Step into an enchanting world of magical holiday experiences, a snow-kissed floating boardwalk, luxurious accommodations, award-winning dining and a renowned spa. It’s the perfect place to make lifelong memories.
“ Associate Broker
There 208.661.8368 Lea.Williams@SothebysRealty.com 223 E Sherman Ave. Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814 www.DreamHomesIdaho.com
are so many REALTORs® to choose from, how do you pick the right one? Listen to what they say and check out their background. When you do, you will come to the same conclusion that we did...Lea Williams. Lea is a professional that should be the standard for the industry. It’s your choice... choose wisely. Good luck, but whatever you do, interview Lea Williams.” –J. & J. A., Waterfront Home Sellers
It’s been an unusually mild fall season here in our favorite part of the world. As we put this issue together, it still feels strangely like summer. But I, for one, am looking forward to sitting by the fire and enjoying the comforts of hearth and home.
I’m excited for you to bite into this issue, beginning with the story on hearty soups. The Mulligatawny recipe from Chef John Farmer makes me hungry for a bowl, maybe two.
I love the variety of stories about North Idaho. We talk about places to hike with your favorite canine, climb inside some adventure vans and tell you where to soak in some great hot springs.
We are always looking for ways to bring our readers health and happiness, and the story about the therapeutic value of plants hits an exciting note. We also describe ways to stay mobile for life and how pickleball players are more inclined to stick with exercise because of the social aspects of the sport.
You’ll meet tugboat workers towing creative loads, craftspeople and designers making a modern home on the river, and chefs who battle good-naturedly to keep food on the table for hospitality workers in need.
Our company’s John Barlow talks about trekking the Swiss Alps with his daughter Jamie, and we meet Cody Sinclair, who tends to the colorful school of fish that inhabit The Coeur d’Alene Resort lobby and greet those who pass by.
I hope you enjoy this issue of CdA Magazine, the warmth of the coming holidays and the joy of friends and family at home.
Make it a great season,
Schroeder Regional Publisher
ABOUT THE COVER: Rio, a Siberian husky, takes in the view at Mineral Ridge on Lake Coeur d’Alene with owner Cally King.
Photo by Quicksilver Studios.
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 83814 Telephone: 208/664-0219 Fax: 208/765-4263
CdA Coeur d’Alene Magazine is published by The Hagadone Corporation. Opinions expressed by authors and contributors in this issue are not necessarily those of The Hagadone Corporation. All materials in this issue of CdA Magazine are copyrighted and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the written permission of the publisher.
CdA Coeur d’Alene Magazine ©2022
Clint
No matter the reason for your stay, The Best Western Plus Coeur d’Alene Inn is the area’s premier property. Centrally located in Coeur d’Alene, it’s ideal for vacations, meetings, special occasions and business travel. Plus, the affordable, award-winning accommodations simply can’t be beat.
“This curry dish is full of great tastes. It’s easy to make and is a perfect one-bowl meal.”
Chef John Farmer
1 cup yellow onion, diced 6 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons ginger, minced 1 teaspoon turmeric 1 teaspoon curry powder 6 cups chicken broth 4 celery stalks, diced small 11/2 cups of carrots, diced small 2 granny smith apples, cored and diced 1 pound of chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces 1 14-ounce can coconut milk 1 stick of butter 1 cup flour cilantro, craisins, crème fraîche, to garnish
In a large saucepan, add a small amount of butter or oil and sauté the onions, garlic, ginger and celery for 5 minutes. Add turmeric and curry powder and sauté for another two minutes. Add chicken thighs and cook until almost done. Add apples, chicken broth and coconut milk and let simmer for 10 minutes. Now you can readjust your seasonings as desired with more curry and turmeric. Then thicken with a roux. Garnish with cilantro, craisins and crème fraîche and enjoy. Serves 8.
“With flavors all the way from New Orleans, this is a perennial favorite at The Porch and Moontime. It’s extremely spicy and quite delicious.”
2 cups flour
1¾ cup olive oil
¾ tablespoons each of oregano, thyme, chili powder, chili flakes, filé (powdered sassafras leaves), black pepper and salt ¼ tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
6 cloves garlic, chopped fine 4 cups warm chicken stock, preferably homemade 1/2 cup tomato juice 1/2 cup clam juice
1 small yellow onion, chopped 1 stalk celery, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped 1 small red peppers, chopped 2 Anaheim chiles, chopped 1 large tomato, chopped 2 andouille sausages, roasted at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, cooled and cut into chunks
Half a chicken, roasted at 400 degrees for approximately 80 minutes, then cooled and shredded ¾ cup bay shrimp
Combine flour and olive oil in a large stockpot over low heat for approximately 4 hours, stirring regularly to ensure the mixture doesn’t stick or burn. Once it’s reached a dark caramel color, add the spices and garlic. Stir. Remove from the heat and slowly add the warmed stock. Stir until smooth, thoroughly mixing the roux and the liquid. It should be the consistency of a thick pudding. Add the tomato and clam juices. Add the chopped vegetables and roasted andouille. Add more stock or water if the mixture seems too thick. Cook over low heat until vegetables are soft and translucent, about 5 hours. Cool overnight in the refrigerator. To serve, reheat and add shredded chicken and bay shrimp. Taste and adjust for seasonings. Serve over steamed rice or dirty rice. Serves 6.
’
We slowly brown our roux in a roasting pan in the oven, pulling it out occasionally to stir. This method takes a bit longer but requires less vigilance and reduces the chances of burning the roux.
’
“Gluten free and vegetarian, this soup is perfect for the cooler months. As always and especially with soup, play with the flavor and make it your own.”
8 cups peeled & cubed butternut squash
2 cups peeled & cubed garnet yams
1 cup cubed unsalted butter
1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
SOUP BASE:
1 cup diced yellow onion
1 cup diced leek
2 cups unsalted butter
1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground clove
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon each of ground clove, cinnamon, nutmeg & ginger
4 cups vegetable broth
11/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
6 cups vegetable broth
4 cups heavy cream
8 tablespoons cold water
4 teaspoons gluten free cornstarch
Preheat oven to 375°. In a large roasting pan combine the roasted veggie items. Evenly disperse butter. Place in oven uncovered for 45-60 min, stirring every 15. When veggies are nearly fork tender, begin to heat stockpot over med heat. Add butter and melt. Add onions, leeks, salt, pepper and spices. Stir and cook until onions are translucent. Pour vegetables into stockpot. Reduce heat to medium and add lemon juice, brown sugar and remaining broth. In a sauce pot, warm heavy cream over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Turn heat off under soup and use immersion blender or heat-safe blender to puree. Bring soup to light/med boil. Whisk cornstarch and water. Slowly pour in the slurry and combine using wooden spoon. Pour in warm cream, then mix thoroughly. Check taste and add spices or salt as needed. Serves 6.
“You can garnish this soup with so many fun ingredients. Pumpkin seeds, micro-greens, blackened shrimp, tofu…truly get creative and add whatever you like to create a great meal.”
Every dog owner knows that eager look; the one that follows any sentence containing the word “go.” The bounding around, the lunging for the door, the joyful yips. And when that promised outing happens to head for the woods, the pup turns even more ecstatic.
As it turns out, doggy knows best. Hiking or biking with a canine companion has benefits galore for all involved. A walk or a ride in the woods has been proven to elevate mood, calm anxiety, boost immunity and increase antioxidants in the bloodstream.
Meet Maggie the yellow lab, Rio the Siberian husky, Fry the part-Rhodesian ridgeback and Jojo the shepherd mix. Next time you go out, you might see them out with their favorite humans enjoying some of Lake Coeur d’Alene’s best shoreside rambles.
“I love riding bikes and Maggie loves running hard. She’s always wanting to go and it gives us both something fun to do.”
-Berkeley Venn
Rain, shine, mud or snow, this duo is out together every day. Maggie, a yellow lab, waits and watches for the next opportunity to take a trail romp with Berkeley Venn, an electrical foreman for the Lucky Friday mine.
“Getting outside after a long and stressful day at work is the free therapy I need to live a balanced life,” Venn says. “I always look forward to seeing Maggie when I get home and of course she is pumped. We load up and hit the trail every single day, no matter what the conditions are outside, and there have been some questionable conditions throughout the years. At the end of a good ride or hike we are both smiling and happy.”
For a quick shoreside getaway, the pair head for Cougar Bay Nature Preserve, on the lake’s northwestern edge. They also enjoy Canfield, Blue Creek, Mineral Ridge and Caribou Ridge.
“Maggie and I are compatible trail buddies and we love the out-of-doors more than anything,” Venn says. “I love riding bikes and she loves running hard. She’s always wanting to go and it gives us both something fun to do. She has her own backpack to carry her own water and she packs out other people's garbage when we come across it. She’s living proof that a tired dog is a happy dog.”
Cougar Bay Preserve Accessed from Highway 95, about two miles southwest of Coeur d'Alene.
Trailhead is 11 miles east of Coeur d’Alene. Take US-90 east from Coeur d’Alene for eight miles to Wolf Lodge Bay Exit 22, then go south on Highway 97 for three miles.
Cally King, marketing director for Hagadone Marine Group, makes a habit of daily outdoor excursions with her Siberian husky, Rio. Their latest hike leads up the Mineral Ridge Trail, a series of switchbacks through bracken, pine and rock on the northeast shores of Lake Coeur d’Alene.
Pine needles carpet the trail leading off through the trees. Shafts of sunlight peep through the foliage, lighting the forest like cathedral windows. Rio leads up the trail, tail wagging.
“It’s always more fun with Rio,” King says.“She’s the perfect hiking partner. She’s naturally sassy, so we get along great.”
King adopted Rio when the husky was four, and trained her to hike on a leash when needed. “I did my first half marathon in South Carolina in December, and Rio was my training buddy,” King says. “She did very well and was always ready to keep going. There is a half marathon in Oregon that you do with your dog, and it’s definitely on my list.”
Rio wears a big doggy grin that matches Cally’s equally enthusiastic smile. The undergrowth changes as they climb. Ferns thin to wildflowers and grasses, and pines stand stalwart against the wind, seeming to comb the clouds overhead. The air is fresh, and a few raindrops find their way on the wind that ruffles Rio’s gray-and-white coat.
The pair reach the ridgeline, and views of Lake Coeur d’Alene stretch into the distance. A crow rides the updrafts. Shadow and sun dance across wind-ruffled water, a fine reward for their effort to get here.
Greet others with wags and smiles.
Don’t be the person that puts poop in a bag and leaves it on the trail. Clean up after your pup.
Bring plenty of water for you and your dog, and a collapsible drinking bowl is one option.
Take a training class to learn leash walking skills. Ask your vet for training class recommendations. It’s helpful for both dogs and humans. It will improve your hiking experiences and make it easier to get through some of the more difficult trails.
Just go! You don’t have to be a ‘hiker’ to hike with your dog. There are plenty of easy trails close to town. In the heat of summer the trees provide plenty of shade on the trails and you don’t have to worry about concrete burning their paws.
The 3.3-mile trail was the first BLM recreation site developed in Idaho in 1963. In 1982, the trail was designated as a National Recreation Trail and offers an invigorating hike and stunning views of Lake Coeur d'Alene. An interpretive trail guide describes the plants, animals and interrelationships of the forest at stations along the trail. The scenic area has parking that serves as a trailhead and picnic area. There are landscaped turf areas, drinking water, picnic shelters with tables, pit toilets and trash receptacles. All trailhead facilities except the upper picnic shelter are accessible to visitors with disabilities.
