Today we woke up in Sandpoint ID to a light mist and a Mom and baby deer outside our bedroom window! We were so happy that we spent the day yesterday on the boat and driving up to Sweitzer mountain- today’s weather was not looking to good. We enjoyed our morning coffee and breakfast with Joann, Chuck and Finley before we packed up our belongings and headed out for our next stop- Portland Oregon.
Last comments on Sandpoint:
The opening of Schweitzer Mountain resort on Dec. 4, 1963 in 1963 turned the area into a year-round tourism destination. The beauty of the surrounding Selkirk and Cabinet Mountains and with Lake Pend Oreille has kept Sandpoint a tourist favorite for water sports, hunting, hiking, horseback riding, fishing and skiing. Not only that we were able to witness the rapid growth of the town and housing developments around the lake- understanding that this is a rapidly growing destination community. We also witnessed the plethora of trains (some days over 100) that pass thru Sandpoint. We also observed the bridges (one over 2 miles long) for the trains to cross the river and lake!!
For our 7.5 hr drive today we plan on continuing listening to the new Tom Hanks Book- “The Making of another Motion Picture Masterpiece”, and our Grandson’s (Gavin) 10 y/o baseball game on GameChanger taking place in Incline Village.
Interestingly enough- the baseball game was more entertaining than the book. So far into the book- we’ve decided that Tom Hanks is a better actor than writer. But we ARE enjoying the “Audio drama” style of the recording. Gavin’s team won the 1pm game and played for the championship title at 3:00pm .
The Columbia river we observe while driving actually reminded us a bit like the Suez Canal in some places! Very dry and monotone colors on both side of the river. We were hoping to see a riverboat- but only barges were visible today- then we saw an American Riverboat! However, we decided that there really might not be much to see on this section of the Columbia river – on a cruise boat.
We had a very easy drive to Portland where we spent the night with my friend Pam, her husband Cliff and their daughter Rachael came for dinner! Fresh caught Oregon salmon tacos were enjoyed by all!! Pam’s neighbor gave her fresh apples and she made a delicious apple crisp. Rachael is interested in hiking and potentially backpacking- Tom enjoyed demonstrating his Jet Boil and our Jeep refrigerator set up!
What fun it was catching up with our friends! Pam is quite the artist and we really enjoyed our morning “Artist’s tour” of their home!
Rachael, Pam and I
suannschutt 