Hiawatha

This weekend, Matt and I were fortunate enough to go mountain biking and spend a night in Wallace, Idaho. We had a gift certificate to go on the Route of the Hiawatha bike trail. It was awesome! On Friday, we left Coeur d'Alene at 8am, drove to Lookout Pass where we rented our mountain bikes, then drove 5 miles to the Idaho/Montana border to start our bike trip. The trip is 15 miles one way with 10 tunnels and 7 tressels to bike through. It's an old railroad line with all the ties removed so now it's just a dirt/gravel trail. The trail starts with a 1.7 mile long tunnel. It was very cool in the tunnel and water dripped from the ceiling while riding. We started biking at 10:20 and finished the trail a little after noon. Although the temperature got up to the 90s that day, it was quite comfortable while we were riding, especially the cool tunnels. At the end of the trail, there was a shuttle bus which transported the riders and their bikes back to the top of the trail where our cars were parked. Even though there were quite a few other riders, it felt like Matt and I had the trail to ourselves because the riders were spread out pretty far. It was a really neat trip and I'm glad we got to do it...another thing to do before Matt leaves! After our bike trip, we went to nearby Wallace, Idaho and spent the night. Again, we had gift certificates for restaurants and the hotel in Wallace. I love a free vacation weekend!

A look at one of the 7 tressels we crossed. The highest tressel was 221 feet.

Another exciting aspect of our vacation is that it was baby-free! Erika stayed in CdA with Aunt Sarah for Friday night. It was the first time Matt or I have been away from her longer than about 5 hours, but it was fine! Sarah said she was great and had no problems with her. They went for a jog, went out to dinner with some friends, then went to the park down by the lake. Lucky girl with Aunt Sarah! While at the park, Erika went running toward the swings and ran right into one, causing a large bruise on her forehead. I bet it was pretty funny to watch!

Nice bruise!

The entire ride home, I was so excited to see Erika! As soon as I walked in the door, she ran right toward....the Nalgene bottles I was carrying. She could have cared less that Matt and I left or were home again. I guess she won't be missing Matt too much when he leaves!

On a totally separate note, I had to have my blood drawn for some tests they do on pregnant women (I really don't know what they do...I just do what my doctor tells me). The girl who drew my blood was new and kept poking the needle in my arm to find the vein. While she was doing that, I just knew that I would have a bruise when it was all over. Sure enough. Here's my painful looking bruise.