- BLMA 2.2-mile interpretive trail follows the perimeter of Tubbs Hill, a 120-acre nature preserve bordered by Lake Coeur d'Alene on the west, south and east sides. Additional trails provide excellent scenery for hikers to enjoy. The trailhead on the west side of Tubbs Hill is located in the southwestern corner of McEuen Park. The east side trailhead is located at the south end of 10th Street. Bicycles, motor vehicles, alcohol, glass containers, smoking, campfires, and fireworks are prohibited. Dogs must be on a leash. Trail brochures are available at the Parks Department office.
- City of CdA
Built in 2014, the 1.2-mile John C. Pointner Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary Trail lies in the 155-acre parcel managed by the BLM, which was acquired in the 2000s from Mr. Pointner, who had dedicated much of his life to preserving the Cougar Bay wetland and protecting the many species of wildlife and birds in the area. His wish was to have the area retained for the public to enjoy and appreciate the natural setting. The nearby loop trail managed by The Nature Conservancy offers an additional one mile of trail. The reward for reaching the highest point is an overlook that offers not only a resting point but spectacular views of Lake Coeur d'Alene.
- BLMLocated within the 736-acre Wallace Forest Conservation Area, the Blue Creek Bay Recreation Site is popular for hiking, mountain biking, picnicking, fishing and boating, and offers access to nearly five miles of trails. The BLM acquired this area from the Jack Forest family in order to provide public access to the lake and to preserve the area's recreational and historical values. The upland forested area is home to a variety of wildlife. A portion of the historic Mullan Road, the first constructed overland wagon route through the Northern Rockies, crosses through the uplands. Completed by hand in 1862, the road connected east of the Continental Divide to Fort Walla Walla, Washington.
- BLM
Coeur d'Alene 170 E Kathleen Ave north40.com
&Tubbs Hill is the place to head for a hike for Carrie Ann McCleary and her dog Fry. Working from home as an insurance underwriter, the longtime local is able to spend lots of time with her dog, which is her favorite hobby. “He’s my shadow,” she says. “And he’s helped me through a lot.”
Fry, a crossbreed of pit bull and Rhodesian ridgeback, was just a pup when McCleary’s husband found him at the side of a highway. “We think he was meant for us,” she says.
Another favorite destination for the pair is English Point, in any season. The flat terrain makes it a favorite winter spot when other steeper trails are treacherous, and the trees make summer heat more bearable.
“I feel like there are two types of hikes with dogs,” McCleary says. “The first that focuses on speed and getting them tired out, and the second that lets them stop and sniff. I like the second because I know that that’s how dogs take in their world, and it’s how their brains work. It also gives me a space to just be in nature and relax.”
Jessica Hoover, a healthcare professional, rejoiced when she found Jojo, a shepherd mix, after tragically losing her previous dog in a house fire. “I was ready for a new fur baby and hiking partner,” she says.
Accessed
She and Jojo prefer meandering hikes of exploration. “I always take my camera to capture bits of beauty along the trail, or find a place to sit and share a snack with Jojo and just enjoy being unplugged and spending quality time together outside,” Hoover says.
When she’s not on a solo ramble, she also appreciates hiking with friends and other dogs, an opportunity for both canines and humans to socialize.
“My favorite time of the year to hike Tubbs is in the spring when the vegetation is fresh and green and the glacier lilies are blooming,” she says.
Tubbs Hill Park and Nature Trail
from the southwestern corner of McEuen Park, at 210 S. 3rd Street in Coeur d'Alene.
“Enjoying nature with Jojo brings us both joy.”
You roll out of town, excitement in the very act. “The gladdest moment in human life is a departure into unknown lands,” said Sir Richard Burton, and you agree. By tonight, with any luck at all, you will be up to your neck in hot sulfurous water under a starry sky.
Your first stop is Quinn’s Hot Springs Resort, looking decidedly more resort-y since your last visit years ago. You say your name, and Jeanette at the front desk replies with those magic words: “We have you booked in a riverfront cabin.”
Your companion’s eyes widen. All summer she’s been hearing how hard it is to get into Quinn’s. She makes a purr of pleasure, inspecting every room. “Quite civilized,” she says. Yes, you smile, donning your posh fluffy robe, and walking from your cabin across to the hot spring. With a choice of pools between 100 and 106 degrees you wade straight into bliss. Civilized indeed.
inner might be a bison tenderloin with sautéed mushrooms and garlic mashed potatoes at Harwood House. After dinner you dip again, the fellow soakers in a festive mood. In a hot spring you can make instant friends if you choose. Or you can just float serenely amid wisps of conversation. Tonight the Texans are talking about food.
Back to the cabin, then, the porch swing, the immense quiet dark, the river flowing invisible, the big agreeable bed… The sleep after a mineral soak, it turns out, is profound.
It would be splendid to stay here in this robe and let the world pass you by. But instead you follow the Clark Fork River north, through rolling hills and the home of the Salish and Kootenai tribes, to the quirky, jumbled charms of Hot Springs, Montana where the faded sign beckons you to “Limp In, Leap Out.”
You open the creaky front door of Camas Organic Market. “Look at this place!” your companion says. It’s a treasure trove of herbs and healthy foods that smells wonderfully of baked goods. The little cafe in the back makes amazing fare. Who knew this existed?
Now to the Symes Hotel, where you pay your 10 bucks apiece and climb into 107-degree mineral soup with a family of Ukranians and a hyperbolic hotel guest. “I once caught a fish this long, kid, and that’s just measuring between the eyeballs.” You towel off, smelling sulfuric, in a happy daze from the heat. You check in at Alameda’s Hot Springs Retreat, watching the cloud shadows roll across Rattlesnake Butte.
Nearby, Big Medicine Hot Springs is as simple and wonderful a soak as can be, in artesian hot water full of carbonates, bicarbonates, iron, magnesium, lithium, arsenic and silica from the deep geothermal Camas aquifer below. Your cost to soak all day is $5, placed into a metal box on the honor system.
The Q'lispé and the Séliš bathed here in their migrations eastward from the coast. Then the trappers, miners and ranchers came west and found relief. Imagine walking or riding for days, in blustery weather, then soaking the aches and pains away. People still come here for those reasons. Chris, a balneologist who studies the therapeutic use of mineral waters, tells you the 21-day soaking cure works for all sorts of ills.
Here comes Rose, who keeps this hot spring, enforcing strict rules of conduct. She checks everything out with a sharp eye and without a word hops into her pickup again. As the shadows lengthen, you walk to Rose’s other soaking pool, pay another 5 bucks each and slip into the water where four local musicians are talking about their trade.
You nod and smile, mellowed by the viscosity of the waters and the stickiness of time. Each moment lasts slightly longer out here, relieving the weight of chronophobia, if only for a little while. After a simple dinner by lamplight in your cottage, you take your fifth soak of the day, your private tub warmed with Mother Earth’s elixirs. Again, it’s a knockout sleep in which the dreams are sweet. Perhaps the cure is working already.
Next morning’s plunge is at Wild Horse Hot Springs, where you gaze over the wetlands to the farther hills. A friend told you he’d found something neat up there. “Happened on a great vantage point with all these flakes of debitage left from making an arrow. Someone sat up there and kept an eye out for dinner while he worked.”
Wild Horse Hot Springs
Balneology is the practice of treating and preventing disease through the use of natural mineral hot springs water.
Hot Springs are thought to help with blood circulation, hypertension, nervous imbalances and atherosclerosis.
Sulfur-rich hot springs are thought to help treat dry scalp, arthritic pain and internal problems such as menopausal symptoms and digestive disorders.
Hot springs help your body relax, which benefits many aspects of your health, including sleeping patterns and nutrient assimilation. Hot springs also help increase the range of motion of your muscles and joints.
Bathing repeatedly in hot springs can help tone your autonomic nervous system and normalize your endocrine system, as well as release toxins in your body through sweating.
Some proponents believe that iron content in hot springs, along with other trace minerals, might help build your body’s immune system, making it stronger and more able to fight infections.
The way leads across the Camas Prairie and along the Flathead River past the National Bison Range. You pass through Alberton and down Petty Creek, where signs warn of a Primitive Road Ahead, and you drift the gravel curves with a grin. Off Highway 12 is Lolo Hot Springs and a hotel that sometimes lets travelers soak for $10 per person. Today you have it to yourselves.
You continue on, taking one curve after the next through a tunnel of trees, the river a constant and dazzling compadre. You bed down at the Lochsa Lodge, but before you do, you hike up a rushing stream through a cedar forest to a wild spring. Sitting in warmth among those giant stones next to that river is indescribably sublime.
The next morning your quest continues among tall cedars along another cold mountain stream, the steamy air appearing at last. You crawl with gratitude into the metalliferous embrace as the sun slants through the canyon and your fellow soakers speak gently and the river murmurs below…
You are happy beyond belief. You contemplate the unmeasurable distance this water has traveled, the radioactive power of the molten rock that first made it boil. “Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice,” said Will Durant. The vast mechanism continues to turn, with or without us, and that is a beautiful realization.
But you must leave this wild hot place, these pungent streams, and return to the road, through small and tidy farm and timber towns rarely in the news — Julietta, Kendrick, Deary, Emida — until Lake Coeur d’Alene hoves into view and just like that, you’ve returned. But never quite completely.
“I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world,” wrote Mary Anne Radmacher. And you, too, after following old tracks through even older landscapes, having bathed firsthand in the planet's fiery blood; you are somehow different than before.
Sitting in warmth among giant stones next to that river is indescribably sublime.
THESE PLANT PROS REALLY BRIGHTEN THE WORLD AROUND THEM
Amy is a talented grower and designer and Alex operated small restaurants. They met while managing local organic farms, and created Fern Plant Shop in 2019 with a mission to enchant their community with the magic of plants. Their favorite part of Fern has become the joy that comes from people making their homes, businesses and lives more beautiful with plants.
“OUR INTEREST IN PLANTS STEMS FROM OUR CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES in nature and the love our families had for growing plants. We both had fun exploring, digging in the dirt and discovering the seemingly endless amount of magical things happening above and below the soil. We each have fond memories of our grandmothers' indoor plants and gardens. We now love all of the creative opportunities plants offer us.”
“WE FIND A PLANT CALLED RHIPSALIS PARTICULARLY FASCINATING. A moistureloving succulent-like plant that vines. Each strand will fractal, splitting into many more strands that split as well. They will grow long, light and hang effortlessly with beautiful negative space between their strands. We use them frequently in our creative plant designs.”
“HAVING A LIVING PLANT NEARBY HAS A CALMING EFFECT. We hear from our customers all the time that caring for plants helps them relax after a stressful day. Counselors and therapists tell us plants are a successful tool for their clients to overcome personal struggles. They speak of the grounding effect from living plants, and how watching plants develop helps a person to see they, too, can change and grow.”
“JUST A FEW PLANTS CAN CHANGE THE FEEL OF ANY SPACE. We help our customers find the perfect match of a plant to their rooms, as well as finding the pot to match the decor. We use our professional growing experience to help guide the design process so you leave with a plant and pot that will make your place pop with life.”
“Identify where you’d like to place a plant. Note the type of light in that space throughout the day. Ask a shop like ours to find a plant that will thrive there. Some plants prefer bright light while many others enjoy less light.”
“Ensure the plant stays above 50 degrees and below 95 degrees. Make sure no hot or cold air is directly blowing on foliage which could cause damage to leaves.”
“Provide your plant with even moisture and then some time to dry out before applying water again. Overwatering is what causes most indoor plants to struggle or die. Push your finger into the soil. If there is moisture at the surface, do not add more.”
“Put your plant in large enough pots with healthy nutrient-balanced soil. Plants need room to spread their roots and nutrients to carry out cellular division and photosynthesis.”
“Plant care can be quite simple if you take a hands-off approach. Plants really only need you to set the right conditions and give them some loving nudges along the way.”
“I’VE ENJOYED BEING OUTDOORS WITH MY HANDS IN THE DIRT ever since I was young. Mother Nature is a true wonder and provides an abundance of material to play with. Being a florist, I love creating visual joy with plants and their flowers.”
