Pull out your passports, folks, we’re going to Canada! The votes were tight with this time: 6 votes for North, 5 votes for East, and one vote against going West. If we’d gone East, we would have wound up in Trego, Montana, and if anyone had been interested in sending us West, we would have gone to Ione, Washington.
So, when’s the last time that you were in Canada? Anyone ever been to Kimberley?
Have you enjoyed our visit to Bonners Ferry? I sure have! If you haven’t yet, please check out the comment added by Bonners Ferry citizen Lon Woodbury – he explains what the Safeway paintings are about and also gives us some further info on the community.
It’s that time again when we pack our browsers and figure out our next location. I’m putting up the poll, as usual, but this time I feel it’s a little superfluous – I have a very strong feeling that I know which direction we’re going to be heading in! (Hint: we’ll be leaving the United States.)
As always, bonus points for explaining your vote in the comments!
Welcome to Bonners Ferry, gang! Like the sign says, it’s a StormReady Community, and good thing, too, because it’s 57° Fahrenheit (14° Celcius) and rainy here today. Looks like we may have some thunder and lightning, too.
I’m not sure if it has anything to do with it’s proximity to Canada or not (16 miles from the boarder), but Bonners Ferry is a quirky town! Now, when I say quirky, I normally mean that in a derogatory way, but not this time – Bonners Ferry really does have some strange charm. (If you need immediate proof of this statement, go ahead and scroll down to the last photo in this post right now. Satisfied?)
Bonners Ferry sits on the banks of the Kootenai River, and is named after Edwin Bonner, who established and operated the eponymous ferry back 1864. Bonner didn’t actually found the town – the town wasn’t incorporated until 1893. The ferry initially started up in order to get gold miners across the river, and as the ferry business started attracting settlers, mining remained an important industry. In addition to mining, the other two main industries in Bonners Ferry were logging and farming. The town’s big boom in growth came in the early decades of the 20th century, and as is evidenced in the photo below, hasn’t changed very much since then.
Incidentally, the Rex Theatre is up for sale if you’re in the market for a movie theater in Bonners Ferry. For $295,000, it’s all yours.
You know how I mentioned that the three big industries in Bonners Ferry are mining, logging, and farming? Check out the Boundary County Courthouse in the town!
It’s the industry trifecta! (I very nearly second-guessed myself into believing that the top one wasn’t logging, but then I realized he’s poling a log in a river. Unless I’m wrong.) This courthouse is courtesy of WPA, and was built in 1940. Man, I love the constructivist look of some of that old WPA stuff!
I found this next photo on Flickr, and it was captioned “Paintings on Wall of Bonners Ferry Safeway“. There is no other context or clue to what this is about, and I’m very intrigued! I would certainly do my shopping at any supermarket thathad a bunch of paintings of dead people on the wall! I’ve done some Google searches for the names I can make out, but I’m coming up empty-handed.
I also found this guy on Flickr:
The caption of the picture reads “Harvey Loding on the bridge over the Kootenay River, Bonners Ferry, Idaho, USA, 17th April, 1942.” If he’s the same Harvey Loding I found on ancestry.com, he was drafted into WWI and died in Spokane in 1972. Anyway, it looks like he may have actually outlived the bridge he was standing on, judging from this picture:
That old defunct bridge makes me a little sad every time I look at it. It looked so well kept back in 1942!
If the paintings in the Safeway didn’t seal the previously-stated quirky charm for you, I now submit my main piece of evidence: the Barber Ship! The Barber Ship is a functioning barber shop, and from what I’ve read online it keeps true to the nautical theme on the inside!
Well, that’s all I’ve got for Bonners Ferry. I’m off to see if I can’t scare up a local to tell us a little more about the town!
The polling’s finished, and we’re off again to the North. We’ll land just shy of the Canadian border in the town of Bonners Ferry, Idaho. We had nine votes this time: an overwhelming seven for North, one for East, and one for anywhere but West. Had we gone West, we would have gone to Davenport, Washington. If we’d gone back South, we would have stopped in Plummer, Idaho. And if we’d gone West, we would have stopped in Thompson Falls, Montana.
