Stoneridge Resort - Blanchard ID

We've turned off Hwy 93 on to Hwy 200, which will take us northwest towards the Idaho panhandle. However, for the time being, we're still in Montana. We spend a couple of nights at the Trout Creek Motel & RV Park. It was getting pretty hot, but Trout Creek had some very private, shaded spots that were very nice.

The rv park neighbors have turkeys. You'll need to look pretty closely to see them, but Tank saw them and was pretty fascinated!

There really are turkeys in this picture!

There was also a lake across the street. We had dinner at the lodge across the road to get this view.



We move on to the Sandpoint/Coeur d'Alene is a pretty popular tourist area during the summer. We've found Stoneridge Resort, a golf & rv resort, to use as our home base for the area. Stoneridge has golf course homes, condos, timeshares, and a motor coach village. They will only allow you to stay if you have a 30' or larger class 'A' motorhome, so we're the little kids on the block. Most of the rvs around us are 40' - 45'!

Most of the lots here are privately owned, and people have built storage "sheds" and covered pergolas over their outdoor kitchens and bar areas. We check out some of the lots that are for sale but don't love the area enough to be tempted.

The thing that sold Tom on this place is that they have pickleball courts...I don't know if I'll even see Tom while we're here let alone explore anywhere!

Yay! No pickleball on Sundays, so we spend the day exploring the area. First we head to Sandpoint, which is located on the north shore of Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced Ponderay).  Our first objective is to get a car wash, then to the beach!

The beach at Sandpoint is a nice little park, public beach and marina. The park is full of camping tents. Apparently, there is a bike ride across Idaho going on, and this is their stop for the night. Nice. No wonder we've seen soooo many bicyclists on the road today.






The beach/park also has a snack bar. From what I could tell, they only sold ice cream; I guess we will just have to settle for party animal (circus animal crackers in cotton candy ice cream) and death by chocolate!

Driving through the town, downtown has a lot of restaurants and shops. Nice touristy spot, but we don't stop. Instead, we head out along the Priest River and up to Priest Lake to see the golf course. The course is nice, but a bit remote; we get zero phone service there.

We also drive through Priest River. It's a logging town; it sits on top of a hill, so it has a nice view. By the time we get back to Stoneridge, it's too late for Tom to get in a round of golf. Since we are leaving tomorrow, I guess we will just have to come back another time, so he can play.