“FROM BUD TO BLOOM TO SEED POD, I find it particularly enchanting to use various stages of each plant's life cycle in my designs when possible. It grew its whole life to be special and I don’t want its purpose to be lost in the compost pile. By using flowers in their various stages, it also creates a design that continues to adapt over time. I like to have visual interest when the arrangement arrives and have it continue to bloom and grow. The design should evolve and look great for many days.”
“Everyone knows and loves the big names like peonies, dahlias, zinnias and chrysanthemums. But I like to use flowers that are out of the ordinary, too; flowers that you can’t normally find at the market. They can be full of intricate detail, alluring aromas and sensational colors. Bee balms, feverfew, scabiosa, nigella, smoke bush, ageratum, marigold, strawflower, safflower, lisianthus, calendula, sweet pea and black-eyed susan are just a few. I also love letting my herbs go to seed. Dill, oregano, thyme and basil all have fabulous flowers that look great in arrangements as well as smelling fantastic.”
“FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS ARE MEANT TO BE ENJOYED IN THE MOMENT. They are visually and emotionally pleasing, yet fleeting. Using locally grown flowers, I can highlight the seasonality of the area and provide designs that last longer than most.”
Murphy came to Idaho’s Silver Valley in search of the perfect ski bum town. She has a degree in interior design, but found she loves the outdoors and plants more. She started her own business, Sol & Serre, in order to be closer to her aging dog, Irie. Now Irie and her other dog Oatmeal are regulars at her shop. She delivers most of her own floral orders, with her dogs along for the ride.
“I SOURCE AS MUCH LOCALLY AS I CAN, even though our growing season is short. The environmental footprint and volume of plastics and pesticides used in the floral industry is daunting. By growing and buying locally I reduce all those factors dramatically, and also have pristine plants and blooms that last much longer in the vase. I grow a small amount of product at my home and community garden plots, and I buy from two wonderful local ladies here in the Silver Valley. Nadine and Keri produce show-stopping blooms that wow my clients every time.”
HOW A DOG LAUNCHED A BRAND
tearns and his crew logged hundreds of hours cutting new trails and constructing an endurocross-style course on top of the mountain. The race had bronze, silver and gold courses of varying levels of difficulty. The two-day format featured a qualifying prologue and a “Funduro” Saturday race which gave riders a shortened taste of the Sunday main race course.
Rain throughout the weekend made the Silver Kings course even more slick and the melting snow on the mountain resulted in high levels of runoff in the creek sections.
“You could have rain, snow or fog at any minute,” Stearns says. “Sunshine the next. It’s a big mountain and that’s what makes
it such an experience. You’re battling the ferocity of nature and the slick, steep terrain. There is so much vertical. The mountain is a massive canvas. It’s unlimited what we can do here.”
The gates opened and the riders went out with a roar. The rain started, but nobody seemed to care. Spectators were slipping and sliding, hollering encouragement. Bikes came to a stop on the impossibly steep slopes and fell backward. Riders got up and pushed on, not giving up. When the course got tough, the riders got tougher.
“I wrestled all the way through high school,” says a man in camo, one of the course officials. “And this sport? This is twice as hard.”
"I grew up skiing here,” says Drew Henley of Coeur d’Alene, riding in A Class. “How great it is that now we can ride our dirt bikes on this mountain.”
“Pretty tough,” is about all 14-year-old Niko Piazza of Coeur d’Alene has to say, his face blotched with mud. He’s riding the race for the first time on his Husqvarna 150TE.
Drew Henley
Niko Piazza
”This is a CRAZY race, but so much fun. It’s such a great venue and the whole town comes out to cheer you on. What a hoot!“
Jillian Kings Columbia Valley, B.C
Competitors need to be masters of many trades. A typical hard enduro course will require the skills normally associated with trials, motocross and classic enduro.
With rocky and steep courses, the competitors have to be hard-wearing and resilient. They also need to be fit, so a lot of riders will go to the gym or cycle, but as 2019 world champion Manuel “Mani” Lettenbichler says, being on the bike is the best form of training. “I wanted to do more riding in my training, so three years ago, I changed it up. In hard enduro you have to ride different styles, so I will train on a motocross track, I ride trials, I ride classic and extreme enduro. It makes you a better all-rounder. I’m a big mountain bike fan, it’s my second passion, and it’s good for cardio. I do a little bit of gym work in the summer; you can’t do nothing – you always have to work out a little bit.”
Paul Bolton, experienced enduro rider and series commentator, also added that understanding the bike is essential to being a good enduro rider as well: “You need to have mechanical sympathy, whilst riding as smooth as possible. You need to know when the bike is suffering and look after your tires because you need a good edge on your tire to get up the last climb. If it’s been shredded, it could ruin your race. It's all about preserving the body and preserving the bike and your energy. I used to say that if I dropped my bike twice in a day that was it, there was no chance of a podium. One little spill is ok, but you burn so much energy picking the bike up that it costs you.”
~Red Bull Hard Enduro World Championship Guide
n the pro race, North Idaho’s own Colton Haaker kept the pressure on Keith Curtis all day Sunday, the two finishing just 38 seconds apart.
Curtis, who is a seven-time King of Kings snow climb champion, clinched round six of the AMA Hard Enduro Series with his win at Silver Mountain.
“Silver Kings made for an incredible time racing big-mountain terrain on Silver Mountain,” says Curtis, who rode a Sherco SE 300 two-stroke. “The course was super technical, especially at the beginning. I was battling with a group early on in the big hill climbs. We had to side-hill at times. The scree fields seemed endless and would take everything you had. After checkpoint one, Colton and I began to pull a gap on the field. I know how good of a rider he is, so I just had to keep plugging away as mistake-free
as possible. I was stoked to pull it together for the big win.”
In the women’s pro race, Morgan Tanke was first across the finish line in her Factory 300 RR.
“The Silver Kings Hard Enduro did not disappoint,” Tanke says. “The course was super tough and the rain definitely didn’t make it any easier. I did well in the prologue giving me a good starting position for the main race. The race course progressively got harder and harder throughout the day with a lot of riders causing some bottlenecks. Slick rocks, tree roots, grass, and steep climbs made up a lot of the silver course. Throughout the day I had to team up with other riders just to get our bikes through some of the gnarly terrain. I made it as far as I could with the allotted time and am happy to come away with the win and
the West Hard Enduro Championship.”
At the awards ceremony, Stearns handed out some epic handmade trophies and oversized prize checks, and the winners posed with a medieval sword held high while fire shot out of the stage.
“Our goal was to make this the most premier experience in North America,” he said. “We want people to go back and tell their friends and family that it was incredible. If you want to have an adventure, if you want to be released into the wild onto a big, big mountain, this is it.”
“The course was super tough and the rain didn’t make it any easier.”Men Keith Curtis Colton Haaker Tim Apolle Women
For a long time, this place has been home to small boats and tough men. These hard working tugboats plied Lake Coeur d’Alene, pushing and pulling loads of logs, their chug-chug-chugging through the morning mist a signature part of the scene. Today, their payloads have changed to docks, cranes and even fire houses, but these robust craft and crew are still a familiar and welcome sight.
"
As the industries have changed, so have the roles of those that provide the necessary services. The men and machinery have had to adapt to the ever-changing environments and it is a testament to their discipline and ingenuity that they have done so. Our crews operate on a full-time, year-round schedule and use the different seasons to advantage to complete projects of a variety of scopes.
— John Condon, North Idaho Maritime "
Coeur d’Alene Fire Station #5, a floating garage for fire boats, was built in Wolf Lodge Bay and towed to its new home at Third Street Marina next to Tubbs Hill. This is one of North Idaho Maritime’s latest noteworthy projects, in collaboration with Verdis Construction and others. As with all worthwhile endeavors, it has proven to be somewhat challenging but greatly rewarding.
“This build involved cooperation with many people and agencies and the end result is something the whole community can be proud of,” Condon says. “It’s a fitting testament to the vision of our recently retired fire chief Kenny Gabriel. It’s his pet project and we are proud to have helped provide something of value to our community.”
I bought my van after I started a new job that required a lot of travel and it made sense to pay off a van instead of paying for hotel stays.
It was partially built when I got it, and it was a high quality setup from Sports Mobile. It had low miles, a shower stall, L tracks, electrical, paneling, and swiveling seats, but the majority of the van was empty and ready to be built.
I purchased it in 2018, so it was pre-pandemic and vans were a bit easier to get. Even then though, finding something like this was pretty rare. A buddy who had a bunch of experience with Sprinters found this one and sent me the listing.
For a stock van body, having a shower and toilet is pretty rare. There is some modularity too; the refrigerator can be pulled out and used in a car or truck, and the stove and kitchen cabinet can be easily moved outside. I also used a full size mattress like you'd have in your home, and it's super comfortable.
I’ve taken my van all over the West Coast, Idaho, Montana and a little bit of B.C. It's been a great mix of city areas and very remote zones. I use the van predominately for work trips, but since I have room for all the toys I can go out before or after work and enjoy the local trails or backcountry.
I volunteered at the Transcascadia mountain bike race in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest a couple years ago. It was raining and snowing for most of the eight-day trip, and we were out riding bikes all day every day. Coming back to camp and having a 70-degree van to dry out my gear in and prep for the next day was incredible. A couple years ago my girlfriend and I drove to Tahoe for a wedding and then camped our way back up the coastlines of California and Oregon. We rode bikes in the redwoods and out in the desert, watched the whales and explored a bunch of beaches. Ultimately, just having the ability to choose where you sleep and haul all your work and play stuff allows for a lot of flexibility. You always have your garage with you.
I really like the trips where you have summer and winter activities happening back to back, maybe even on the same day. Every year I go to Bend for a meeting in the spring; after the meetings we ride bikes, dirt bike, ski and usually camp out in the desert. Hitting a powder day at Bachelor, followed by mountain biking in perfect dirt that afternoon is pretty spectacular. We always get out for a round of Nordic skiing, and maybe some touring.
It becomes a bit of a game to see how many different things you can pack into the trip. I'll swing into Boise for a week of work on the way home from Bend, ride bikes a couple of the evenings, and then continue to Ketchum sometimes and do the same routine but go ski touring after hours. It might be a 14-day trip, but you come home with two months worth of memories and dirty clothes.
Diesel heater tapped into the fuel tank.
300 watts of solar panels and custom racks to mount them.
Ladder for clearing snow off the roof.
A Trail Kitchen with a stove, storage, sink and self-contained water system. This doubles as a shower head for inside or outside showers. It has a table that folds out of the sliding side door, and the stove and cabinet can be moved outside and is free standing with countertop space for cooking.
A fabricated steel platform that bolts into the track system and forms the bed platform and garage bulkhead.
Modern power inverter and shore power charger, 120-volt outlets, USB charging and LED interior lighting.
ARB air compressor under the hood for airing down the tires for rough roads or inflating bike tires.
10-ply off-road tires that help the van go to a lot more places than you'd think.
Light pods for backroads at night; these are essential for traveling in deer and elk country with a heavy vehicle that takes more time to stop.
This Van Life made a custom magnetic insulated fabric partition that encloses the bed area. It keeps the bugs, rain and snow off the bedding while getting bikes and skis in and out. It adds extra privacy and helps to regulate the temperature.
Like a lot of folks in the Northwest, I am a huge outdoor recreation enthusiast. A van that is comfortable inside, is reasonably efficient, and nimble enough to fit in a regular parking space or get up a country road opens up a lot of recreation opportunities. I have a lot of nice gear that I would prefer to carry inside rather than on the back or roof of the vehicle. In addition, my partner does not share the same zeal for early morning missions that I do, so the van allows us to drive out the night before and cut out the 5am adventure commute.
