Idaho's Coeur d'Alene is Picture Perfect

     My first impression of Coeur d'Alene was "This town is just too picture perfect!"  This young mule deer in someone's yard on a street not too far from downtown is for real. Mama was nearby.

     Yesterday while driving around the streets, looking for their indoor swimming pool and their library, I felt like I was absorbed into a home and garden magazine. Just about every home and business had spectacular landscaping. No wonder mule deer like this town!

I could walk around this little town's streets all summer and marvel at everyone's landscaping. Gardens too!

And beautiful old homes on streets lined with big old trees.

     I found their temperature-perfect indoor swimming pool. This town is most fortunate; it has a Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc (McDonald's fame) Corps Community Center. There are 27 Kroc centers in the USA and Coeur d'Alene's center is perhaps the crème de la crème.

     After my swim, I found out there was a paved bike trail from the Kroc Center to downtown. Unloaded my bike and took my camera with me. The Spokane River (AKA, Lake Coeur d'Alene) is a wide slow river that resembles a lake along the city.

People bike and read and play along the Spokane River.

There are several sandy shorelines considered "beaches".

The pedestrian and bike trail is wide enough for all.

Another swanky playground! But this one is in the middle of a wonderful grove of tall shady old trees.

Another "beach" area along the Spokane.

Human and avian paddlers get along well . . .

     The Resort downtown has a 3/4-mile boardwalk. Fortunately, no skaters, bicyclists, speeders allowed! It's meant to be savored :)

    At a residential intersection, I saw a wild turkey slowly walking, one slow leg at a time, at the correct place, just like a human would cross an intersection. It continued nonchalantly walking down the sidewalk while I biked along side it. Then it jaywalked behind me, and continued down my side of the sidewalk. It entered that gate opening (it lived there?) and walked behind the house!

     Stopped to talk with a young family (this town has many young families walking/recreating together outside).  I asked them about the turkey and another turkey I had seen. They said there were about 100 wild turkeys that freely walk around town. No big deal. Amazing!