Sep 23, 2012 - Clarkston WA to Sandpoint ID

September 23, 2012 Last night before dinner our neighbor Vern from Maple Ridge (near Vancouver) brought his chair and beer over for a chat. Born in Romania but of German parents, he (five years old) and his family were driven to Germany during WWII. He lived there until 1954 when he went to Saskatoon, Canada “just because”. He married a Canadian woman and was a cabinet maker until he retired 7 years ago. He and his wife, who have traveled all over the US and Canada, had lots of tips on campgrounds, restaurants etc. Most of the smoke cleared...

Sep 5, 2012 - Sandpoint, Idaho

We are in the beautiful town of Sandpoint, Idaho. This is one of our favorite towns in Idaho, so far. We really didn't know what to expect, we were just continuing our scenic drive along the awesome Pend Oreille River. When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised. The first thing we saw was a huge farmer's market going on. We stopped and got a few things we needed, onions for a stir fry etc. We rode around a bit familiarizing ourselves with the town, we ran right into City Park. It is an awesome beach area with boat rentals and beautiful...

Aug 27, 2012 - Sandpoint/Ponderray to West Glacier MT

We woke to a beautiful sunny day. After breakfast and packing up the car, we drove into Sandpoint to their City Beach - a wonderful oasis on the Pend Oreille lake for a little walk before getting in the car for the long drive to Glacier. What a surprise to find the Statue of Liberty at the end of the walkway. And to find out that Sandpoint is a major railroad hub where 40 trains a day come through town. Within the 20 minutes we were there, two huge freight trains came roaring through. We stopped for lunch in Bonners Ferry at a great...

Aug 26, 2012 - Day one - MHT to Ponderray Idaho

Today was the start of our 11 day trip to see Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks. Steve has been talking about this trip for 5 years and we are finally doing it! Out of bed at 4, on the road by 5:20, at MHT by 6 with a mandatory stop at Dunkin Donuts on the way for coffee. Three flights and 8 hours later we landed in Spokane. Tonight we are staying in Ponderray Idaho, about 90 miles east of Spokane and 4 hours west of Glacier. We have several recommended stops along the way tomorrow including Kootenai Falls. It's late...

Aug 2, 2012 - Spokane and Sandpoint

Big Trip Northeast Day One Lacey to Moses Lake, WA July 28, 2012 We’re on our way to Christina and James’ wedding in North Blenheim, New York. We’d planned to get into Spokane our first day and have the following day to explore some of that area. But the memorial service was held on Saturday morning for a friend of ours. We took the motor home to the church and started our trip after the service. That afternoon we pulled into a small, tidy RV park alongside I-90, about a dozen miles west of Moses Lake. The RV campground was in a rural...

Jul 20, 2012 - Sandpoint, ID

We left Colville on Route 395 and made a short hop over to Route 2 at Deer Park on our way to Sandpoint ID and Hi Dee Ho RV Park. We had stayed here once before. It’s an rv park attached to an rv repair shop, not fancy, but level and good hookups. A pleasant surprise was the Laughing Dog Brewery across the road. Great place! On the way to Sandpoint we stopped at the Albeni Falls Dam. And you ask, where are the falls? Well, in 1887, 26-year-old Albeni Poirier, a French Canadian farmer from Blanchard ID traveled north to find them. He was so...

Jul 19, 2012 - Sandpoint, Lake Pend Orielle

Mike & Connie took us on a drive up to Sandpoint today about 70 miles north. We enjoyed walking around the interesting shops in the old (circa 1900) brick buildings, and lunching at Trinity at City Beach overlooking the sandy beach of Lake Pond Oreille (pronounced Pond Der-Ray). If I thought Lake CDA was large, Lake Pond Oreille was MUCH larger. On the way home we stopped at “Wolf People”, which is a wolf preserve and gift shop. You can pay for tour of the wolves and the owner will drive you up to her preserve, or you can just visit the...

Oct 3, 2011 - Sandpoint, Idaho

Visiting Ed and Drewe (Judy's partner at the Country Flower in Aspen in the early 70's). Camping in an RV park on a Peninsula of Lake Pend Oreille in a game preserve where the deer and wild turkey are protected. Included pictures of the deer and wild turkey grazing right next to our motor home. Had s short but very nice visit with our old pals. Had a fabulous dinner at a Lakeside Restaurant and watched the ever changing sunset as we ate. We also stocked up at the Amish bakery in Clark Fork and had a picnic on the Peninsula with Drewe. Judy...

Sep 5, 2011 - Schwietzer

Great breakfast was had by all in the morning prepared by Hollis and produce supplied by the berry pickers. After breakfast we rescued Avery from the dog kennel and head to the resort were the brave of heart tried out the new zip line. Kathy’s common sense prevailed and I exceeded the weight limit so Kathy and I watched the braver and more adventuresome members of our group try out the new thriller. We took the chair lift to the top of the mountain to enjoy the view of the Selkirk Mountains and Lake Ponderay. We headed off towards Glacier...

Sep 4, 2011 - Schwietzer

After a nice Breakfast we headed to Sandpoint where Kathy did a little shopping. We reached Schweitzer Mountain Resort were we joined Liz and her family at their Condo. We spent the evening picking Huckleberries and Elderberries, looking forward to Huckleberry pancakes in the morning.

Aug 29, 2011 - Lake Pend Oreille M/C ride

Today begins with searching for new roads and routes to ride. It ended up being a stomping ride, more on that later. Heading north I make the usual stop at the Starbucks in Sandpoint. A small town on the very large lake Pend Oreille. A cool summer morning with hot java sitting on the coffee shop's deck over looking a shiny new boat gliding along in the no wake zone as it docks into a slip. The smooth and blue water which leads to another sunburn for those aboard. Off northbound, I stop after some miles to ask a young father with a small...

Aug 26, 2011 - Friends, Family and Firearms

Hello from the picturesque state of Idaho! We traveled to northern Idaho after trekking east across Washington from our campsite in Kent, Washington. Most of you know that whenever possible, we try to avoid major highways so that we slow down and see all there is to see of this great Nation of ours. Instead of taking Highway 90 east to Spokane, we took a 2-lane road, Highway 2, from Everett, Washington to Spokane, Washington. We crossed the Cascade Range through the Wenatchee National Forest…absolutely gorgeous! We meandered along the...