When I was in my early twenties, I had a 1970 VW Westy that I puttered all around the Inland Northwest and British Columbia in. It was rusty, crusty and slow, but it was a magic carpet that helped transport me to my B.C. powder Shangri-La. I once had to pull out my shoe laces to tie to the windshield wipers during a blizzard while trying to get to the Red Mountain job fair (the border guards loved that one). When it was time to “grow up” and get a more reliable vehicle, the first generation Mercedes Sprinter vans were just starting to turn up in the U.S. They were way out of my price range at the time, so I went the more predictable route and got an old Toyota truck instead. I always told myself that when I got into a van again, I would get one of those Sprinters. I would finally be able to realize my dream of putting on my pants while standing up. Fast forward 17 years; I’m still driving that same Toyota, and the Sprinters are finally rusty and crusty enough for me to afford- so I got one!
Coordinator, Outdoor Pursuits, North Idaho College
I shopped around on the usual internet trading sources. There was a lot to choose from at the time (spring of 2020). A lot of the first generation Sprinters were fleet vehicles that were at retirement age, so it wasn’t too hard. Apparently there were a lot of folks who had the same idea in the beginnings of the pandemic, so I’m glad I got it when I did. There aren’t that many out there now, and they are a lot more expensive.
It was an old delivery van, so pretty ordinary. That model has standing headroom, has a reputation for going half a million miles, and gets 25mpg. Additionally, it does not have the same emissions maintenance requirements that more modern diesels have. Emissions are important to me, but I ride a bicycle to work every day and only use the van for adventures so I feel ok about that. One also has to consider the environmental impact of rescuing an old vehicle rather than buying a new one.
I had to fix some rust in the floorboards before even getting started. These old vans were imported by Dodge and in an effort to keep them from competing with American-made fleet vehicles too much, they gave them less-than-stellar paint jobs (or so the legend goes). A lot of them are completely rusted out.
Once that was done I got to work on the interior. I’m a sailor, and took a lot of inspiration from classic yachts. It’s insulated and paneled with beautiful varnished cedar and painted shiplap. I also installed marine hatches in the roof for ventilation, solar panels, refrigerator, lithium power system, and a compact sink and galley with water on a foot pump.
There’s a fixed bed the full width of the van with a garage for all my toys, and a dinette with movable table, and the pièce de résistance: a small wood stove designed for sailboats. We kept the bulkhead and door that separated the old cargo area from the cab, so when you are inside and it is closed, no one can tell that the lights are even on. My old VW lit up like a glow-worm when the pop-top was up and everyone knew exactly what was going on. The Sprinter is a lot more low-key. The build took over a year, but we have already taken it to the Oregon Coast for surfing and exploring, Walla Walla, Washington to park outside the hospital window when my wife’s grandmother was passing from COVID, and to a handful of regattas around the area for some sailboat racing. We are looking forward to returning to British Columbia for some ski adventures this winter.
We love being parked by the beach on the Oregon Coast, taking bikes into Manzanita for tacos and snuggling up with a toasty glow from the fireplace while the rain patters against the skylights. I run a college outdoor program for work, and have spent a lot of cold and soggy nights on the road. Sleeping in this thing feels like a fancy cabin wherever you go. That trip felt like a second honeymoon.
I wake up early and creep quietly out of bed into the galley, then fire up the stove to make coffee for my co-captain. I kicked the habit last year, but I enjoy the daily ritual and love starting the day doing something nice for her. I grab my gear (surfboard, mountain bike, splitboard etc…) that I laid out the night before and slip out the front door. The passenger seat folds up in the delivery van, so I use the cab as a staging area/ foyer so I don’t disturb my sleeping beauty. I slip away to enjoy a rip at the break/trailhead/slope that we are parked picturesquely in front of. When I return, she is wandering around the dunes with the coffee I brewed for her in hand, noticing far more detail in the birds and flowers than I ever will, greeting me with a smile. We whip up some brunch, usually fruit and fresh pastries from the last mountain town, then go for a hike or ride together. By mid-afternoon, it’s time to stow-for-sea and roll on to the next spot, stopping at one of the many world famous Northwest breweries for dinner. We don’t drink very much anymore, but still enjoy a craft beverage with a good meal, and love the atmosphere in these places. After dinner we trundle out to the next trailhead or break, wondering what lies beyond the blackness on either side of the unfamiliar dirt road we are on. Or if it is even the right road to begin with. When we get there, we crawl into the back, light a fire in the stove and share a piece of chocolate while we read to each other or fall asleep watching a Wes Anderson movie on the iPad.
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If you simply pay attention, inspiration can be everywhere.
while Nick Forsberg traveled the world, he admired design: That cool-looking wall in the airport lounge, the soaring lobby of an international hotel, the way a bar in Bali was lit.
Now he is able to put those far-flung visions into practice, to design and build something exceptional. Like this brand-new home on the Spokane River, winner of best curb appeal, best interior and best use of innovation at the 2022 NIBCA Parade of Homes. From floor to lofty ceilings, this house glows with creativity.
Exhibiting wood, stone and light, this modern design celebrates old-school craftsmanshipWith its clean and simple lines, high metal and glass walls, carefully curated furnishings and art, this is a home built with people in mind, where one occupant or many can find a place to cook, to read, to converse and to dream.
Nick, co-owner of Atlas Building Group, reflects, “In my travels I have always gravitated toward art and design. Being able to create, to build those ideas into a house that someone will live in for a long time is a pretty special thing.”
The front door swings open, ten feet tall by four feet wide, welcoming you inside. The lights gleam off of natural materials shaped by talented hands. You feel you have been transported somehow to a sleek and elegant destination resort. But you are right here in North Idaho, with pine trees, sky and flowing river framed in the big windows, the best of all worlds.
“We like big open living areas,” Forsberg says. “When people walk in, it’s that grand first look that says, ‘Wow, that’s cool.’ A gathering space for good times.”
“I love these towering rooflines and beautiful decks, where you can entertain upstairs and downstairs all year long,” says interior designer Martita Jara-Ferrer. “Even when the snow is falling, you have this beautiful fire pit and you can be sitting here with a blanket watching the snow fall and you’re protected from the elements. It’s gorgeous.”
"Architecture is the learned game, correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light."
> Le Corbusier
There are triumphs of design and build ingenuity everywhere you look: lofty 27-foot ceilings, the huge corner window, certainly the fireplace wall in cool black porcelain and warm wood niches, lit to perfection. That wall becomes a focal point for the home. Its mirror finish reflects the river at times, sunlight at others.
Nick and his business partner, Kenny Debaene, had many discussions about how to create something different on this large, empty canvas.
“We looked at that large wall with all that tile, and decided to do something different there,” he says. “A lot of modern houses can seem cold, and so adding the wood tones of something like black walnut brings a richness and warmth.”
And then there is the lighting, for every setting and situation. Uplighting, downlighting and beautifully modern pendants and chandeliers. Adding to the flavor is a dashing set of furnishings from Dania Furniture, which are sleek but also supremely comfortable.
For Martita, who grew up cooking with her mama and once appeared on the Food Network cooking alongside Giada De Laurentiis and Bobby Flay, kitchens and food are a big part of life. And so she appreciates the indoor/ outdoor kitchen with an amazing passthrough awning window, the massive kitchen island in dark granite with the waterfall edge, the large countertop and prep spaces and top-flight appliances.
The dining table is a gorgeous slab of black walnut, shaped by woodworker extraordinaire Jack Sanborn. He crafted the adjacent wine rack designed to mimic a specific molecular structure. The stairs, also fashioned by Sanborn in walnut, float up to a solid wood landing with intertwined black epoxy, all of it functional art, wonderfully displayed.
“Try to think about each person as an individual. What is their life like outside of work? Ideally, leadership is not grinding people down. It’s stopping to talk to people about their role and how they’re doing. Making sure they take a break when they need it. Always strive to make sure people you collaborate with are enjoying their lives. It’s a very short life, and what are we doing with it? Ideally we are present in the moment, whether it’s working, playing or being with family and friends. Taking time to appreciate the fact that we are alive; time to ponder the deeper meaning of things.”
- Nick Forsberg"We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us."
> Winston Churchill
The wow factor continues in the master suite, where a wood feature winds up the wall and over the bed. It’s a win that defines the room. The bathroom, done in black porcelain contrasted by the tones of Zebrano wood, has a wet room with a freestanding tub atop a bed of river rocks.
“You feel like you’re in a luxury spa in a luxury hotel, and it’s a great way to start or end your day very serenely,” Martita says.
> Frank Gehry"Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness."
elegant simplicity intentional asymmetry large, unadorned windows open concept floor plan neutral color palette natural materials heightened form & function no unnecessary frills
Architects and designers continue to push the envelope and reimagine how we live by using tight angles mixed with curved surfaces, floor-to-ceiling picture windows and innovative design. Contemporary living adheres to a few principles that define its simple aesthetic: open-floor plans, clean lines, minimal clutter, and a neutral color palette. These elements are key to a serene and sophisticated lifestyle, and general wisdom says that when you elevate your home, you elevate your life.
> Architectural Digest
The upstairs holds guest bedrooms, one with a superb view that looks straight through the great room space out to the river. And a less formal seating and entertaining area, perhaps a place where movies are watched and popcorn is enjoyed.
Looking down from here, one sees that this is very much an entertainer’s home. Guests will enjoy gathering and those lucky enough to stay overnight will wake up to views of the river through the large open spaces. “Maybe you smell the coffee from your bed, or even chocolate chip pancakes in the kitchen,” Martita says. “That’s your alarm!”
Nick, who grew up in North Idaho, once traveled weekly at the corporate level, consulting with building material companies.
“When you travel that much and stay in various parts of the world, there’s a lot of really cool modern hotels out there that inspire good ideas,” he says. “You walk in and behind the desk there’s a fancy wall; you think, ‘How could we incorporate that?’”
“When it comes to my approach to design, I’m not a trendy girl; instead, I like to keep things timeless and classic. After nearly two decades working with luxury home interiors, and for a number of wonderful clients including celebrities and athletes, I have to say that earning the trust and love of my clients is still the greatest reward. Everything begins and ends at home. It’s where we do life, make memories, entertain, fight and love. Our home is our sanctuary. It’s my job to make it the perfect place to do all of that.”
- Martita Jara-Ferrer
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"Architecture, of all the arts, is the one which acts the most slowly, but the most surely, on the soul."
> Ernest Dimnet
trained in Six Sigma, a protocol used to identify weaknesses and improve the lean manufacturing process; it focuses on a use less, do more mentality. For Nick, as an ownerleader, that means being efficient, but still making sure people enjoy their lives.
He’s
And when all that creativity and hard work comes together, it’s fun to step inside the home, turn on the evening lights, and just enjoy the moment, for a little while.“Houses like this, when you’re truly proud of it, make me happy,” he says. “This one is spectacular to see at night when it takes on a whole new life. This place just glows.”
HE’S BUILT ALL KINDS OF THINGS OUT OF ALL KINDS OF WOOD, BUT HIS VERY FIRST PROJECT WAS EXTRA SPECIAL. It was a crib for his firstborn child, made lovingly of redwood.
That crib turned out well and he enjoyed the process. So Jack Sanborn kept trying his hand at new things made of natural materials. He turned out a few sets of patio chairs for friends and family, using reclaimed oak staves from wine barrels. Then other clients wanted them and he was in business.
“I like the idea of renewable things,” he says. “Of taking something that already exists, and turning it into something new, something functional.”
His scope of work grew to include built-in furnishings and accent pieces. A longtime friendship with Nick Forsberg, co-owner of Atlas Building Group, led to eye-catching custom installations that have earned him quite a reputation.
“Jack is a true master of his craft,” Forsberg says. “He can elevate the everyday to the extraordinary.”
