Coeur d'Alene

Hey guys, We're currently in Coeur d'Alene Idaho, which is super pretty but I think I like Missoula better. The lake here is awesome, we had a short ride in yesterday so then we went swimming, some people rented one of those paddle-boat-style water-bike things - do you not get enough of biking on this trip? Maybe not, it is crazy fun. Anyway, lotsa shopping - Brittany, Adrienne, and I bought real skirts (whoa!) that are supercool from Lucky Monkey Trading Co - also Vidya got a dress and later Katy got a skirt. Went to a coffeeshop with Sarah, Anthony, Noam, and Katy, walked around (Bribri left because the coffeeshop was too cold - false), hung out, etc, talked for hours, super-nice chill friendly evening. Beautiful weather. Love watching all of the skiplanes take off from the lake and swoop up immediately to avoid the mountains. Happy birthday yesterday to Jake as well. Happy new-tattoo to Gabe, I'm sure it's on someone's blog and all of our minds: I [BIKE symbol] for you, Paige.

So two days ago was the 'ride' from Superior, MT to Wallace, ID - half of the ride was on the interstate, so the leaders decided that enough riders would be uncomfortable with that and want to get shuttled over the interstate section that they would just scrap the ride entirely and shuttle us all of the way. I would much rather have biked it, but I understand their decision; they are all in a pretty tough place as leaders right now anyway, and I really appreciate them helping us continue on to Seattle. I was really sad to miss biking Lookout Pass though. Watching these sights from the van is no fun at all. Also I am pretty uncomfortable in cars right now; I feel a lot safer on my bike, and I've heard some other riders say the same. Whatevers...Wallace is a pretty dull small town - used to be a silver mining capital...we all took five hour-or-so long naps there...nice...More affordable housing presentations. more of those in Superior, MT as well. Also learned about the Fuller Foundation (formed by Mr. Fuller as an alternative to Habitat for Humanity in the interest of keeping donation money invested locally. Mr Fuller was actually the founder of Habitat but his opinions often differed from board members, causing him to separate from the organization) from a local eating at our dinner table. He was also in the Navy as a pilot for 40 years - flew planes too big to land on aircraft carriers (used for submarine intelligence) so he never actually set foot on a ship during his 40-year tenure.

The ride from Wallace to Coeur d'Alene yesterday was nice - largely on bike paths which was fun - got shuttled over more interstate - really didn't want to miss 4th of July pass either but whatever. We'll actually get to bike mountain passes in the Cascades. Due to the delay in shuttle times, Mallory (who i was riding with) and I had to wait about an hour and a half for the shuttle, so everyone there went crazy with our huge surplus of temporary tattoos (we love those!) and got covered in them. Amy, Olivia, and Sam probably had the most, area-wise, since they were jsut putting on whole sheets. My neck, right arm, both forearms, calves, right shoulder, and lower back all got hit though. Noam had a lightening bolt on her forehead...Harry Potter wooo

Today we were supposed to build with Coeur d'Alene Habitat for Humanity, but they had not yet secured a building permit, so we instead split up and worked in local Habitat Restores - stores that resell donated or discount goods, mostly furniture and construciton supplies. My group worked in the Spokane one, moving cabinets, sorting paint, etc. Fun.