Cocolalla

Back in the day, I was talking to a plumber who came to the house in Hamilton to fix something or another.  When I was standing outside talking to him, I asked questions about his Chevy Silverado and I remember what he said perfectly.  "If you get one, make sure it's a manual transmission.  Take care of it and it will easily get you to 250,000 miles."

I decided to put it to the test. 

Well, he was right!

The particularly cool thing about this fateful day was where it occurred.  That old girl claimed Cocolalla as her retirement location.  We've bought a house, ripped out carpet, painted all the walls, and are now getting laminate put down.  It's been some loooong weekend days / nights.  One day I ran down to the gas station to fuel up and when I pulled into the parking lot, she hit 250,000 miles.  Now I wanted to cheat and drive over to the local bar, Boondocks Bar and Grill, and take a photo...claiming that she took me to the bar in our new town, but I didn't...  And, now that I look at it...doesn't Boondocks Bar and Grill sound like something out of a Pat McManus book?  Hmmm...

So, with the search for a house, the loan process and all that goes along with it...it's been keeping me pretty busy, thus the lack of posts.  However, we're going to have some dandy before and after photos so I think I'll just hold off writing about it.

But, in case anyone's curious I took a transfer to the Sandpoint office doing the same job I'm doing in Coeur d'Alene.  It was time for a change and some new country to explore.  We found (and in my mind, basically stole) a great little manufactured home on 2 acres on the west side of Cocolalla lake.  It has a huge shop as well as deeded lake access within walking distance.  All the work we're doing to it is purely cosmetic but it sure is eating up my weekends.  (For the past two weekends I've just slept in the shop and worked 12-13 hour days.)  Sarah is smart enough to head home for the night, but I work better early in the morning.  Around seven o'clock at night I'm so whooped that I can't think...I really didn't want to try and drive the 30 miles home.

Ooh, and the best story I have of being tired happened on Sunday April 6th.  I made it home, had dinner, and was rapidly falling asleep.  I was so tired that I just wanted to take out my contacts and pass out.  So I was in the bathroom, I took out the first contact and flipped the case over.  "What the hell?!  I lost a contact!  I'll bet it's sitting up there on the bathroom counter in Cocolalla!"  I closed one eye so that I could see enough to search for my extra contacts, found them, put them on the counter...then looked in the mirror, my one eye still closed so I could see.  "Wait a minute...I'm taking them OUT!  Oh yea!"  Seriously, I forgot what I was doing in the middle of doing it.  I have NEVER been that tired in my entire life.  Woofta!

It's going to be a nice place to live after what we've gone through / put up with down here.  But for some reason, we just HAVE to live on a road that shares the town name.  In CDA we're living on Coeur d'Alene Ave.  In Cocolalla, we're living on Cocolalla loop road.  At least it's a little easier than spelling Coeur d'Alene, but not much.

More to come...