We were pleasantly surprised by Coeur D’Alene ID. We knew nothing about the town except that Cissy lived closed to it. Coeur D’Alene is a resort town, with lots of galleries representing local artists, nice restaurants, Pubs and little Cafés, but above all, a huge gorgeous lake right downtown.

You can access the lake from the city park beach,

or the 3300 feet boardwalk.

Activities include Para-sailing, boating, jet-skiing, kayaking, you also have a choice of cruises, including dinner cruises.

It is the perfect spot of a vacation, the temperature is mild, but not cold. It’s like being at the beach without the salt and the extreme heat. We loved it!

Unfortunately, the morning we were supposed to leave, we found out that one of our rear dual tire was defective, OUCH!

We were on our way to Santa ID to go meet Cissy today when we spotted this little diner on the side of the road. The lady who owns it serves Yak burgers, made from the meat of the Yaks she raises on her farm.

So far we tried Buffalo burgers, Indian Tacos and Carnitas during this trip, so we thought tasting a Yak Burger was in order. It was delicious.

That’s what is so much fun about traveling, you get to meet very interesting people, out of the blue. This lady started raising Yaks only 2 years ago, her partner had very bad kidney problems, he even had a kidney transplant a few years ago, which led him to search for a very lean source of protein in order to eat healthier, when he learned about Yaks, he knew he had found his answer.

Yak farm seen from the road leading to Cissy’s house.

The population of Yaks in the US today are descendants of animals imported from the Himalayas about 100 years ago, nowadays, it is impossible to get a yak from Tibet or China, not even the sperm, they won’t let anything related to Yaks get out of their country. About 10 years ago, the population of Yaks in the US was down to about 2500 specimens, some people decided to raise them on farms, and in the last five years, their population has doubled. Yaks love altitude and low temperatures, they can die of heat strokes.

Their meat is very lean, has no fat veins running through it, and is good source of low cholesterol lean proteins.

She was very passionate about her Yaks and invited us to go visit the farm after her work day was over. Of course we accepted the offer!

We went in the field and visited with Lucy, the mother of the brand new Yak twins (the first twins born on the farm). Mommie was a bit protective of her babies, so I couldn’t go pet them, but she did allow me to get close enough to take some good pictures. The twins don’t have a name yet. “Yakmom” (as I affectionately call her since I couldn’t remember her name even if my life depended on it) has a name for all of them. I asked her how she managed emotionally when she had one slaughtered, she said that the probability of having a cow slaughtered is very low, they use the bulls for meat, not the cows.

Lucy and her twins

Yaks are about 1/3 of the size of bovines, they have long silky guard hair, and two layers of undercoat, one medium length and one short. “Yakmom” combs their hair (when the cows are in the mood for it) and saves it, then sends it to Prince Edward Island to have it cleaned and spinned into yarn. The yarn is soft and reminded me of Alpaca yarn. She is also thinking about milking the cows and making soaps and lotions containing the very rich Yak milk. The only problem right now, is getting the milk. Since their herd grew, they are trying to find outlets for Yak by-products apart from their meat.

I finally was able to pet one of the cows, (we had to bribe her with a few treats)

Our visit ended with a big hug from “Yakmom”.

If you are in the mood for Yak Burgers, Smokey’s or Yak Jerky, all 90% fat free, give her a call at 208-245-1349 or go visit her in Santa Idaho. She should have some yarn available for sale in October 2007.

On our way to Coeur d’Alene ID from Rapid City, we decided to take a detour and go see Devil’s Tower, the mountain portrayed in “Close Encounter of the Third Kind”.

Devil’s Tower was a landmark for the Native tribes long before the White man came to Wyoming. It was called Mateo Tepee ( Grizzly Bear lodge) by the Sioux. A number of Indian legends describe the origin of Devil’s Tower, one of them talks about 7 sisters who were chased by a bear and tried to take refuge on a low rock, their prayers for help were answered when the rock started to grow and carried them to the sky, while the claws of the bear left furrowed columns on the side of the tower. When the rock touched the sky, the sisters were transformed into stars forming the constellation we know today as the Pleiades.

Colonel Richard I. Dodge while on an expedition named the tower Devil’s Tower. Congress made Devil’s Tower the first National monument in 1906.

The Tower rises 1280 feet above the Belle Fourche River and has become a climbing mecca. The first one to successfully climb the tower was William Rogers, in 1893, he constructed a wooden ladder of pegs driven into the crack of the rock face. Today despite the fact that the Indians consider this mountain sacred and are really not happy with people climbing it and driving metal objects into it, hundreds of people climb the mountain each summer.

On a funny note (I thought it was funny), a guy in 1941 landed on top of the tower with a parachute, he then got stranded on top of it for 6 days and nights, until rescuers were able to get to him. My opinion is that he should have removed himself from the gene pool, if you are going to land on top of Devil’s Tower, you should have a plan to get down afterwards…. 😉