On a Walk(Drive)About

We woke up to an absolutely gorgeous morning here in Sandpoint, ID.  The overnight rains had left a wonderful, full smell in the air of growing grass, wet ground, and sunshine.  After coffee, we decided to drive around a bit, checking out rv spots for future use and just getting to know the area a bit better.

As soon as we stepped out the door, we were met with these little guys:

One is 15, the other is 13, but you would never know it the way they played!  Pris was a bit miffed at someone else playing in her yard, but she soon joined in the fun.

Our first foray was north up the Pend Oreille river, where we stopped just at the north edge of town at a visitors center to learn about the history of the river. There has been traffic on the river for centuries, of course, as the native americans, the trappers, and then the explorers traveled up and down the very navigable waterway.

 Then we traveled west down the river toward the town of Priest River.  Along the way, we saw a Sheriff's patrol boat warming up and preparing to go out on the lake and "see what can be seen".

With such an immense body of water to patrol, I'm sure there are several boats out at any given moment. Two deuce and a quarter outboards must move this boat fairly well!

There was a huge timber industry in this area at one time, but it has dwindled to almost nothing.  As a former carpenter, I was pleased to see the lone remaining mill in the area still operating at near full capacity.  The products are almost all manufactured timbers/beams and the like, because the timber is fairly small in diameter here, unlike the large trees that we see on the west coast.  Look at the huge piles of logs!

On the return trip from Priest River, we stopped at an Army Corps of Engineers campground and snapped the following pic.  This just about sums up the kind of scenery around here!

About 6 miles west of Sandpoint, this little farm tucked into a bend in the river just seemed so perfect.

A short rain shower and a stop at the grocery store completed our day in Sandpoint.  We really like this area, it is so very beautiful, and there are a zillion things to do: bicycling (miles and miles of paved trails), water sports of all kinds, winter activities.  The only drawback would be that the influx of Canadians and Californians has driven prices through the roof.  Real estate is exorbitant, food is high, and restaurant prices are about 60% higher than other places we've visited.  It is a nice place, though, so we'll save our pennies (oh, that's right, we don't have any...) and dream a bit.