In a recent Parade of Homes award winner, Sanborn created wall niches, a wine rack, stairs and staircase landing out of black walnut. The home’s pièce de résistance is a stunning fireplace hearth of black walnut and epoxy, a science lab project on a massive scale. All of it had a high degree of difficulty and risk-reward, and much of the installation had to be completed at night when construction was not going on.
“Jack is one of those people you just love to work with,” says Martita Jara-Ferrer, interior design artist. “Even though he’s very talented, he doesn’t have an ego. His work becomes such a big part of any home he touches.”
Of all the things Sanborn has made, one of his most impressive achievements is building his own home in the North Idaho countryside. He bought five acres in 2013 and started chipping away. He put in a road, then hired out the foundation work and started framing. Two years later he and his family were moving in.
“To juggle all this with the business took its toll,” he says. “I’d attend the kids’ events after school and then spend a late night out here, a lot of late nights. Fortunately with my wife and kids we are a great team.”
Today he has an enviable setup: A shop and home combo with the shop on the ground floor, something he’s always wanted. The barn-style home has cedar shake and Montana stone accents. There’s a big yard and garden, and a gym out back of the shop. Everything you see he built from the ground up, a modern-day pioneer.
As one might expect, there are neatly stacked piles of many varieties of wood. Over there is a load of redwood burls, the big knobby growth found at the base of the trees. They were left alone, attached to the stump, back in the day by loggers who didn’t want to bother with them and just wanted the tree above. Now Sanborn’s supplier has a permit to pull those stumps out of old forests and mill them. The grain inside is exquisite, a treasure that’s been overlooked all these years.
“I’ve been doing this long enough that I can see what’s in there, waiting to be revealed,” Sanborn says.“You might look at a piece of wood and think, ‘That belongs in a slash pile, burn it.’ But when you cut into it, and especially when you start sanding on it, it becomes a beautiful piece of wood. With hours and hours of work, it will come alive.”
Like any artist, he’s constantly doubting the results. There he is, in a new home late at night after everyone else has gone home, putting each of those walnut stairs painstakingly into place. “Will they look alright?” he wonders.“I don’t think you ever know and are satisfied until people show up and it works.”
He’s a one-man shop, and he likes it that way. He’s not on social media, and he’s not out peddling his wares. He’s doing exactly what he should be doing. Now he has time, that most valuable of commodities, to spend with his wife Kerinsa, a teacher, and his son Jaxson and daughter Imogen, athletes and scholars. He has time to dream up his next innovation.
“I want to build things that haven’t been done,” he says. “Things I haven’t seen before. To get as creative as I can but to keep it functional. Whether it’s building a small patio chair or a major custom project, I’m just happy to be busy and to have people enjoy it.”
“I’VE BEEN DOING THIS LONG ENOUGH THAT I CAN SEE WHAT’S IN THERE, WAITING TO BE REVEALED.”
I happen to feel that way just now, minutes after walking out of my stretching session with a friendly flexologist named Mason.
I stumbled upon StretchLab, where Mason works, in a quest to find out how mobile I could become. There I chatted with the owner Jaimee Cox, a fitness instructor and runner, who practices what she preaches.
“As often as we move and challenge our bodies with weight training, running, hiking and you name it, we also need to recover well,” Cox says. “I make it a priority to personally get stretched weekly because I always feel better. It helps with stress management and some of my best runs and workouts come afterwards.”
So I up and booked my own weekly sessions with Mason Call, the lead stretch therapist. Before we started, he tested me on their movement assessment program named MAPS, a sort of in-house kinesiology lab. “It monitors multiple variables throughout that allows us to personalize sessions and track your progress,” he explains.
Facing the MAPS screen, I was instructed to squat as deeply as possible with my hands overhead. I did this two times more while the system recorded my range of movement. Then Mason showed me the results: a series of color-coded diagrams showing where my tight spots were.
“It shows you are highly mobile in some areas and somewhat limited in others,” Mason points out. “This imbalance is something we see frequently and can lend itself to injury, so we want to address it early on.”
The areas that most needed improvement were my neck and traps, hips and ankles. So Mason went to work, focused initially on my hip flexors, psoas and the rest of the hip girdle. “My thought process is to always start from the core and work outward,” he says. “Ultimately, the goal is a deep, full-body stretch that reaches all major muscle groups.”
While on his table, I felt like one of the athletes I’d seen on the sidelines of any sporting event, staying in the game,
keeping their performance at a peak. Now here I was getting the same personalized care. With all the things I tend to ask of my body in a day, whether it’s scrambling the heaving decks of a sailboat, tossing kiddos into the air or playing hard in the great outdoors, I was grateful for any advantage I could get.
Mason tells me that while he initially planned on a doctorate in physical therapy, graduating from Whitworth University with a degree in health science. But working in PT clinics, he found things that would frustrate him with patient care and decided it wasn’t the right fit.
“Still knew I wanted to help people, and that’s when I found StretchLab,” he says. “The best part about this line of work is getting people to live healthier, happier, more pain-free lives. Meeting the great people I get to work on is just a bonus.”
Some of his clients are here because they have taken up
horseback riding. Others play high school sports. Some people just want to be able to touch their toes again. StretchLab therapists help out at local athletic events including golf tournaments, fun runs and triathlons.
“Our team takes a lot of pride in wanting to help their clients feel better and improve their day-to-day lives,” Cox says. “We have a wide range of backgrounds here. I’m always proud to see how focused each individual team member is on wellness and how helpful they are to one another to continue their growth and knowledge.”
And as I continued to see Mason for a weekly session, I definitely noticed the difference. The MAPS assessment agrees, boosting my overall scores. For me, stretching works the best when combined with, and just following, physical activity such as weight training, trail running or cycling/spinning.
Since I began the new protocol, there have been several instances at work, and at play, when I’ve felt my body bend but not break, stretch to
its limit under duress and then recover. In that way, I consider stretching and flexibility, not only as rehab for those who need it, but also as what athletes like Russell Wilson and Tom Brady practice as pre-hab; staying out of trouble in the first place. I’m glad I wandered in the door and tried something new.
“I like to tell people, you don’t have to already be flexible to come in and get stretched,” Cox says. “You have to start somewhere, and the improvements come with consistency. No matter your goals, improving your flexibility is only going to help you reach them.”
Activities that lengthen and stretch muscles can help you prevent injuries, back pain and balance problems. A well-stretched muscle more easily achieves its full range of motion. This improves athletic performance — imagine an easier, less restricted golf swing or tennis serve — and functional abilities, such as reaching, bending, or stooping during daily tasks. Stretching can also be a great way to get you moving in the morning or a way to relax after a long day.
— HARVARD HEALTH
Lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor. Cross your right ankle over your left knee and keep your right foot flexed.
Bring your left knee toward your chest. Reach your right hand through your legs and interlace your fingers just below the crease of your left knee.
Using your arms, pull your left knee toward your chest, pausing when you feel a stretch in your right glute and hip. Hold for two minutes. Repeat on
Begin lying on your side with a foam roller parallel to your body. Put your top leg over the foam roll with your knee bent at 90 degrees (or squeeze a pillow or yoga block between your knees).
Place your bottom hand on your knee. Stretch your top hand out to the floor, keeping the elbow straight and shoulder 90 degrees to the body. Guiding with your top hand, roll your back until it is flat and your top hand is palm down on the floor behind you. Repeat for prescribed sets and reps.
Place your knee into the back corner of a chair, with your shin vertical against the backrest. Have your other foot on the ground at a comfortable
“Life is movement. The more life there is, the more flexibility there is. The more fluid you are, the more you are alive.”
— Arnaud Desjardins“Work flexibility into your daily routine for best results. We all sit too much these days and these three stretches in particular can really help counteract the effects.”
When you sit down to a nice dinner out, do you ever wonder about the hands that prepared your food? The people behind that painstakingly prepared plate?
We are increasingly aware of where our food comes from; how it’s grown, sourced, handled and shipped. We want to eat things that are organic, grass-fed and wild-caught. Now a Coeur d’Alene group is reminding us to consider the human aspect of dining too.
CDAIDE serves Coeur d’Alene-area hospitality workers by meeting their immediate needs, connecting them with resources for long term self-sufficiency, and ensuring they feel valued, respected, and loved.
And once a year, they gather to celebrate the art of creating food while lending a helping hand. The CDAIDE Chef’s Challenge is a night of live entertainment benefiting local hospitality workers. A group of local chefs compete to win the Chef Challenge title in front of an appreciative audience.
“I’m passionate about this event because I’m a lifetime hospitality worker,” says Jeff Messinger, organizer and co-emcee along with TJ Tombari from The Culinary Stone. “As a single parent with a child, 500 or 600 dollars was insurmountable. It’s easy to have life compound upon you,
and when you don’t have help, you make bad decisions.”
He once slammed his hand in a car door, was unable to work and then became addicted to prescription painkillers.
“Someone paid off all my fines, and so I stopped going to jail every time the cops pulled me over," he says. Everything took a trajectory upward after that. Without that break, I don’t know where I would be today. That simple act changed my life, and my kid’s life.”
Today, he’s an industry mainstay who has served in the hospitality business for three decades, currently as general manager of Shooters Bar & Grill at the Black Rock Marina on Lake Coeur d’Alene.
“The back of the house is full of people who don’t have the same coping skills or social skills,” Messinger says.
leading local chefs, then watch as the chefs compete in a series of challenges, judged by senior chefs.
“It’s exciting because it’s not a giveme-your-money average fundraiser,” Messinger says. “It’s more of a night of entertainment for people who enjoy food. You can experience food firsthand: see it made, smell it made and taste it. Maybe pick up some tips for your own kitchen.”
The winner of the inaugural event in 2021 was Colomba Aguilar, owner and executive chef for Café Carambola. The only female competitor, she shone in all aspects of competition including the fine chopping. Countless hours of kitchen experience, plus some smart preparation, helped her take the title.
“I don't have a prep cook at my restaurant, so I do all the daily chopping, whipping and shredding myself,” she says.
The gala evening, held each fall at The Hagadone Event Center, invites guests to sample the culinary creations of
“Sometimes the world doesn’t give them enough breaks and that’s too bad. We want to lend a hand when we can.”
She prepared for the event by timing herself while chopping and did her best to improve speed and accuracy. Just prior, she got hold of several whole chickens and trussed them over and over. Then she freshened up her butchery skills by breaking them down. She says it was intimidating to face her own anxiety over competing with such accomplished chefs in front of a live crowd. Perhaps the key to victory came from the years and years of work experience in an extremely fast-paced environment that has forced her to stay collected under pressure.
For the final stage of the competition, the last four chefs left standing were given only 30 minutes to create their best possible dish with no previous planning, incorporating the novel ingredient of hot tamale candies.
Aguilar’s winning creation was a blistered poblano chili stuffed with a Peruvian-style scallop ceviche over a hot tamale-cranberry coulis. The judges were blown away.
“I chose a dish that I've eaten countless times and in many forms, from the beaches of Mexico, to upscale restaurants
and in the markets of Peru. I gathered all of my memories and gave it my own twist, and I’m happy the judges liked it.”
The event also auctioned off a personally catered dinner for 12 with the winning chef, which was purchased by Dr. Jonathan King, who says:
ahi, mango and tart apple ceviche with a milky coconut broth. There was Peruvian-style roasted chicken with spicy jalapeno and ginger sauce and a few more delicious sides.
“Colomba is a very warm individual who’s also an amazingly talented cook,” King says. “Her food is always so fresh and complex. So many layers of different flavors.”
At the 2022 chef’s challenge, Chef Aguilar traded in her knives for a place at the head judges table. At the end of the night she handed over the golden WWE-style belt award to the new winner, Chef Greg Nelich.
