Our stay in Columbia Falls came to an end on Wednesday, as
we drove Highway 40 through Montana to Highway 2 in Idaho to Newport,
Washington, just across the Idaho border across Pend Oreille River. It was rather
a short travel day this time—221 miles. Our stay for 5 nights was at Old
American Kampground, located next to the river in Newport. Family owned, the
campground is located just 32 miles northeast of Spokane, Washington. It’s 1 of
6 campgrounds owned by the family in the Washington State area; they also own a resort in
British Columbia.
 |
| Clockwise: Old America Kampground sign,office and clubhouse; view of Pend Oreille River from near our site, and our site |
Thursday morning Dick rode the motorcycle and I drove our
truck the 46+ miles to Coeur d’Alene to join friends Ron and Marianne at
“Jimmy’s Down the Street” for breakfast. Our “throw-back-Thursday” brought back
many memories as we reminisced about moving from Connecticut in 1990, with Ron
and Marianne, to the Lake Coeur d’Alene area—thus beginning our west coast living. (We
built a home in that area and lived there for about 10 years before moving to
Tacoma for work.) Breakfast included chicken fried steak and eggs, bacon and
eggs, a cheese and mushroom omelet, and corned beef hash and eggs. (I had the
hash, but none I’ve had anywhere remotely
compares to what I have at “Caroline’s Turtle Bay Café” in Rockport, Texas!)
After breakfast Dick and Ron took off on their motorcycles
for a 75 mile ride down the west side of Lake Coeur d’Alene, while I went to
their home to spend time with Marianne. Dick’s ride took him to visit our old
homesite. That brought back many memories, as well.
 |
| Clockwise: Panorama of Windy Bay on Lake Coeur d'Alene where we lived; our house from the road; Ron with the 2 motorcycles; our house from the lake, and our house as you approached it. |
This week brought more consecutive days of temperatures
above 95°; Friday’s temps even hit 104°! Uff-da!!! And, no rain in sight. Wild
fires are burning thousands of acres in the northwest. Thankfully, none were
close to us and we’ve been able to travel safely. We do, however, see the haze
from the smoke, and smell it, too. Sad.
Friday morning Dick did a walk-around-town to pick up our
mail and a few items from the grocery store. By the time he returned home at
11:30 the temps were already nearing 100°. Even with no humidity, hot is HOT!
 |
| Thomas J. Kelly, who was Newport's first mayor; and a few views of Newport. |
That evening we drove 30 miles from Newport to Sandpoint, ID
to have dinner with friends Bonnie and Jerry, whom we met 3 years ago at our RV
park in Rockport, Texas, and who summer in Hope, ID. But first Dick and I
walked through town to Sandpoint’s City Beach Park. What a beautiful area!
Hundreds of folks were frolicking in the refreshing water of Lake Pend Oreille,
sitting on the sand beach, or picnicking on the grounds. Temps were still in
the very high 90s, but with very little humidity shady areas were quite a bit
cooler. At the end of the park a small pier juts out into the water, and what
do we find, but a 30’ Statue of Lliberty! It was donated to the city in 2003 in
memory of Louise Turner, a prominent local business owner, who had had it in
her garden for years prior to her death. (So, if you can't afford a trip to New York City to see the real thing, you might consider a trip to Sandpoint!)
Bonnie and Jerry met us at the park, then took us to the art
gallery where Bonnie and 30 other local and regional artisans show and sell
their creations. The gallery opened in 1995 by a group of local artists to
cooperatively display and sell their own work (the artist members own and
operate the gallery). It’s located at 214 North First Avenue in Sandpoint, the
perfect location as it’s right downtown. The gallery features paintings in oil,
watercolor, acrylic and pastels; calligraphy; greeting cards; crystals;
jewelry; sculptures in metal, clay, terracotta, paper and paper mache;
photography; glass (kiln worked, blown and stained); pottery; wearable art;
woodwork; and more. Quite impressive! Bonnie’s creations are beautiful
wire-wrapped jewelry with and without precious stones, including stones from
Mount St. Helens. I have a few pair of earrings created by Bonnie. Love ‘em!
 |
| Downtown Sandpoint with flowers at every light post; and the Art Works Gallery |
Here’s a link to their site for more information:
Dinner was at Hydra, Sandpoint’s signature steakhouse.