Do you have any stories about Bonners Ferry? Tips? Has anyone ever been there? Please share it in the comments with us!
Hey, hey, welcome to the CDA! The name of this town is French for “Heart of the Awl”, but no one really seems to be in a consensus of what the phrase is supposed to mean. It’s French, by the way, because the first Europeans in this area of North America were largely French fur trappers.
Coeur D’Alene started out as an old mining town, but these days its main industry is tourism. According to the Wikipedia page, Barbara Walters referred to Coeur D’Alene as “a little slice of heaven.” Ick! Anyway, part of the tourism comes from the town’s proximity to a couple of ski resorts and other recreational sites, but it is also bolstered by being located between pristine Lake Coeur D’Alene and unarguably pretty mountain forests.
Once a town becomes known for its beautiful location and recreation options, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before the entrepreneurs and corporations interested in tourist dollars start arriving. They bring things like large resort hotels, golf courses, and an ideal of a “Main Street” that is artificial and boutique-y. Coeur D’Alene definitely wound up with the resort hotel and the golf course (complete with a floating 14th hole), but it seems like they may have dodged the conversion of a Main Street to an open-aired mall.
While I was looking around for photos of Coeur D’Alene, I kept coming upon examples of a fad that seemed to sweep through the United States beginning around the turn of this century. Here in Coeur D’ALene, they called it “Moose on the Loose“:
The idea for these type of projects, to the best of my understanding, was that some community-minded group would purchase a specific number of the same plain fiberglass (I think) statue with the intention of having each one decorated by a different local artist or group of artists. The statues would then be put on public display around town for some period of time before being auctioned off in order to generate revenue for the same-said community-minded group. As I noted, this is some sort of weird civic fad that’s gone around America (and probably further), so it’s not just Coeur D’Alene doing this. Spokane had a similar one with Snoopy figures at some point, so this is not the first town we’ve been through that has done something like this [Further searching indicates that I was mistaken, this is from San Rosa]. I think Boise, Idaho, did cows once, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, did pigs (I may be switching those two). The thing I wonder about this is: who’s behind this corny (but probably lucrative) scheme? Is there a fiberglass mold company with sales agents that travel around the country talking to City Councils and Kiwanis Clubs? If you know anything about the business of this stuff, can you let me know? Thanks.
Surprisingly, the “Moose on the Loose” project is not Coeur D’Alene’s only civically-minded series of moose statues; there is also the very local “Mudgy & Millie” series of five statues. These statues were created in conjunction with a children’s book, both of which focus on a moose who is looking for a mouse who is hiding nearby. I’m not a big fan of the aesthetic myself, but I find something very charming about the idea that a city has its own storybook and statue walk for children.
One serious downside of Coeur D’Alene is its association in people’s minds with white supremacy. This is a little unfair to Coeur D’Alene, because the entire Northwest of the United States is predominantly caucasian, and the whole region has long struggled with racism and skinheads. Coeur D’Alene, though, gets singled out because up until 2001, the neo-Nazi group, the Aryan Nations, maintained a compound just outside of Coeur D’Alene in a suburb called Hayden Lake. The group lost their compound in 2001 after losing a lawsuit against a woman and her son who were assaulted by drunk compound guards. The compound and surrounding area were eventually designated as a “peace park” owned by North Idaho College and all of the buildings were destroyed. The Aryan Nations no longer exists in the area, but it hasn’t completely eradicated the bigots or the stigma that Coeur D’Alene carries in this regard.
