John and I left Salmon before school got out on Wednesday, April 18. It's a 6-hour drive to Coeur d'Alene. I drove the first 3 hours to Missoula, Montana. We stopped and ate at Fuddrucker's, then John took the second half of the drive that night. And it took FOREVER! We didn't arrive to Couer d'Alene until 10:00. He was driving so slowly through the rainy mountain passes that I thought we'd never make it! After I checked us into the hotel, I went and visited my friend Celyn who lives in CDA. It was a nice visit and I was glad for a chance to see her and her family!
The Music Teacher's conference was very...full. On Thursday morning, we were to be to registration by 7:30, then there was a class, then a motivational speaker, then performances of musical groups from Idaho High Schools and Colleges, then there was a lunch, then two more classes, then more performances... It felt like a marathon of classes and performances. Thursday evening was the only break from it, and we had about a 2-hour window open to do whatever we wanted. I got a few recommendations from locals about where to eat, and John & I decided to have dinner at a very nice Italian restaurant in downton CDA.
I don't even remember now exactly what we ate, but it was all very good! Appetizer:
After dinner, we walked and drove around the city for a little bit looking at different sites:
Then we headed to the campus of North Idaho College to the concert hall for a long Jazz concert. I heard more Jazz music in 2 days than I've heard my entire life! Thursday morning began at 7:30, and we didn't get back to our hotel room until 10:30 that night. I was exhausted!
Friday was another marathon day of classes and performances. Friday night was a nice banquet dinner at the hotel for all who'd attended the conference, with a few more musical performances at it. After the dinner, I took a nice soak in the hotel hot tub. My feet, butt, and head were sore from all the walking/sitting/listening we'd done in the past two days. Thankfully, the hotel bed was actually really comfy, too, and I fell right to sleep on the 2nd night.
On Saturday morning, we had our final class. There are 6-7 classes offered during each class time so that whatever you teach, there's something to go to that appeals to you. I always went to the Elementary Music classes, but there was also conducting ones, band instrument ones, string classes, choir notation ones, and so on. I saw lots of the same people attend the classes I went to, so I got to talk to and meet others like me around the state. I only went to one class the same as John, so I usually just saw him and sat by him when we went to see the performances. After the last class, we went to see the last "concert hour" (what they called all the performances between the classes). John and I skipped out before the concluding speaker. There was also the All-State Choir, Band, and Orchestra concerts on Saturday afternoon, but we didn't want to stay to see them.
My Grandpa P. lives in Spokane, just a half hour west of Coeur d'Alene, so we drove over to Spokane to visit him. Because we'd left the conference earlier than planned, we arrived in Spokane earlier than the time I told Grandpa we'd be there, so we had 2 extra hours to do whatever we wanted. I took John to the Riverfront Park in downtown. We walked over the bridges, and saw a wedding party taking photos, and I rode down the handle of the world's largest wagon.
Then we took a Gondola Ride that passes by the falls. I'd never seen the falls in the spring. They were so full! I couldn't get over the amount of water that was splashing down! It was amazing to behold!
After the Gondola Ride, we walked across the street to the mall to get some Ben & Jerry's ice cream. There was some kind of Japanese festival happening that day, and there were some Japanese girls putting on a concert at the front of the mall. I was SOO done with musical performances, so we went straight up the escalator to the 3rd level for the ice cream. The ice cream was super delicious, and as we ate, we walked around a Bonsai display. It was very interesting and beautiful!
Then we went and visited my Grandpa. We ate lunch together, he showed me pictures that he converted from old slides onto his computer, and he told us stories. It was a nice, but short, visit. I was glad to see my Grandpa again! I hadn't seen him since last spring. I'm taking our boys to go visit him again this summer, and for longer than just 2 hours!
The drive home was pretty good. I drove from Spokane to Missoula, where we stopped and ate dinner at the Iron Horse. John took the last leg from Missoula to Salmon. It took a little longer because we couldn't find a gas station that would accept the gas card. We stopped at 4 gas stations! Finally, at the 5th, I just used my own card and filled it up.
I was glad to finally arrive home! I was gone for 3 1/2 days; the longest I'd ever been gone without Josh or the boys with me. I learned a lot in the 8 different classes I attended, and a few really benefited me a LOT. I was able to start implementing things into my own classroom that I learned while there. I also really enjoyed listening to most of the bands and orchestras and choirs, but 8+ hours of listening was a lot to cram into just 2 days! I wish there had been more orchestras and choirs, because the majority of the performances consisted of jazz bands. I learned a lot, listened a lot, and saw a lot, but I was so happy to be back where I belonged!
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