A Beautiful Cruise on Lake Pend Oreilles

The boat for the cruise.
We arrived in Deer Park, WA just north of Spokane. This is a lovely spot that is outside the city. The longer we are on the road the more I appreciate being away from the city. Its nice to go visit for a short time but I’d rather stay in a more rural setting. The Spokane RV Resort (not in Spokane the city) is where we are staying and it is a resort. The sites are huge, even the largest rigs would fit here. It has a nice pool and hot tub area and it sits on a golf course and offers a discount on golf. I haven’t had a chance to take any photos of the area but I’ll try to get that done tomorrow since I think it will be a day of just hanging out. This is a little more than we like to pay for a site but what the heck.
Happy for 28 years!

John checking out the wheel house

John and I are celebrating our anniversary, actually today. Twenty eight years went by pretty fast. We knew we want to do something special so when we arrived I asked for suggestions at the office. The gal on duty gave me a brochure for a cruise on Lake Pend Oreille about an hour NE of here in Idaho at Sand Point. They have a dinner cruise on the lake on Thursday for $40. That sounded reasonable for a 2 1/2 hour cruise and eagle watching complete with dinner, so signed up. The drive to Sandpoint was a beautiful one along the Priest River to Lake Pend Oreille. The drive is along US-2 and the scenery is amazing. The cruise goes out of the City Beach Marina. City Beach is a wonderful park right downtown Sandpoint. It has a large beach, tennis courts, basketball courts, picnic areas and the marina. There is a small RV park as you enter the area but the sites are very small and tight together.
Eagle drying his wings

Moon rise
The cruise began at 5:30. We sat on the upper deck just behind the wheel house which afforded us time with Captain Ron.  John spent some time in the wheel house asking him lots of questions. He was a wealth of info on the history of the lake and how it was formed. It is a huge lake. Once underway they served appetizers and drinks (drinks and gratuity are not included in the price). It wasn’t too long before we were near an area where there is a breeding pair of eagles. We spotted one that was drying out its wings. They also had us watching for the moon rise, the moon is all but full and the next night was the official “blue moon”. The moon when it did rise was spectacular and it would be hard to tell that it wasn’t officially the full moon, sure looked full to us. I took lots of photos and thought they turned out all right for being on a boat where your never completely still. The dinner was served and it was excellent. A pasta restaurant in town does the catering. Soon we moved to another island where we were able to view another breeding bald eagle pair. This time we spotted both of them in the trees, how cool. Since it was starting to get darker it was difficult to get a real clear photo but I did ok. They also took us by a castle that is being built by some guy out of Spokane. They think it will take 8 more years to complete. Weird thing to spend your money on but I guess when you have unlimited funds you have to spend it on something. As we headed back we were able to watch the moon continue to rise as the sun was setting. What a great anniversary gift to each other.
Castle anyone?

The second eagle pair

Today we went into Spokane for some biking and site seeing. I think I’ll save that and post again tomorrow. We actually have a freeze warning out for tonight. I love these warm days and cool nights, makes for great sleeping.
Happy Trails.............................

Once in a blue moon.......




Comments

  1. Happy Anniversary! Sounds like you had a great time celebrating it. The cruise looked lovely and relaxing. Love your pictures.

    Kevin and Ruth
    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  2. Great anniversary gift, indeed! Congratulations. :)

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  3. Happy Anniversary. What an awesome excursion. I have not seen an eagle in the wild yet. How cool. Love the moon pictures!

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  4. sounds like a great way to celebrate your anniversary...

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  5. Congratulations! I bet it was a wonderful anniversary!

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  6. Congrats on your 28th Wedding Anniversary. This cruise was sure a nice way to celebrate it - great pics! I love the one of that castle.

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  7. What a great way to celebrate your anniversary. Looks like a wonderful cruise.

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  8. Happy Anniversary...many more happy and healthy years to go!

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  9. Happy Anniversary you guys. That was a great way to spend your day. And we agree with you - prefer the rural settings to being in the cities. We try to avoid them if at all possible.

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  10. Happy Anniversary to you both! You are giving us some ideas for places to see and things to do when we get up into Washington, whenever that is! See you soon.

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  11. I live east of Spokane on the Idaho border so I know right where you are. That is a splendid cruise! So glad you were able to celebrate your anniversary there. I have been gone for 6 days with no internet so was surprised to here you were near Spokane. Hope you have a wonderful stay. Karen

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