End of All Hallows Eve

So how did I spend my Halloween in beautiful North Idaho? Volunteering in the concession stand at the Post Falls Lions Haunted House with some pretty frightening customers!

Almost there!

On the last day of October, gas prices in Coeur d'Alene have reached $2.25 per gallon. That's a drop of $1.24 a gallon from the first of the month's $3.49 per gallon price. My prediction of prices below $2 a gallon in North Idaho by election day next Tuesday just might come to pass.

Trick or Treat!

Halloween in North Idaho is often chilly and sometimes wet. But it's always a fun time for trick or treating, parties and trips through corn mazes and haunted houses. Watch out for the black cats!

The view from the porch

By our front porch steps the summer Alyssums are still in bloom, the burning bush is firey red and golden Poplar leaves have drifted down from nearby trees.

Cord Wood

North Idaho entrepreneurs with a strong back and a pick-up truck can sell a cord of firewood for about $150. Permits for cutting your own firewood are available through the Idaho Panhandle National Forest office in Coeur d'Alene.
http://www.fs.fed.us/ipnf/eco/yourforest/firewood/

How low will they go?

The first week of this month, gas prices in Coeur d'Alene were $3.49 a gallon. Today they're down a whole dollar to $2.49 a gallon! With slightly more than a week until the election I'm betting gas will be under $2 a gallon by the first week of November in North Idaho.

Fall Needles

While the beautiful autumn leaves are falling in the neighborhoods, the towering pines of North Idaho are also changing for the season. Piles of pine needles aren't nearly as fun for the kids to jump around in or toss in the air, though.

Spa Day for Turkeys

At the Renew Spa, tucked off of 15th Street in Coeur d'Alene, a pair of wild turkeys stopped by to relax and refresh in the man-made stream. My kind of birds.

River Bridge

The popular North Idaho Centential Trail is a multi-use recreational trail system that runs for 24 miles from the Idaho/Washington state line to Higgens Point at the east end of Lake Coeur d'Alene. This postcard view from the bridge over the Spokane River at the trail's Idaho beginning is just one of many as the trail takes walkers and cyclists past the dam in Post Falls, through Riverstone and downtown Coeur d'Alene out to Silver Beach and along scenic Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive. www.northidahocentennialtrail.org

Pinwheels of Summer

My brightly colored pinwheel chimes will soon be tucked away for the winter. For the moment they're competing with the bright colors of autumn bursting forth from the backyard foliage.

BOOOO!

The nationally renowned Post Falls Lions Haunted House opens tonight at 4th Ave and Post Street. The dates for 2008 are tonight and tomorrow night from 6 p.m. to midnight and then Oct. 22 through Halloween night. Prepare to be scared!

Linked

Just a few weeks before the third anniversary of the Citylink transportation system a new stop was added in front of Post Falls City Hall, along with two new busses to the fleet. The system is the result of a $1.38 million grant to Kootenai County from the Federal Transit System. Matching funds of $1.38 million are provided by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, headquartered in Plummer, Idaho. Covering the Coeur d’Alene Reservation and urban areas of Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Hayden, Citylink brings unprecedented free transportation to all people in the region.
The mission is both simple and profound: meet the transportation needs of workers, students, elderly and the general public. Citylink represents the first time in the United States that a tribal government and a local government have collaborated to create free public transportation.
www.idahocitylink.com

North Idaho Gazing Ball

When my husband and grandsons accidentally broke my shiny garden gazing ball over the summer I planned to replace it at some point. But it seems the boys had a replacement at the ready. From the street you can't tell that it's really a beat up old bowling ball. Nothing says redneck like a bowling ball on a mosaic pedestal.

Transition Time

Right now many trees and shrubs are in transition, a blue sky backdrop with green leaves still visible among the reds and golds of the turning season. Within the week, North Idaho's overnight freezing temperatures will prompt the full fall foliage bounty of color.

Cool cat

Framed by bright fall colors this white cat will blend in once the snow arrives in our North Idaho neighborhood.

Got Elk?

The hills and mountains and valleys are alive with hunters, now that elk and deer season are in full swing and the weather's turned cooler. The Idaho Fish and Game department has a great planning site for hunters at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/hunt/
If you're new to North Idaho it's not likely you'll find hunters who will share their tried and true best places to hunt. Even our neighbor answered only "the St. Joe" when asked where he'd bagged this 5-point elk. Now that narrows it down. :)
Be safe, wear hunter orange and happy hunting!

... falling still

couldn't resist one more falling gas prices photo from this week. $2.88 per gallon at Albertson's in Coeur d'Alene. At this rate $2.00 a gallon gas is a real possibility before the snow falls in North Idaho.