“We love Colomba and her husband Carlos," adds King, an orthopedic surgeon who's been involved with CDAIDE since its inception. "Our only gripe is that their restaurant doesn’t serve dinner. When this item came up, it was a no-brainer, both to support a great cause and to reward them.”
That private dinner was quite the mouth-watering spread, including guacamole with crispy yucca fries and
“It’s an honor to be a part of this event,” she says. “From the planners to the chefs to the event sponsors, I see and feel a wholehearted effort from everyone involved. It’s beautiful to see so many people come together in support of such a worthy cause.”
“The hospitality business is the lifeblood of our town, and many people are one paycheck between making it and not making it.”
that I've eaten countless times and in many forms, from the beaches of Mexico, to upscale
and in the markets of Peru.
gathered all of my memories and gave it my own twist, and I’m happy the judges liked it.”
From CdA all the way to Ethiopia, it’s taking the world by storm.
Pickleball is easy enough to learn quickly, but challenging enough to keep you coming back for more. This addictive combination
of tennis, ping-pong and badminton soared nearly 40 percent between 2019 and 2021, making it America’s fastest-growing sport. While studies show 50 percent of people quit exercising six months after starting a new workout, picklers stick with it. They come back to the court again and again because the game is so social.
Sunny Lynne Gray’s friend asked her to his fitness club to play a new game she’d never heard of before.
“I thought, this is so much fun,” she recalls. “So to play better I kept going back. A very nice gal named Marilyn didn't mind playing with me, a newbie. So I practiced hitting the ball back and forth with her. She helped me so much. I learned to keep score, and improved so that I could finally play with others that loved the game.”
Since then she has been in many tournaments, and has won more than 50 gold, silver and bronze medals.
“I’m an ambassador for the game,” she says. “Everywhere I go, I speak pickleball. My priorities are God first, then family, then pickleball. But my family says sometimes the order gets switched and pickleball goes before family.”
She also says, "I don't want to cook. I don't want to clean. I don't want to shovel snow or mow the lawn. I just want to play pickleball!"
She recommends Selkirk Sport in Hayden Lake for a paddle, balls, shirts and visors. And for playing indoors, she always heads to the HUB Sports Center.
“If you want to get better and improve your game, I would say go to a camp with our local pro, Tyson McGuffin. Otherwise just play, play, play. There are no shortcuts, just practice, practice and more practice. That’s the fun of it! See you on the court.”
After running his own company most of his career, Craig Woolf retired in 2017. He spent his spare time working on his golf game, playing in a racquetball league and volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club. Then he signed up for pickleball lessons at Peak Fitness.
As luck would have it, his teacher was Tyson McGuffin, who had just won the U.S. Open Pickleball Championship and was ranked as the sport’s No. 1 player.
“Tyson was a great teacher, and after a few lessons I was hooked,” Woolf says. “I had always played ping-pong, tennis and racquetball, and the combination was addictive. I loved the fact that you could see the improvement in everyone playing.”
Peak had decided to end pickleball at the Ironwood gym, so he needed a place to play. He noticed that the Boys & Girls Club in Coeur d’Alene had a gym that was empty every morning.
He kept enjoying the social aspect of the sport and was invited to the board of the Inland Northwest Pickleball Club. “The first meeting in January 2020 I was elected president and my retirement got much more complicated.”
His club worked with Bill Greenwood, director of the Parks & Recreation Department for the City of Coeur d’Alene, on access and improvement projects at Cherry Hill, Memorial Park and Northshire Park. Club members helped repaint lines, string new nets, clean the courts and patch cracks. They host round-robin play four days a week at Cherry Hill and give lessons that go from beginners to 3.5-level players.
“I worked out a deal with them to mark three pickleball courts and have regular play every morning,” he says. “We charged players three dollars to play, which was donated directly to the Boys & Girls Club.” Last year, those donations totalled $6,600. That’s a lot of pickleball games.
Their Coeur d'Alene Classic Tournament, held in July, had 330 players from 20 states and three countries.
Woolf is known for being at the courts almost every day with a smile on his face. His signature move is hitting the ball behind where you just were. He’s proud to use Selkirk Sport paddles, made right here in North Idaho. “They are the only paddle I have ever used and will be the only one I use,” he says. “They have done so much for our club, our community and the pickleball world.”
He says, “When I teach this game the first rule is to have fun. It is easy to learn and not as easy to master. I play with people from 12 to 83 years old and have won and lost to all of them. My friend Kevin is 83 and he always says, ‘It hurts if I play and it hurts if I don’t, so I might as well play.’
“Learn to play and play every chance you get,” Woolf says. “The people at the courts will help you if you want help. We are all teachers because we love the game and we want others to love it too.”
He plays in the African highlands.
As the lead surgeon at Soddo Christian Hospital in southern Ethiopia, Dr. Duane Anderson lives on the same campus with the local doctors, dines together and works elbow-to-elbow every day.
A lifelong sportsman, he helped build a pickleball court near the hospital as a way of furthering those relationships. Selkirk Sport donated boxes of paddles and the sport became a big hit.
“When you’re in surgical training, your time is valuable,” he says. “But you need to have some fun too. At the end of the day of work, if the pickleball court is on your way home, you have to play. What pickleball brings is the opportunity to laugh together. I’ve taught them how to trash talk. The children of some of the physicians are playing now. It’s brought us all closer together.”
In the developing world, untreated bone fractures are a major problem. If a family member is unable to work, it drives the family further into poverty. The game changer has been the introduction of using an intramedullary nail to stabilize femur fractures, and Dr. Anderson has been a leader in Africa in this method.
Recently, a woman came to him after her femur had been broken in a car accident, then became badly infected. Every other hospital advised amputation. Dr. Anderson and his team were able to save her life, and her leg, through multiple surgeries and extended care, and she’s become a friend as dear as a daughter.
Pickleball was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, a short ferry ride from Seattle, Washington. Three dads – Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum — whose kids were bored with their usual summertime activities — are credited for creating the game. Pickleball has evolved from original handmade equipment and simple rules into a popular sport throughout the US and Canada. The game is growing internationally as well, with many European and Asian countries adding courts. There are now five million pickleball players in 65 countries.
- USA PickleballIS THE OPPORTUNITY TO LAUGH TOGETHER.
It’s a mission he’s been preparing for his whole life. When he was a young teen, a woman who was working as a missionary nurse in India spoke at his parent’s church, and it touched him deeply. “My dad was a blue-collar miner in Minnesota and my mom was a housewife,” he says. “Nobody in our family worked in medicine. I felt like God was telling me what to do.”
When he approached his wife-tobe at age 23, he asked two unusual questions: “I said, ‘Jackie, are you willing to live wherever I live, and are you willing to live in Africa?’ And she said yes.”
While he trained as a doctor, the couple had four children and decided to stay in the U.S. to raise them, eventually moving to North Idaho where he practiced medicine. Then at age 48, he had a brush with mortality. “I felt like God was asking, ‘Duane, when are you going to do this?’” And so in September of 2005, he and Jackie moved to Ethiopia.
“We were there when Soddo Christian Hospital was just beginning,” he says. “Now there’s 170 beds, nearly 50 doctors. We have a training program for general surgeons and orthopedic surgeons, and some incredible visiting doctors who are experts. I have three full-time Ethiopian partners I have helped train and who run the program. It’s a real privilege to work with these young men.”
During visits to Coeur d’Alene, he enjoys playing with his family who live here.
“This sport is multi-generational,” he says. “I can have my son, my grandson and me playing, laughing and learning.
My 13-year-old grandson Isaac is going to beat me pretty soon. Actually, I’ll be really happy when he beats his dad. My son Lucas started beating me at racquetball when he was 16 years old. By his early 30s, he was beating me left handed. So my goal is to live long enough to see Isaac beat his dad at pickleball. Then I will have done my job.”
Pickler: Someone who is obsessed with pickleball and cannot stop talking about the sport
Dillball: Shot that is inbounds and has bounced once; a live ball.
Dink Shot: A soft shot that arcs over the net and falls into the opposing non-volley zone.
Falafel: “Dead paddle,” or a short shot due to hitting the pickleball ball with little or no power.
Flabjack: A midair shot that must bounce once before it can be hit during one of the first two shots of any point.
Volley Llama: Term referring to an illegal move (fault) where pickleball players hits a volley shot in the Non-Volley Zone.
The year John Barlow’s daughter, Jamie Drake, turned 40, she craved an international adventure with her dad. Visions of waterfalls, glaciers and cowbells played in her head, along with alpine villages, deep blue lakes and gourmet cheese.
“I want to hike the Swiss Alps,” she said, and John was happy to oblige.
Several years previously, he’d taken his first trip through the Bernese Oberland in the company of Swiss friends
who showed him the way. His daughter had heard the stories and wanted to go. And Barlow couldn’t wait to return.
Hiking was a relatively newfound experience for this corporate construction manager, who customarily ran for miles before he showed up to the office. Over a stellar career, he supervised construction of many of North Idaho’s biggest institutions, including Kootenai Health, The Coeur d’Alene Resort and The Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course with its famous floating green, something
that had never been done before. None of these were easy projects, and all of them were successfully completed on time.
“My whole career, I’ve needed to work out to survive management,” he says. “Running never was pleasurable, but I always felt good afterwards. After three knee surgeries, the doctor told me I was done. But I didn’t know what else I would do.”
Then his Coeur d’Alene neighbor, Bernhard Schafroth, a Swiss-American, took him hiking. “It was the first time ever that when I got my fitness in, I wasn’t looking at my watch,” Barlow says. “It was fun.”
So in late August of 2017, father and daughter flew to Zurich and boarded a train to Kandersteg, on the west side of the Bernese Oberland, to start their journey with Schafroth as well as Heinz Imhof, both premiere watchmakers for Ebel and Rolex.
“The weather was perfect,” says Drake, a physician's assistant with a career in women’s healthcare who loves the outdoors. “No rain. Not too cold or too hot. The first day we hiked from Kandersteg to Lake Oeschinensee. Then we stayed there for two nights and did some day hikes to acclimate to the elevation. It was a very beautiful area with a gorgeous alpine lake.”
On day three, they hiked up to their first alpine hut stay at Blumlisalphutte. They hiked 8-14 miles per day, depending on how much elevation gain there was. The week’s route led past the famed trio of the Eiger, Monk and Jungfrau. “When you first look up and see where you are going, you think, I’m not sure I can do this,” Barlow says.
Day four they trekked to Gspaltenhornhütte, another very old, very neat place to spend the night. The Swiss Alpine Club maintains the trails and the huts. These huts were originally built for alpine climbers, so most of the big mountains have a hut at the base. For hikers, this eliminates the need to carry a heavy pack or sleep on the hard ground.
Instead, they each got a single bed frame with pad and comforter, and only had to pack their own sleep cocoon and a pillow. There were bathrooms with cold running water, a dining area and full kitchen. Each hut served them a nice four-course dinner with soup, salad, entree and dessert, and a hearty Swiss breakfast. Cost was around $100 per night per person.
“The huts were awesome,” Drake says. “They were simple, but clean and efficient. Staying there was such a unique experience. It was so lovely to hike hard all day and then end up in a beautiful spot where you could take in the scenery, drink a beverage and have a warm meal served to you.”
"
Barlow says, "It’s great that you know you have a place to stay at the end of the day’s hike. And it’s fun in the dining room with everyone there, sharing stories about the day. You’re way up where nobody else goes, but with many of the comforts of home.”
On day five they hiked down through the Bernese mountains to the town of Murren. It was a lovely day and the fields were green and lush and there were flowers everywhere. They stopped at a small hut for lunch and ate a delicious soup and slice of pie.
“The Swiss people are very gracious and make the trip enjoyable,” Barlow says. “They all have fairly good English, especially the young people, and everyone is fit and active.”
