.

       We spent a most delightful evening with her, and talked for hours.  Dudley and Rosie loved being there, too, as they could run anywhere they felt like and did so enthusiastically.  The only downside was the RV was parked at the top of her property, up a very steep hill, and the dogs absolutely wore themselves out.  Sure helped them sleep soundly, though!  The photo to the left is taken from her barn looking down at the house.  The RV doesn't show, as it's half way down the hill off to the right.  In addition, there is another hill from the house down to the beach which the dogs also ran to (and walked back!), so it was a great day for exercise and getting the stiffness from riding out of their systems!