Coeur D’Alene’s got some other kind of weird stuff that I’m guessing we probably won’t see anywhere else on our trip. Take, for example, this poor, arrogant photographer that they dipped in bronze:
They also have what I imagine is the only fireplace shaped like the state of Idaho in the state of Idaho. (Idahoans: am I wrong on this?) This is at a place called, appropriately, the State Motel:
Actually, this next one probably occurs in a lot of places around this part of the United State and Canada. Little kids competitively riding sheep. This video kind of bothers me (these kids have to be under six to participate), but in the interest of immersing ourselves in different cultures, here you go:
And on that note, we’ll close our post with a couple of cool local signs:
I think Norge (Cleaners?) used to be some sort of regional chain, because I seem to remember seeing a sign like this in Twin Falls, Idaho.
Do you have anything to add about Coeur D’Alene? We want to hear all about it! The comments are open.
The votes are in, and we’re heading back North, this time to Coeur D’Alene, Idaho! We had two votes for North, one for South, one for West, and one against West. I abstained from voting this time around, because I couldn’t make up my mind about which direction we should head. If we’d gone South, we would have gone to Enterprise, Oregon; if we’d gone West, we would have gone to Prescott, Washington; and if we’d headed back towards the East we would have stopped in Orofino, Idaho.
Know of anything interesting on the way from Lewiston to Coeur D’Alene? Know any people in Couer D’Alene that we could get in touch with? Any fun stories about something dumb you did in Coeur D’Alene? Does anyone else have trouble spelling “coeur” correctly? If you answered yes to any of these questions, take a moment and leave it in the comments, won’t you?
Hey, how’s everyone enjoying Lewiston? It got up in the 90s here today, but the humidity is only at 24%, so it feels a lot cooler than back in Portland. I’ve spent the day trying to find some fun and interesting stuff to do here in Lewiston, but I must not be having a very good Googling day, because the things I’ve found are kind of depressing (YMMV). I admit, the heat may have fried my brain a little bit.
A couple of stops back, my amazing friend Drew Anderson requested more pictures and videos, and since I’m a little heat-addled right now, I think today is a good day to let the images tell the story.
Lewiston does this thing in the Winter where they like to go crazy with Christmas lights in a downtown park:
(I like the weird Illuminati triangle thing under the flag in this next one.)
This next one’s for John over at Lost Oregon. This place still exists!
These next ones all indulge my interest in old business signs:
This next one is something I’m having a little trouble with: the little champ on this new McDonalds sign. The sign’s not vintage, but he doesn’t look modern. Is this some sort of new McDonalds mascot that I’m not familiar with, or is he part of an old sign that was incorporated into this sign as some sort of legacy thing?
A chef’s hat, a monocle, and a black eye? I’m so confused! If anyone can enlighten me on this one, I’d really appreciate it! (Update: Apparently this is Speedee, a McDonald’s mascot from the 1940s, that they are trying to phase back in at some newer McDonald’s.)
And, lastly, if there are those of you out there who are missing the more physical road trip aspect of this project, then this video is for you (if you have nine minutes to kill):
Hey everyone! We’ve double backed a bit, and have arrived back in the Palouse – the same region that we traveled a couple of weeks ago when we went through Wenatchee, Marlin, and Spokane. This time we’re a little farther South in, and we’ve reached Lewiston, Idaho!
Lewiston sits on the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers, and the town is probably best known for being the farthest inland seaport in the Western United States – the Snake River flows into the Columbia, and the Columbia flows to the Pacific Ocean, which is over 400 miles away from Lewiston! Lewiston’s elevation is 740 feet above sea level (the lowest point in the entire state of Idaho), but vessels are able navigate to this high point by going through a system of locks.
Lewiston is named after Merriwether Lewis of America’s famed Lewis and Clark expedition. In case you don’t believe me, the smaller city just across the Snake River, on the Washington side, is named Clarkston. The Lewis and Clark party did pass through this area, taking the Clearwater down until it met the Snake. Lewis would later go on to be the Governor of the Louisiana Territory before either being killed or killing himself [A warning to those following this link: Incredibly small text!].
Incidentally, the presence of the Lewis and Clark company is one of two relations between Lewiston and our last stop of Pierce, Idaho. Although I hadn’t mentioned it on our stop in Pierce, that location was apparently another campsite of the Lewis and Clark party. Secondly, Lewiston only exists because of Pierce: Lewiston is one of the Northern Idaho boom towns that came into existence after gold was discovered in Pierce.
