Idaho

Friday, 8/6

I lived in Idaho, with my girls, from 2001-08. Both girls graduated from high school there and it was with mixed feelings that I left in 2008. Though I had hoped to, I had never been back since I left, so I was excited to see how things had changed (they had) and how they had remained the same (some things had). I was also very much looking forward to seeing some great friends and to attending church there.

Each summer while both girls lived at home, we would drive back to CO and NE to see grandparents and for girls to attend camps, etc. In most of those years, I was the solo driver, so I remembered the drive from Yellowstone as lovely but arduous. We would make a point each year to go through Yellowstone on one of the legs and each year stop to see one of the major features. They are sweet memories, though I still remember how tough I though the drive was.

All that to say, I knew how far we had to go. We planned to stay with friends and I strongly preferred to not show up after 8 pm. We were also on Day 4 of no showers, so I was a bit apprehensive about that. My recall was that I had never entered or left through the west entrance of Yellowstone so we decided to try that. Of course, it was lovely, but without cell service, my navigation was not available and we ended up taking a very scenic route which added more than an hour to the trip. We had also considered stopping at a truck stop to shower somewhere on I-90 before arriving at our destination. Does that tell you how desperate I was for clean hair? We went for it in Missoula, and I was honestly surprised how nice, clean, and easy it was to do that.

Stunning scenery all the way, all the more so to see it again and we stopped for a picnic supper in a city park near the downtown marina of Lake Coeur d’Alene (ID), still about 90 minutes from our destination. WSJ ran a piece several weeks (months?) ago about how Coeur d’Alene was becoming a magnet to those fleeing the west coast cities in CA, OR, etc. and I would say Sherman AV now reflects that with lots of cute hipster eateries, shops, galleries. Of course, all Sid cared about were the boats. I did a terrible job of taking photos on this side trip so all I have is this interesting bird. I've never seen a brown gull so not sure what it actually is.

On the left-a brown gull?

Closer look

We arrived in Moscow just as daylight was leaving, so Sid had to postpone seeing the lovely views of the rolling hills and mountains. He was pleasantly surprised in the morning.

Saturday, 8/7

Our friends, the Blakeys, like us are empty nesters. So besides raising alpacas both for yarn and as sale

One of the views from our hosts' home

animals, they have begun offering rooms in their home as Air BnB opportunities. Since Moscow has both the Univ of Idaho and a local, fast-growing Christian college, New St. Andrews, they have many customers. Though I remember when they built the house, it still seems new and the setting atop a hill is all the more gorgeous with trees maturing. 

A great serendipity was that there was another guest overnight on Friday with whom I was acquainted. It was delightful sharing stories and catching up on mutual friends and former co-workers.

All suggested that since it was Saturday, the Farmer's Market was the place to be. We did want to drive around and see the old haunts, but the Market has grown from a parking lot into closing off blocks of Main St. I imagined that Sid would prefer to view the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers were they become the Columbia which then flows to the Pacific. It is how Lewis and Clark finally got there. There is a dramatic overview of the canyon with a 2000' drop that has always been one of my favorite views. It did not disappoint this day, except due to all the fires still raging in the general Northwest, the view was hazy.

Clearwater on the left, Snake coming from the top

We drove down the old road, built in the 1920s, engineered for cars to go no more than 35 mph. I had never taken that road, but it was perfectly fun in the summer. When I lived there I was typically in a hurry as this is where we go for Costco (Clarkston, WA) just across the end of the Snake River. We did some sightseeing and a tiny bit of hiking, but Lewiston, ID and Clarkston, WA are generally 10 degrees hotter than up on the Palouse by virtue of being at an elevation of 700-ish ft compared to over 2000 ft on the plain above. It has been hot everywhere this summer, so it was even hotter down there that day.

We did make it back to Moscow and drove around to see all the old sites: schools, U of Idaho campus, places the girls & I had lived, worked, etc. We then took the Blakeys out to dinner and had a wonderful catch-up time before Patch needed to depart for CA in the morning to attend an uncle's funeral. I can hardly believe that I forgot to take a photo of us all. 😢

Sunday, 8/8

Today, I discovered the REAL reason Sid had wanted to come to ID. He wanted to hear Doug Wilson preach. I explained (again) that I had been in his church originally, but then a 2nd church was planted and I had gone with the group that became the founding congregation. When I said that church, Trinity Reformed, was where I had hoped to go, he quickly tried to figure out services and took off to try to also attend Christ Church. 

He didn't wait for the explanation that there was now another location downtown where Christ Church was meeting and he ended up there, instead of the original location (where Doug typically preaches). He enjoyed hearing Ben Merkle instead and met us, eventually, at TRC for another service. I didn't get to see as many familiar faces as I had hoped. The church now has a lovely facility, but have started to outgrow it, so now meets in two services. Apparently, many of those with whom I was still acquainted attend the first service or were traveling.

Three of the Blakey grandchildren!
Christa's sister, Jessie, had just had her 4th baby, 
so we only got to see J's husband & other 3 kids

Generally, I was having too much fun to take many photos. What a FAIL!

The funniest part of being there, though, was that Sid had recently remembered that his real estate license was about to expire. Never mind that a license-holder has 2 years to take the required CEUs. He now was in a grace period. He has until early September to complete 3 courses or he has to start all over again to get re-licensed. Therefore, every spare moment, he was to be found with his nose pointed to his phone, trying to progress through the 1st course!

Monday, 8/9
Travel day back to Yellowstone. Plan was to leave between 8-9 am; reality was after 10.

Happily, I got to visit my all-time favorite coffee shop, Bucer’s, before picking up groceries at WinCo, another favorite!

Bucer's 

Bucer's (as in the great friend of Martin Luther) was part of the reason for the delay. I waited until just after 8 am to go, but apparently students & parents were arriving back in town, because it was PACKED with primarily non-business type folks. As far as I could tell, Sid’s nose was in his computer working on real estate license CEUs until I got back. 

He was in no hurry to leave, but again, I would have preferred to be back in the park no later than sundown. Our leisurely pace did not allow for that and somehow, I drew the straw for driving the final leg. Sid thought that he had never come in/seen the park from the north entrance, so we did that. It is completely lovely, but once inside the park, the road in some places is harrowing. We were losing light as we entered the park and still had over an hour to get back to the marina. I would love to tell you the trip was uneventful, but a buffalo was coming up on the road (beginning to cross?) just as I came around a corner. Fortunately, he was in the other lane and didn’t move fast enough to get to my lane but it was a close call seeing the shining eyes on the shoulder then have them come toward you! 

I was happy to arrive back at the marina even if it was after 11 pm before we got to bed.