Welcome to our adventures in usa-land

Hi all,

Welcome to our new blog space to keep all our lovely friends and family posted on our adventures in usa-land and beyond.

We arrived on the 21st of February in Coeur D'Alene in Idaho where Phil's family resides. Its an very beautiful town located on an amazing lake and surrounded by pine covered mountains. Dirt is cheap in Idaho so everything is very spread out! Our solution to this problem was to spend our first two days at a Toyota dealer test driving and crunching numbers. We are now the very happy drivers of an '09 Corolla. We aren't sure we are qualified to have such a lovely vehicle seeing as we never cleaned our previous car!

Phil has started work in downtown Spokane which is about 45 minutes away. It is a riverside city with some waterfalls - which are a bit more like intense rapids. It is a very quiet city. We are constantly wondering where all the people are! It is not like the hustle and bustle of Sydney at all. We are hoping to find an apartment down there soon to save Phil from his two hours of commuting each day - although I think he is yet to find a traffic jam!

Fi is just hanging out at Grandma's house looking for jobs and doing not much. The rain here (which everyone assures us is unusual) has meant she has been a little stuck inside. She is not used to doing not much and is now quite acquainted with almost every shop in the Couer D'Alene area. She is trying to get back in touch with her creative roots and has started crocheting a scarf and will be attending a quilting class on Saturday.

The weekends are little more fun. So far we have:

• Been to a Civil War reenactment. This involves hundreds of people setting up a camp in Civil War style. They really get into it - tents, clothing, guns and all! We wandered the campsites and watched a battle - where the Rebels won! It is a truly amazing piece of American culture.
• Been to Costco - a ridiculously oversized bulk store where you can buy everything in massive quantities. The best bit is that you can eat a 10 course meal in the samples.
• Hiked Mineral Ridge which overlooks the lake - beautiful. Yesterday on another hike (Tubb's Hill) we even saw some deer!
• Went to Artfest - it was totally rained out. It is a market with regional artists. Could have had a cool vibe but instead we are just cold.
• Eaten American food - a hot dog swamped in chili, deep fried pickles, Americanised-Australian food at the Outback Steak house.

That's all for now - we will keep you posted on our American adventures!