Sharing meals and conversation with Bonnie and Jerry is always a treat! Bonnie tried
their grapefruit margarita infused with Habenero peppers. Whew! Spicy!! So, I
traded my traditional margarita with her, but it was even too spicy for me. We
traded it in for another traditional. Good grief—they need to put out a
warning!
We started our meal with a trip to the salad bar, followed
by crab cakes, seafood fettuccini, prime rib sandwich, and seafood sauté. Good
stuff! We then said our farewells until
we meet again in Texas in the fall. Good friends!
On our drive back to our campground, we saw the only
wildlife we’d seen in quite a while—a wild turkey sauntering along the highway,
appearing as though it wanted to cross but traffic wasn’t cooperating. Funny.
Saturday: Happy 4th of July. We had made plans
with Ron and Marianne to spend the afternoon with them, have dinner, enjoy the
fireworks over Lake Coeur d’Alene, and spend the night so we wouldn’t have to
drive all the way back to Newport, just to turn around and drive back for
church Sunday morning in nearby Post Falls.
Dinner was traditional hamburgers, baked beans, potato salad
and watermelon preceded by caprese salad on skewers. Yum-yum! Oh, and I also
made a lemonade champagne cocktail with lemonade, champagne and diet Sierra
Mist, which went over very well…
About 8:00 that evening we walked a few blocks down to the new McEuen Park in
Coeur d’Alene (adjacent to the Coeur d’Alene Resort) to watch the fireworks.
It’s traditional for the fireworks to be shot off from a barge in the lake;
they were not a disappointment!
 |
| The Coeur d'Alene Resort, shops and marina; an aerial of the resort with the adjacent and new McEuen Park complete with a water park for kids. |
Here's a video of the fireworks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
We were amazed at the number of people in the park for the
fireworks—at least a couple thousand—and as far as we could tell there were no
incidents. If you haven’t been to Coeur d’Alene, it’s become quite a year
‘round destination. Water sports in the summer and skiing at nearby Silver
Mountain in Kellogg and Schweitzer Mountain in Sandpoint in the winter. When we
moved to that area in 1990 the population was about 25,000; now the population
is sneaking up on 50,000—and that doesn’t include the influx of summer folks.
Unbelievable! (We could definitely consider spending summer months in that area!
Beautiful!)
Sunday morning we said our goodbyes to Ron and Marianne, and
drove to nearby Post Falls, ID to attend Real Life Ministries church with
friends Bob and Norma, their daughter Christine, and Tony and Dorothy. (We all
met and attended church together when we lived there.) What an uplifting and
wonderful church service focusing on relationships and loving one another.
Afterward we all headed to “Hunter’s,” a local restaurant, for breakfast. YUM!
We noshed on chicken fried steak, corned beef hash, bacon and eggs, breakfast
skillets, and eggs Benedict. Good times, good friends, good food. Great
combination! It was good to spend time catching up on our lives since we were
last together.
 |
| Top 4 photos were taken at Real Life Ministries church in Post Falls, ID. Bottom left: That's me with Norma, her husband Robert and daughter Christine. Bottom right: Friends Tony and Dorothy, me, Norma, Robert and Christine taken at Hunters Restaurant in Post Falls, ID. |
We returned to Newport and our camper to do preliminary
preparation for our departure Monday morning. A stiff breeze was blowing that
helped moderate the temperatures, which were in the upper 80s for most of the
day. All in all it was a wonderful few days spent with good friends, for whom
we are so thankful.
On to Black Diamond, WA on Monday morning, just 326 miles away,
but more on that next week.
Until then, stay healthy, safe and strong.
We send hugs and
our love.
RJ and Gail
 |
2 Chronicles 7:14 - If my people, who are called by my name,
will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from
their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sing
and will heal their land.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment