StevenI don’t really consider travel days to be a ‘vacation day’ as lately, the airlines seem to be getting worse. I’m hoping everything will be on time today!
Every morning I’ve been in Coeur d’Alene, I’ve eaten at Michael D’s Eatery. It’s a 2 minute walk from the lodge, and it’s been fantastic. I love how they open at 6am every day so I don’t have to wait around all morning. I had something different every morning, and everything was amazing. My best pick by far was the custard-style french toast with honey spread and cinnamon sugar. It’s funny to see the ‘regulars’ in here every morning. If I lived here, I’d probably be a ‘regular,’ too.
I got back from eating and started packing. Thankfully I only packed a week’s worth of clothes, so I didn’t have too much to do. It’s funny how you don’t add anything to your suitcase, yet you have a hard time fitting it all back in.
Looking over this trip, I’ve really enjoyed it, even with all the driving I had to do. Maybe someday I can buy a small plane and have someone fly me from spot to spot. That would be the life. I wonder how much airplane fuel costs…
I’d say the spot I enjoyed the most was Grand Teton National Park.
Glacier was nice, but there were too many restrictions (you had to have a permit/pass to drive the Going To The Sun Road and those are booked well before I even started planning this trip). It’s also a very popular park, so there are tons of people there during the summer months. If I ever went back, it would be in September so the crowds would be a little thinner.
But back to Grand Teton. The views were just incredible there, and every hike, I just couldn’t believe the scenery. The 12 mile hike I did here was a lot of fun and I wish I had gone further, but I didn’t want to chance it over the snow.
The biggest surprise was Stanley, ID. I had never heard of this 117 person town until AI suggested it as a stop. I was even a little hesitant at first thinking ‘why did you take me out there?’
There was so much to do there and I wish I had one more day to explore.
I would say my AI vacation was a big success. I already knew what areas I wanted to visit and it gave me that and a little more. I might do a little refining next time (especially with the driving distances), but overall, it gave me a good route to take so I didn’t see the same thing over and over.
The total number of miles I put on the rental truck was………
2,473 miles!
That’s a lot of miles. I’m glad everything held up (including the tires on those sketchy dirt roads!). This truck actually got great gas mileage (around 24-26mpg). I was glad I had it over an SUV (that I had booked but they didn’t have) in some parts of the trip.
I ended up hiking a total of 61.02 miles. That’s more than I expected!
I didn’t see much of the Spokane International Airport when I landed as I just wanted to get out of there and on my way. There are two sections for departures. One for Southwest and a few other airlines and one section for American and maybe another airline (I wasn’t really paying attention). The first part of the gates for the American section are pretty run-of-the-mill gate areas. But just past my gate it opens up into what looks like a newly remodeled area. There’s a couch area with a tall back and a small arm table for a laptop or tablet (that’s where I’m sitting), nice modern looking (probably fake) leather chairs and fancy lights hanging from the ceiling. Every seat has USB ports and a wall outlet. I’m quite impressed.
It will definitely be hard going to back to ‘normal life’ after a trip like this.