“We finally got to that hotel in Murren and I remember taking a long hot bath to soak off the dirt,” Drake says. “The only showers along the trail were ice cold in the huts.” They wrapped up the trip by catching a train to Zermatt, where they found a great little Italian restaurant hidden off the main street and loaded up on some carbs. On day seven they were ready to hit the trails once more and did some day hiking around the village.
“Zermatt is the coolest place I’ve ever seen,” Barlow says. “It’s Sun Valley on steroids. The whole village has no cars and the only vehicles are electric. You can hike everywhere from town, and in the backdrop is the Matterhorn, so close you feel like you could touch it. It’s a mind-blowing experience.”
“We finished with a real sense of accomplishment,” Drake says. “Knowing we were doing something pretty unique and special. And it was fun doing it with my dad. Hiking has brought us closer as adults, especially after climbing the mountain passes of Switzerland together.”
“It’s the solitude, the peace and quiet,” Barlow says. “You get back home, and you just want to go up there again.”
CANADIAN ROCKIES, B.C.
The 28-mile trek across Banff and Yoho National Parks’ Wapta and Waputik Icefields is North America’s premiere hut-to-hut route, linking four Alpine Club of Canada huts (Peyto, Bow, Balfour and Scott Duncan). “North America’s Haute Route,” as it’s often called, takes four to six days, tops out at more than 10,000 feet on Mt. Balfour and can be skied either guided or unguided. Although traditionally a winter route, it can be an excellent summer adventure, too.
alpineclubofcanada.ca
Designed primarily for winter ski touring, two of the six yurt-style huts, Coyote and Pioneer, are open to hikers and mountain bikers in summer. Huts have a propane stove and BBQ grill, a Dutch oven, bunk beds with sleeping pads, an outhouse, Goal Zero solar powered lanterns and charging station, a speaker for music, an outdoor firepit and pre-cut firewood. You only need to bring your sleeping bags, food and friends. A shuttle can drop you at the trailhead of your choice then transport your gear and food to the yurts while you hike or bike great single-track. Minimum rate of $400/ night for up to eight guests, $50 for each additional person.
svtrek.com
Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness in the Wallowa Mountains of northeastern Oregon deserves its “Little Switzerland” nickname. Schneider Camp has a 20ft yurt and 32×12 cabins with all kitchen accouterments, bunk beds, spring water and latrine. This drive-in camp will be the southern hut end of a future trans-Wallowas hut to hut connecting the communities of Halfway and Joseph, Oregon. $750 per hut/$75 per person.
wallowahuts.com
BOOTS “Your boots are number one. Proper boots and proper fit. I sent two sets back that weren’t right. Tighten them when you descend to keep from blistering your toes. And invest in a good set of hiking poles.”
HYDRATION “Your hydration is number two. Have an easy way to drink water along the route, and carry plenty of water in your day pack.”
HIKING “Get your hiking in before you go. We did a lot of training on Canfield Mountain and Tubbs Hill, climbing straight up whenever we could.”
BABY WIPES “I brought along a packet of baby wipes and I was happy I did. Be sure to put that on your list. The showers at the huts are icy cold.”
TRAINS “The key to everything in Europe is the trains. You don’t need a car. The trains are so versatile. If you miss a train, within a half hour there’s another train. Very friendly, right on time.”
It’s a signature sight in the lobby of The Coeur d’Alene Resort, a kinetic art piece with constantly moving swirls of yellow, orange, black and white like living brush strokes.
These stunning koi in their massive 2,200-gallon tank are a show stopper. Passers pause to admire their beauty. And children’s eyes go wide.
“Kids can’t resist the fish,” says Cody Sinclair, a mechanical engineer for The Coeur d’Alene Resort who cares for the koi. “They are always blown away by how big the fish are. When you’re just a little guy and come walking up to this four-foot-tall tank, it’s impressive. If there’s a big group of kids, I’ll get just a little food and toss it in there so the kids get a bit of a show.”
He’s trained the koi to come to him when he makes a special tapping sound on the top of their aquarium. They all come swimming straight to him and he can take a good look at how they’re faring.
“These fish add so much to the hotel ambiance,” he says. “We are already known for being on the water, and this adds to the theme. The presence and beauty of the fish are undeniable. It sets us apart from what anyone else has in their hotel lobby, and adds that extra experience for our guests.”
He’s named a couple of his favorites. There’s Zorro, the black and orange female. As a juvenile, she had a black zorro mask. And Nemo is the little female, who has a smaller fin just like the hero of the Pixar animated film. Then there are the spectacular butterfly koi with their long, flowing fins.
“The koi are a joy to keep,” Sinclair says. “It’s all about giving them good clean water and the right amount of food.”
The Coeur d’Alene Resort fish dine on gourmet Mazuri koi chow nuggets, four small scoops every other day. It’s important not to overfeed them, Sinclair says. There is a mix of male and female koi in the tank, but because their water temperature is controlled, they do not spawn.
To keep the water sparkling and the fish happy, the tank has a large filtration system with two canister filters, two gravity sand filters and two large pumps. Sinclair tests the water daily to make sure it has the appropriate pH balance, and doesn’t have too much phosphate or nitrate.
The koi keeper was born and raised in South Dakota, attended Post Falls High School and then sought a degree in the trades. He got his certification in refrigeration as well as pools.
“I’m a homebody,” he says. “It’s all about quality time with my 13-year-old son and my fiancee. I keep a few animals at home. A French bulldog, a few tortoises, a leopard gecko and a Pacman frog. It’s a lot of fun to see that frog gobble up the bugs we give it.”
He enjoys spending time with the koi in his care, and providing a remarkable experience for guests.
“There’s a joy that animals of all kinds bring,” he says. “It lowers your stress level. It’s way more rewarding than working on a washer or dryer. I feel special and privileged that I get to be the one to take care of these boys and girls.”
A koi named Hanako was born in 1751 and lived until 1977, making her 226 years old.
A koi’s age can be determined by examining the fish's scales, which produce growth rings much like a tree.
The largest koi ever recorded was four feet long and 91 pounds.
Koi are omnivores who will eat just about anything including lettuce and watermelon.
They have small teeth in the back of their mouth, which they lose and regrow quite frequently, going through 30 or more sets of teeth throughout their lives.
Intelligent and social, koi quickly learn to recognize people or do specific tasks.
Breeders discovered the genes of the carp’s long fins and the koi’s vibrant colors could produce a beautiful cross between the two, a vivid butterfly koi with ethereal fins.
Watch and enjoy.
Fish are creatures of habit. By learning their habits and personalities, you will know if something is off, or if the fish is feeling sick.
Test it. Get a good test kit. Even with just a small goldfish, make sure the water is properly filtered and has the right pH balance.
Don’t overfeed. They will act like they haven’t eaten for a month. Koi will eat and eat and get way too robust and it’s not good for them.
I ALWAYS LOOKED FORWARD TO WINTER growing up in Detroit, Michigan. I had plenty of outside time. We mostly ice skated and rode sleds and toboggans on the local rolling hills. I liked winter because I really didn’t like the summers and heat. My parents bought me a pair of hickory skis one Christmas and that started the need to slide, but resorts cost money and skiing was considered a sport for the rich. I was an inner city kid in the 1950s, with a paper route and a lower income family.
My grandparents lived in Greenville, Michigan at Baldwin Lake. They had a big backyard going downhill with the greatest stopping fence ever. It was made with large open holes which allowed the skis to slide though and you would come to a stop rather quickly, which was good because after the fence was a dropoff to a gravel road.
I entered the U.S. Navy in 1963 wanting to become an underwater demolition team diver, or Frogman. The recruiter lied to me, saying I first needed to become a submariner, so off to New London I went after boot camp. Once I got there I was told when I finished sub school the only diving I was going to do was inside the boats. I spent the next 12 months in different galleys cleaning and preparing meals. While doing that I requested to attend UDT replenishment training at the U.S. Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek in Norfolk, Virginia. I graduated
and was assigned to UDT-21. I traveled the world but truly missed the cold weather. Skiing as a family became my passion, mostly weekends and holidays on the East Coast up and down from New England to North Carolina. It all came to a head while stationed at the Naval Station Great Lakes, where I taught skiing several days a week during my off time from training recruits.
My next assignment was Seal Team Two. I had to again go through SEAL basic introduction, with six months more hard work. Finishing that, I was ready to start deploying to our area of operations like
Norway and above the Arctic Circle. I loved that environment. It was cold and windy, with beautiful white snow. Who could ask for anything more?
I joined the Navy Seals training department to teach winter warfare, where I was their first actual certified alpine skiing instructor. I helped a team of doctors study the effects of high altitude on climbers on Mt. Rainier in Washington. As part of that project, we worked in the snow fields and crevasses, learning what to look out for and how to climb out if you have fallen in. We set belays and rope crossings, and learned how to travel efficiently in the snow and keep our bodies nourished for survival. When I retired from the military in 1994, I needed the challenge of mountains. Idaho was my choice and the Silver Valley looked amazing. Having five ski areas in a 70-mile radius seemed unbelievable. I had gone to heaven and it was affordable
with very little stress. I started working at both Lookout Pass and Silver Mountain at age 50, and a new journey had begun.
Today, it’s 28 years later and I haven’t gotten much older, other than I snowboard more than ski now. I love the freedom of the mountains in all conditions, but of course 18 inches of fresh powder can’t be beat, especially when it’s untracked.
If you see me in the mountains, come over and say hello. It’s likely I won’t be wearing my hearing aids, so please shout. I love meeting new people on the snow and paying it forward: so if you’re struggling with whatever you're sliding on; I might have a tip that will brighten your day. If I don’t see you on the slopes, catch me at Shred Ahead Snowboarding on YouTube.
Enjoy life and ride the mountains. It will keep you feeling like a kid again.
ENJOY LIFE AND RIDE THE MOUNTAINS. IT WILL KEEP YOU FEELING LIKE A KID AGAIN.
" "
ulienne Dance, the conservatory’s founder and director, is playing the grand piano. From her talented fingers, the first bars of Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” waft into the air. The wonderfully familiar notes drift through the light streaming through the bay windows, through the open door and onto the stately wraparound porch.
Rows of chairs sit in quiet audience. The high ceilings and wooden floors amplify each note, creating an intimacy with the music not found in larger concert halls.
This is the historic Hamilton House in downtown Coeur d’Alene, now home to the Music Conservatory of Coeur d’Alene, a splendid place for musical collaboration of all kinds. As Dance continues to play, it’s easy to imagine that the row of American flags out front are waving in time to the chords, and the sunflowers dancing along too.
The piano was donated by an 80-year-old woman who decided to downsize and wanted to contribute to the effort. Her donation came along at the perfect time. It’s another chapter in the story of how a community worked together to save this home and put a conservatory here.
It’s a lovely summer afternoon, and music fills the Hamilton House with joy.
J
“Learning piano increases focus, inspiration, creativity and purpose in other areas of life. My aim is helping students gain confidence in themselves and their abilities.”
~ Andrew Maurer, piano faculty
The Hamilton House was built in 1908, and music is part of its very foundation. Pianist Dean Elder, soprano soloist Agnes Hawkins and several opera singers lived and played music here over the years.
In 2020, the structure narrowly missed demolition after Kootenai County, which owned the property, condemned it to the wrecking ball. The space would likely have become a parking lot. It would take $500,000 to save the house, a fortune which seemed impossible to find.
“I noticed on the front page of the paper that this house was going to get torn down and the neighborhood was in an uproar,” Dance says. “The county said it wouldn’t go down if there was a purpose for it.”
“Zoe Ann Thruman was a critical advocate in saving the Hamilton House and Deborah Mitchell was instrumental in getting it on the National Register of Historical Places.”
So Dance called the county to make a proposal. That was the beginning of ten months of meetings with county commissioners and other officers and attorneys trying to figure out how to save the house.
