Operation Tally-Ho : 1 Couple, 1 Baby, 2 Dogs, and an RV

Ida(tally)ho!

by Briana on September 19, 2011

Hello Uncle Doug!

Matt has a large family with something like 10-15 Aunts and Uncles and countless cousins that he has not met or seen in decades. One such Uncle is his Uncle Doug. Doug lives in Post Falls, ID which is just outside of Coeur d’Alene. After leaving Montana, and on our way to WA to see Matt’s Mama we decided on a small detour to visit (and meet in my case) Uncle Doug.

Doug makes a mean potato salad and was kind enough to let us pull up into his empty lot next to his house and plug in.

We spent 3 days visiting with Doug where I was regaled with family stories and some amazing pancakes. And Matt got to connect with a family member he hadn’t seen in over 25 years! Doug’s house is filled with amazing paintings that his mom (Matt’s Mee-maw) painted. What talent she has!

The area around his house is really nice. We walked the dogs to the nearest fishing hole and saw no less than 5 girls on BMX bikes –must be how they roll in Post Falls (HAHA! Get it? How they roll! Ha!). Anyways, the lake (or was it part of a river?) was perfect for the dogs to fetch wood and swim around in for a bit. This was not the beautiful and majestic Lake Coeur d’Alene, which we also did get to see and walk around a little bit of.

Here are some pics of Coeur d’Alene:

One of the most fascinating things about the area (other than an inexplicable amount of young ladies on BMX bikes) is that the Coeur d’Alene Tribe filed a lawsuit to take back the lake that had been claimed by the Govt. many moons ago. Evidently the Tribe won the lawsuit and the lake was returned to them. They then went to each resident on the lake and gave them long term leases. How crazy is that!?! And how far back do the ramifications of THAT go? Are sellers responsible? What about Real Estate Agents? Brokers? I’m sure there was no system in place for Title companies to search for and warn potential buyers that the land they were buying with their “dream lake home” was not really eligible for sale. I wonder if there is a form now that people have to sign?

Anyways, the crazier thing about that is that after winning they filed ANOTHER suit to re-claim the rivers (I don’t know which one(s)). If they win that suit the Tribe has said that they will restore the river back to its original state. Sounds good, right? But no! They will undo any and all damns– presumably flooding the towns below. They will also stop irrigation to farmers. What a mess!

As for now though, the town of Post Falls and Uncle Doug are all happy as clams. Their view is beautiful! The people are friendly, and the sunsets are really pretty!