High Voltage, Low Flying

Low flying aircraft have a colorful warning of high voltage wires over Fernan Lake. The balls are strung from Fernan Hill on the north side of the lake to the south shore hilltop. Fernan Lake is at the east end of Coeur d'Alene's Sherman Avenue and is a popular fishing lake in all seasons. A smaller North Idaho lake, it routinely freezes over in the winter to the delight of ice fishing sports enthusiasts and ice skaters. A public boat launch and fishing dock are easy to access.

Skyscrapers

The penthouse gardens atop the 14-story McEuen Terrace on Front Avenue were once the skyscraper view of downtown Coeur d'Alene. Now the 20-story, 215 ft. tall Parkside Tower across the street is dominating the skyline. For those keeping track, Parkside will be about the same height as the 18-story Coeur d'Alene Resort, but because it's on higher ground, it will be the tallest structure in the evolving downtown.

Pulaski Trail Paradise

Although I shoot several hundred photographs a month through the year, the majority are taken firmly on the beaten path. Coeur d'Alene homeschooling dad, Phil Corless, takes his children off the beaten path in the course of their outdoor education. His gorgeous photograph of the Placer Creek waterfall was taken on the Pulaski Trail in the Silver Valley and he generously shared it with OnLocation North Idaho.
Writes Phil on his blog: "The trail is named after Ed Pulaski, a forest service ranger who saved most of his 45-man crew during the Great Fire of 1910 by leading them through the woods to the safety of an abandoned mine. The new trailhead follows Placer Creek to that very mine, now called the Pulaski Tunnel, and includes interpretive markers about Pulaski, the 1910 fires, and wildfire management." http://www.pkmeco.com/familyblog/
North Idaho Trivia - Ed Pulaski is buried in historic Forest Cemetery on Government Way in Coeur d'Alene.

Topless in North Idaho

OnLocation travels in the FYImobile with the wind in my hair are soon to be a thing of summer past. But I have been known to bundle up, crank up the heater and cruise the highways and byways of North Idaho well into November with the top down.

Ding!

Okay, today the price of a gallon of unleaded gas in Coeur d'Alene dipped below the $3 mark for the first time in months. When it falls below $2 a gallon, I'll let you know!

Going down Part II

The prices at EXXON stations in Coeur d'Alene were down again this morning ... to $3.09 a gallon. Then I noticed the Zip Stop on 7th and Sherman was selling regular unleaded for a staggering $3.66. At the end of the day the Albertson's on Ironwood was $3.06! Same day, same town, and a difference of .60 a gallon. It looks like by the end of this week we'll be seeing prices solidly under the $3 mark in North Idaho!

Going down ...

In one week's time the price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas has fallen from $3.49 per gallon to $3.14 in Coeur d'Alene.

Water Colors

There's no shortage of natural beauty to photograph in North Idaho. For me, the many shades and textures of our lakes and rivers provide the most scenic and soothing subjects of all. Today at Beauty Creek, a couple of miles past the campground, I paused to enjoy the sounds of the water spilling over rocks and fallen logs on its way to Lake Coeur d'Alene. In the shadows of the overhanging foliage, moss provided a contrast to the hues of the rocks on the creekbed.

Pretty in Pink

Thirty-seven young women from all over the state were OnLocation in Coeur d'Alene this past week for the Idaho Junior Miss Program. They displayed some extraordinary performing arts skills from piano to cello to ballet to classical vocals. These high school seniors are solidly among the best and the brightest in all of Idaho. This pretty-in-pink Blackfoot High School student, Paige Casperson, came away with the overall scholastic achievement award ... no small feat in a sea of achievers.

Best Deal in Town

In North Idaho this election year has people fully engaged. At the Gentlemens Quarter barber shop in Coeur d'Alene they offer a package deal on politics, counseling and a hair cut!

Dress Rehearsal

It seems that just before the leaves change color the last flowers of summer are particularly vibrant. This white picket fence is dressed up in bright daisies as one of the most beautiful fall foliage neighborhoods in Coeur d'Alene gets ready for the visual treat of autumn. A few blocks north of Sherman Avenue between 4th and 10th Streets is at the top of the list for the viewing of spectacular colors in the coming weeks. Foster Avenue is my personal pick for fall photography in all of North Idaho.

The good old days

After a summer season of gas prices edging towards $4 a gallon, North Idaho is finally seeing some relief at the pumps. OnLocation in Coeur d'Alene I spotted more than one station with prices below $3.45 a gallon for regular. This vintage Chevron sign graces the side of an old building in downtown Spirit Lake.

Wooo Hooo!

This is it ... that bonus summer day on October 1. Sunshine and 80+ degrees will give us all one final reminder of how perfect summer in North Idaho really is before we bundle up for brisk fall weather. Get out there and enjoy!