Our three-day stop in Coeur d’Alene was conceived as an opportunity to “circle the wagons” and take care of business. In preparation, we reserved an urban, discounted campsite, had a month’s worth of mail forwarded in c/o the RV park and made plans to have our gimpy slide out serviced.

A couple of weeks ago, when the motorhome’s mechanically articulated dinette suddenly became inarticulate, we called every RV service center within a 200 mile radius in search of an appointment. Many rejections later, we were referred to Robert, proprietor of a mobile, mobile home repair business out of Yuma, AZ and Coeur d’Alene, ID. He had one day available. It became the center of our plan.

We were all business by the time we pulled into the Tamarack RV Park two weeks later. So, while the fact that the North Idaho Fair & Rodeo was in full swing less than a block away DID register, I don’t think it occurred to either of us that our campground would be ground zero for the hard working folks responsible for the glittering lights and occasional squeals just down the road. Nope, nearly 24 aggravating hours ticked by before I understood that our lousy neighbors were carnies.

With that mystery solved (and the carnival moved on) we awaited Robert’s arrival and hoped for an easy solution to our slide out woes. Kudos to Bob of North Idaho Mobile RV Repair, who showed up on time and diagnosed the problem within an hour. It turns out that two, one-inch cracked welds were to blame. If only we had found this out just a few hours earlier—when the carnival AND THEIR WELDER were still next door! Instead, it took another day to find a generous welder who did us an enormous solid by squeezing the project into a full schedule and charging us peanuts.

There was a bit of drama with the mail delivery (it’s always the little things, right?), but we eventually got all our boxes checked and started south toward Moscow, ID—home of the University of Idaho and NRS headquarters, a sort of mecca for my river rat hubby. When he phoned ahead to inquire if we could camp in the parking lot (yes, really), they recommended a 5 site campground in a park on the edge of town with electric sites for just $10 a night. Good thing, because we both went a little crazy shopping NRS’s “FRUSED” loft and spent a third of our monthly budget in a day. Unfortunately, more temptation is on the way. We’ll be in Boise by the end of the week.