There’s an interesting story that comes out of Lewiston being a gold rush town. Lewiston started out as a town in 1861, before Idaho was a territory of the United States. Once it became a territory, Lewiston was selected as the capitol because of its proximity to gold, waterways, and the territory of Washington. Not too long afterward, however, gold was discovered in Southern Idaho, and the city of Boise became a player in the region. After a lot of disagreements and tomfoolery in the regional government, Boise ended up being named the capitol of Idaho. The folks in Lewiston disagreed, but Boise finally won out after they robbed the state constitution from Lewiston. You can check out a more comprehensive version of the story here. So, hey, welcome to the former capitol of Idaho!
That’s all I’ve got for the history of Lewiston. Do you know more? Please, share it in the comments! We’ll come back around with another post about modern day Lewiston before we head on out of here. Know someone that lives in Lewiston? Have them email me! They’re a better source on the town than I can be. We might stick around here for a few days – it’s a little hard to write in this oppressive heat! (106° Fahrenheit in Portland today, gang.)
The voting has ended and we’ve got a new direction to head in: West to Lewiston, Idaho! We had ten votes this time, and went to Facebook for a last minute tie-breaker. The break down was 1 for North, 1 for anywhere but North, 2 for East, 3 for West (one of these votes was on behalf of my friend and former collaborator Jen Rhoads, who wrote “West is the direction of walking beyond death. North is the direction of mastering invisibility. Hmm. I think West (first).”), and 3 for South. This was our first tied vote, so I solicited anyone online on Facebook to pick South, West, or Southwest, and cite their reason. The lovely Lisa Radon came through for us, picking West, with the following statement: “I already voted North because I Want Canada, but barring that, I’ll take *West* and envision a right and swooping upward arc that will begin westerly and eventually aim north. Reason (previously stated): Nova Scotia.”
Have you been to Lewiston? I believe I’ve been through it years and years ago, but I’m afraid I can’t remember much about it. If you’ve got any thoughts, feelings, remembrances, or what-have-yous about Lewiston, share it in the comments with us, won’t you? Of course, if none of you know anything about Lewiston, that’s okay, to, because we’ll all be there in spirit in a day or two.
Did my last post about Pierce, Idaho, seem overly grouchy to you? It did to me. I get upset about thinking how the Native Americans have been treated by the United States government, but if I let that sort of thing get under my skin, I’m going to be doing a lot of grousing on every stop on our trip around the world! So keeping that in mind, I’m not focusing on the Pierce of 150 years ago, but the Pierce of today. And it’s pretty awesome!
Oops… that was Pierce in the 1930s! Let’s try this:
Pierce has the distinction of being the first place that we’ve visited that I can’t find a good, solid shot of their main road anywhere on the Internet. I’ve spent a pretty good amount of time trying to find one, but no luck, and the town’s too small to have a Google Streetview (the current population of Pierce is 533). Anyway, here’s the top down view:
What is it that makes me think Pierce is so awesome? Well, let me count the ways:
1) The Wink and Smile Family Restaurant has an awesome sign! They also serve an item called a “Log Jam”, which is a beef hot dog filled with swiss cheese, wrapped in bacon, and then deep-fried!!! My god! My arteries got totally clogged just typing that last sentence. Also: huckleberry products.
On a totally unrelated note, I found the above photo of the restaurant off of a search on Flickr, and, amazingly, I actually know the person who posted the photo! Hi, Jess – nice shot!
2) Crazy directional signpost! I’m a sucker for these things, I have to admit. The best thing about this one is that (I think) it’s actually meant to be functional, not whimsical (i.e. there’s no “China – 5800 miles”). Here’s a closer look at it:
3) This is the sort of thing people do for fun in Pierce:
4) It’s just down the road from a town called Headquarters, Idaho!
