Coeur D’Alene, Idaho We left Yellowstone Saturday afternoon after a great morning of white water rafting, and then lunch with a fun family from Northern California.  From there we headed to Butte for the night, and the next day we headed to Missoula.  We were ahead of schedule so we were in no rush to go very far.  We got a tent site in Missoula, but of course it rained, and rained hard.  However we were fortunate because the rain did calm down by the late night so we were able to sleep. Then Monday we headed to Coeur D’ Alene (CDA), ID.  This is a gorgeous town.  The town is all right on CDA lake and surrounded by forests of pine trees.

It is not a big town, but it is a gorgeous one.  We met up with our host family, which we got connected with through the church we visited there, Meet Christ the King Lutheran Church.  Their names were Mike and Cindy, and they were a lot of fun.

They are both retired teachers, and they know how to have a good time. Mike has a small bar he built with a friend in his backyard.  It is simply indescribable, so here is a short video.

We hung out and drank some beers there till 11:30 at night and then finally went to bed. The next morning, Tuesday morning was my birthday.  I did not want to call attention to it, but Ryan let our hosts know during breakfast that it was indeed my birthday.  Mike said we should get some fat tire for tonight, and I said half kidding that I would like to get some La Folie.  La Folie is an expensive beer made my new Belgium Brewery in Colorado, which we visited earlier on the trip.  The beer is very sour, and most people do not like it, it actually tastes more like a wine than a beer, but I really enjoy it. The problem is that it is rare, and hard to find, but as soon as I mentioned it, Mike made it his goal for the day to track down that beer.  So sure enough, before we sat down for dinner that night up at upper twin lake, he brought me out a brown paper bag, and he had found one of only 2 bottles of La Folie in all of Northern Idaho.  What a birthday gift!  I drank the whole thing with excitement, but probably too fast, it is a beer that is meant to be drunk slowly. After some La Folie, I kayaked out on the water, and spent some time just observing the beauty there.  I spent some time thanking God for my travels, and for my 26 years of life.  Then I heard some thunder so I hurried into shore, where we enjoyed the rest of the evening with a good ole beach side bonfire.

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