The Resort’s signature 5-star restaurant featuring a 14,000 bottle wine collection. The Northwest’s finest cuisine and wine cellar.
Simple favorites with a fresh twist, including an 18-foot salad bar and famous Gooey desserts, served lakeside.
A superbly styled waterfront lounge with elegant fire sculptures and a fine twist on the classic shaker martini.
Early childhood
» Mini Music Makers
» Introduction to Rhythm
» Introduction to Singing
» Introduction to Ukulele
Dance says, “when I first walked through this old house, I had the vision of creating a conservatory—an arts and culture center for Coeur d’Alene. The vision is that the conservatory will be the beginning of a performing arts center somewhere here in Coeur d’Alene.”
Just days before the house was doomed to destruction, then-Coeur d’Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer and Donald Smock, owner of Windermere/Coeur d’Alene Realty, purchased the house with the express intent to lease it to the Music Conservatory of Coeur d’Alene. Since then, grants and community donations have helped purchase instruments and renovate the building. Women’s Gift Alliance donated pianos, a drum set, headphones and other equipment for the studios.
“We are a music school with private lessons and classes for students from infants to 100 years,” Dance says. “Our Understanding Music program offers theory and aural skills. Monthly recitals provide performance opportunities. Our goal is to become an accredited institution.”
Ensembles and young adult/adult
» String Ensembles
» Fiddling
» Brass Chamber Group
» Piano Partners
» Intermediate Class Piano
» Beginning Class Piano
» Introduction to Guitar
» Composition: Create to Orchestrate
» Music Theory
» Ear Training/Aural Skills
» History of Music Production
» Music Therapy
» Ensemble Conducting
cdaconservatory.org
Pursuing musical excellence through accessible instruction, collaborative partnerships, and performance.
“It’s a poetic turn of fate that the halls of this stately house are once more ringing with music from young people, seasoned performers and teachers.”
~ Richard Altenbach, violin facultyFrom top left: Evangeline Collett, student; Katheryn Weller, harp faculty; Wendy Smith, flute & Richard Altenbach, violin faculty; Bobby Meador, guitar faculty
At the end of the day, it’s always a good feeling to be heading for home. Imagine if home was in North Idaho near one of the beautiful lakes we have come to love.
I was born and raised in Idaho and grew up thinking that all kids got to run in the forest and jump into mountain lakes as soon as the ice thawed. I was very surprised to find out how lucky I was to have that experience. I celebrate every day with the fresh air, clean water, abundant wildlife and dramatic changes of seasons.
Here you will find classes in piano, strings, winds and choir, for students from preschool through high school. Upstairs rooms offer space for students to practice. The building also hosts events, concerts, and master classes with exemplary performing artists and professors.
Julienne Dance, the woman who saved a house and filled it with music again, comes to the end of her piano piece. She looks around her and smiles.
“It’s just so cool that this house is still standing,” she says. “I’ve always had such admiration for conservatories, for a place that is dedicated to music. And together we are building one.”
“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”
~ Victor HugoAndrew Maurer, Cheyenne Helms, voice faculty and Richard Altenbach
The Hamilton House was finished in 1908 for the second mayor of Coeur d’Alene, Boyd Hamilton and his wife, Alta, the daughter of Spokane empire builder J.J. Browne. The two-story home is the design of Spokane architect George Keith, with a splendid wrap-around porch with formal entry. During the 20th century, several prominent public officials made their home here—Idaho Supreme Court Judge W.F. McNaughton; Kootenai County Prosecutor William Hawkins; and Cd’A Mayor Boyd Hamilton. The grand piano of vocalist Agnes Hawkins once graced the home, and neighbors reminisce hearing her crystal notes echoing from an open window. Jazz musician William Hawkins moved his drums from the Blue Bucket Band to an upper room in the house. And international piano jurist Dean Elder, who as a teen practiced and performed here, must have received inspiration for his continued studies in New York and Europe.
Beverly ’ s, e Coeur d ’Alene Resort ’ s signature restaurant, overlooks the lake in an atmosphere of casual elegance aised by food critics as one of America’s top restaurants, Beverly ’ s o ers innovative cuisine using the freshest locally sourced redients by season. Reser vations suggested.
from the seventh floor, with ne dining
Open every day, 11am to 10pm
e Coeur d ’Alene Resor t 115 S 2nd St., 7th floor Coeur d ’Alene, ID 83814 (208) 763-3950 beverlyscda.com
Located in the heart of Riverstone o ering European inspired menu executed with NW flair in a warm, inviting atmosphere and industrial chic decor. Dynamic Northwest wine list with interesting imports and 8 local taps. Beautiful private room seats 12 and is home to our floor to ceiling wine club bins. Covered patio seating in the summertime.
2037 N Main St., Coeur d’Alene, ID (208) 758-7770 • vineandolivecda.com
Considered one of Coeur d’Alene’s finest restaurants, ai Bamboo has served millions of ai and Asian dish entrées to the greater Spokane & CdA community since opening in 2001. Enjoy our award winning food, amazing decor and top shelf service. Come step inside and be transported to a beautiful, exotic, and tasty place.
(208) 667-5300
2010 N 4th Street
Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814
thaibamboorestaurant.com
Indoor and outdoor seating with a full food menu and the largest liquor selection in downtown Coeur d’Alene! First opened in 1985, Cricket’s has stood the test of time. Maybe it’s because Cricket’s is the only game in town for oysters, or maybe it’s their vast menu that spans from build–your–own pizzas to steaks and sandwiches. Whatever it is, it’s working. Happy Hour from 4pm–7pm.
424 E Sherman Ave. Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814
(208) 765-1990
601 E Front Ave., CDA (208) 667-1170
477272 US 95, Ponderay (208) 263-1381
6915 E. Athol Crossings Road, Athol (208) 561-9496
Terrific traditional and regional fare. Serving hand-cut steaks, freshly ground burgers, wild salmon and smoked ribs. Family-friendly environment. sweetlousidaho.com
Coeu r d ’A lene Resor t Gol f Cou rse, t h is restau ra nt ma kes a fabu lous d in ing e x per ience for a ny mea l of t he day Nor t hwest inspi red c u isine a nd t rad it iona l fa re w it h f u l l ba r ser v ice a nd a n e xcel lent w ine selec t ion.
e Cd ’A Resor t Golf Course 900 S Floating Green Dr. Coeur d ’Alene, ID 83814 (208) 765-4000 oatinggreenrestaurant.com
Distinctively di erent, in Liberty Lake, WA
Open Daily 2:00 pm - 10:00 pm
1400 N Meadowwood Ln. Liberty Lake, WA 99019 (509) 891-7790
Capone’s is the sports bar and beer Mecca of Coeur d’Alene, Hayden, Post Falls and now the Ponderosa Golf Course An extreme selection of craft beer (41 on tap), excellent food, and the best pizza in town and a full liquor bar, Capone’s is THE place to be for any sporting event, party or night out.
751 N 4th St. Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814 (208) 667-4843
Also in: Post Falls, Hayden & PonderosaGolf Course caponespub.com
A waterfront lounge with a cool vibe, W hispers is the place where the bar sta put a superb twist on the rtini, with flavors like emon Drop or Chocolate Get cozy and enjoy a drink by the replaces above Lake Coeur d’Alene.
e Coeur d ’Alene Resor t Street ’Alene, ID 83814 (208) 765-4000 t.com
Lunch, dinner and 24 craft beers and ciders on tap. is unique cycling-themed bar is the ideal sports watching-location. Build a 6 pack to-go with our extensive Bottle Shoppe collection featuring 250 bottles from over 100 breweries.
herman Ave. ’Alene, ID 83814 (208) 765-4000 cdataphouse.com
G
ur fresh menu features Italian king with a Mediterranean twist e are downtown Coeur d ’Alene’s iginal Italian restaurant, with indoor and outdoor seating on Sherman Ave., ivate dining area, brick oven and y stocked bar and premium wine lection in our wine shop
210 E Sherman Ave.
Coeur d ’Alene, ID 83814
(208) 667-2782 titoscda.com
A Coeur d ’Alene landmark that is rich in tradition Enjoy this unique award-winning floating restaurant with 360˚ views of Lake Coeur d ’Alene Entrees include a large selection of esh seafood, aged steaks, prime rib and pasta specialties. L ocated only a few minutes from downtown.
Coeur d ’Alene, ID 83814
1514 S Marina Dr (208) 664-2922 cedars oatingrestaurant.com
If you want a taste and feel of the Mediterranean while drinking Ouzo and eating a crazy amount of garlic, just drive to Post Falls to be with us in our crazy, noisy, but also romantic White House Grill. Guests can enjoy seasonal outdoor dining on the patio. “You love garlic; we love you!”
Full bar, extensive wine list, 12 beers on tap.
702 N Spokane Street Post Falls, ID 83854 (208) 777-9672
Celebrate your North Idaho getaway at e Coeur d ’Alene Resort ’s family restaurant, open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner at the water’s edge. Dockside is known for their legendary Gooey Desserts, 18-foot salad bar and stunning views of the Boardwalk and Marina.
e Coeur d ’Alene Resor t 115 S 2nd St. ’Alene, ID 83814 (208) 765-4000 docksidecda.com
Mulligan’s Bar and Grille features home-style comfort food and is open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner ey o er signature dishes such as Mulligan’s l egendar y omelets, home-style chicken fried steak, premier steaks and seafood and a garden-fresh salad bar
506 W Appleway Ave. Coeur d ’Alene, ID 83814
(208) 765-3200
cdainn.com/mulligans
eat Ser vice ant & L ounge is wn for the best steaks and seafood ou ’ ll see why when y our mouth-watering recipes for hether for breakfast, lunch sample the best our area ou enjoy riverside fe of North Idaho Idaho 83805 inn.com
Best Seafood in Town!
Contemporary counter-serve o ering sushi & other dishes such as fish tacos plus a seafood market where you can buy the freshest seafood to take home! 12 varieties of sh & chips, sushi, smoked sh, soups, salads, beer, wine and sake.
215 W Kathleen Ave. Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814
(208) 664-4800
FishermansMarketCdA.com
Neapolitan Style Pizzeria in Riverstone. Wood fired pizzas, salads and the best meatballs in town. CDA’s only 100% Italian wine list. Six draft beers and 5 TVs with NFL Sunday Ticket for the sports fanatic in a casual Italian farmhouse setting. Expansive bar, plus seating at the garage door overlooking our large patio area for outside dining.
2385 N Old Mill Loop
Coeur d’Alene, ID (208) 758-7997 vicinopizza.com
Tacos • Burritos • Tortas • Quesadillas Ensaladas • Beer & Wine • Salsa Bar Dine-In or Take-Out
Try our new item Tacos DeBirria
219 W Canfield Ave. Coeur d’Alene, ID (208) 719-0040
Long time bar/grill with diverse American menu and specialty drinks, Karaoke nights and live music Friday and Saturday. Weekend breakfast specials, 2 for 1 cocktails Wednesday nights and Friday nights. (208) 667-7314
407 E Sherman Ave. Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814
Call for details
Distinctively di erent, in our original White House location, e Oval Office is a quaint, romantic restaurant that serves Northwest cuisine with a foreign flair. You will love the steaks, ever-changing fresh fish selection and extensive selection of appetizers and martinis to choose from. Take advantage of the best happy hour in the Northwest. 3-6pm and 9-11pm daily.
620 N Spokane Street Post Falls, ID 83854 (208) 777-2102
Viking Construction has been building homes in the North Idaho area for over 40 years. Their homes in the Montrose community range in size from 1,152 sf to 3,278 sf and all have wonderful standard features such as Whirlpool stainless appliances, Cemplank Fiber Cement siding, skip trowel ceiling texture, front landscaping and RWC extended home warranties.
