Planning a trip to CDA with young teens (Coeur d'Alene, Athol: 2015, rent)

[labellavita116]

I everyone, I'm in the early stages of planning a trip to visit CDA/NID for my family of 4, two of them are young teens. We homeschool so we are flexible to travel any time of the year and would prefer to travel off season as that is when things are typically less expensive and not as crowded, but we are open to whatever would be the most fun for my family's first trip to ID. Are there any interesting festivals or events that you think might be especially appealing to a 14 and 12 yr old, that we could plan our trip around? I'd be happy looking at the lake, mountains and trees for days, along with driving around and exploring, but some fun would be good for our children.

September keeps coming to my mind as a good month to travel and I see that Silverwood is open on the weekends. Can someone who has been to Silverwood comment on that? How crowded is it? Can you ride a decent amount of rides without having to stand in line for forever? (sorry, bad Six Flags flashbacks).

If my husband can get the time off from work (we'd like a week) and we can afford to go on this trip, it will be a very big deal for my family, as a single income family we don't have a lot of money to just hop on a plane and go just anywhere or whenever we want, so this is a very big deal for us. I want to make it a great time of fun, while we also scout a new place to call home.

Thank you! Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I will also search the archives further. TY!

[Steelhead69]

I'll be looking forward to the replies. Nearly the same situation here, homeschooling family (albeit with just one kiddo) single income (me) looking to head to NID for a week-long holiday/scout-trip but in late June (company shut-down). Been trying to pull this trip off for years but financial difficulties or lack of vacation time always got in the way. Still tight Financially but were going budget-minded and mostly for the experience. Throw the kid, the dog and some food in the car for the long drive from Nor Cal to save money, not quite sure where we'll be staying. Also been looking at Silverwood along with general exploring and looking for stillness and quiet to make the trip multi-layered fun.
Best of luck on your journey!
-Glen

[labellavita116]

Originally Posted by Steelhead69

I'll be looking forward to the replies. Nearly the same situation here, homeschooling family (albeit with just one kiddo) single income (me) looking to head to NID for a week-long holiday/scout-trip but in late June (company shut-down). Been trying to pull this trip off for years but financial difficulties or lack of vacation time always got in the way. Still tight Financially but were going budget-minded and mostly for the experience. Throw the kid, the dog and some food in the car for the long drive from Nor Cal to save money, not quite sure where we'll be staying. Also been looking at Silverwood along with general exploring and looking for stillness and quiet to make the trip multi-layered fun.
Best of luck on your journey!
-Glen

Hope you post about your trip, Glen, it would be great to hear what you thought, what worked well for your trip, what you would change. We live in Atlanta currently and as much as I'd love to drive, show my kids more of the country that I grew up seeing, stop by CO and visit family, and head on to ID, the drive there and back would eat up too many days, so flying would be our best option. That appears to be $400/person in the off season, and goes up $100+/person in the summer. So yeah, could easily be a budget buster.

Best of luck on your journey too! Love to see people making their dreams come true!

[Clark Fork Fantast]

I used to post monthly Idaho event info threads, but it got too time-consuming. Anyway, the old threads still exist, and some of the events are probably scheduled for 2015. Here are the events from September 2011. There was a festival at Schweitzer, and a horse show, and rodeos, and Octoberfest in CdA was actually in late September:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/idaho...11-events.html

This year it is Sept.25 and 26!
Coeur d'Alene Downtown Events

[labellavita116]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

I used to post monthly Idaho event info threads, but it got too time-consuming. Anyway, the old threads still exist, and some of the events are probably scheduled for 2015. Here are the events from September 2011. There was a festival at Schweitzer, and a horse show, and rodeos, and Octoberfest in CdA was actually in late September:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/idaho...11-events.html

This year it is Sept.25 and 26!
Coeur d'Alene Downtown Events

Thank you CFF! I forgot that I was actually following that page on FB, thanks for the reminder, I checked out their whole calendar. The 26th is my birthday, that would be fun to spend it in CDA.

[LionFamily]

Silverwood, baby! (Not an event but lots of fun!)

(Edited part.) Okay, the danger of a quick reply is answering without reading the whole post! Opps.

Silverwood is GREAT. We homeschool, too, and go during the week. It is NOTHING like Six Flags; the lines are manageable and there are no tatooed gang members scaring the daylights out of normal human beings. It's a bit small, comparatively speaking, but such a nice place. We are probably just about the most neurotic, safety-conscious parents on the planet and we let our 12 year old daughter roam about with a friend and a phone. Nice, nice, nice little park!

[labellavita116]

Originally Posted by LionFamily

Silverwood, baby! (Not an event but lots of fun!)

(Edited part.) Okay, the danger of a quick reply is answering without reading the whole post! Opps.

Silverwood is GREAT. We homeschool, too, and go during the week. It is NOTHING like Six Flags; the lines are manageable and there are no tatooed gang members scaring the daylights out of normal human beings. It's a bit small, comparatively speaking, but such a nice place. We are probably just about the most neurotic, safety-conscious parents on the planet and we let our 12 year old daughter roam about with a friend and a phone. Nice, nice, nice little park!

Alrighty then, bay-bee, LOL. Thank you, LionFamily! That was a great response. I love how safe you and your daughter feel. Thank you so much. Silverwood is on the list!

[l.wilson]

I live in Wa. state and have gone to CDA every summer for the past 7 years. We actually go 2 or 3 times a summer. I am very frugal and can give you some advice on what we do to save money. Well, we drive so of course that is a huge money saver. We buy our Silverwood tickets in Oct. previous year...can purchase a yearly pass for under $100.00 per person. This probably would not work for you.....so the local CDA Costco sells ticket for a big discount. You can get a 2 day discount at Silverwood. However, it is a 2 day consecutive ticket...with Costco you can pick the days you want to go. We camp at Faragut State Campground...only 15 min north of Silverwood in the town of Athol. You can rent a cabin for under $70.00 a night. They are very primitive...a bunk and a bed...however they do have a heater and an air conditioner. You can leave your dog in the cabin while you are at Silverwood and save on kennel fees. Downtown CDA is great...touristy and fun. We go to the CDA resort and order a goey....a goey is huge sundae that can easily feed 4 and costs around $10.00. It over looks the marina and is just a fun thing to do. There is a hiking trail east of the CDA resort that travels around the lake. My 14 yr old loves to jump off the cliffs into the lake. Very safe...imo...lots of kids jumping into the lake. There is also an amazing park and beach for swimming beside the resort. You can rent water bikes or par-a-sail. Since it is usually just me and a few teenage boys, I will take them to the Golden Coral Buffet for around $12.00 per person. Not fancy....but teenagers love all you can eat. Anyways....hope you have safe travels.