Sandpoint, Idaho
Our good friends, Candy and Rick Lubansky, asked us to meet them in Idaho, approximately half way between our house and theirs in Belgrade, Montana. Harris is always eager to go, regardless of the weather…(except perhaps if there is snow in the passes.)
This trip could be called Unfortunately/Fortunately…..
Harris replacing the turbo resonator on Howie
We planned to leave on Thursday, the 13, to give ourselves a nice, easy trip over two days. We were waiting for a part to arrive, so we could fix the hot water heater. It was scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, so that would be no problem. Unfortunately, we forgot that Monday had been a federal holiday, and the mail was delayed. Fortunately, we had an extra day to get the part and do the work. Unfortunately, we had had our mail held starting on Thursday. So, while we were waiting for the mail to arrive, it never did for us. Fortunately, Harris was able to get to the mail annex where mail is held before closing and pick up the part. He put it in, and we packed up ready to get an early start on Friday.
Our spot at Farragut State Park
Which we did! (For us!) We were on the road by 8 AM. It rained some, seemed gray and uninviting, but we hoped things would improve on the eastern side of the mountains. The fall colors were beautiful, even in the rain. Lots of gold and yellow, and bits of red, especially just over Stevens Pass. But the temperature was dropping fast. It was actually 34 at the top of the pass, and there were some snowflakes mixed in with the rain.
We did a quick stop in Leavenworth, then on we went on Highway 2 through Wenatchee. We dropped down to Interstate 90 near Moses Lake. Fortunately!
The "Payoff Breakfast"
As we were going along, Harris kept looking at a gizmo on the dash and frowning. When Judy queried him, he said that Howie wasn’t responding like he should, and we were losing power. Not good. What did he think it was? Fortunately, Harris does lots and lots of reading on the internet, and knew that the turbo resonator could be responsible. Also fortunately, Harris had an extra one in Howie, just in case this ever happened. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the right tool along to fix it.
We stopped someplace for internet access, and Harris looked up the nearest Dodge dealer. Fortunately, there was one in Moses Lake, and we weren’t too far from it. We drove there and Harris talked to someone named Dan, who lent him the tool, and even helped him replace the resonator. Yay! It worked! We were on our way in less than 30 minutes with full power and no repair bill or hassle. Harris did give him a good tip for his help
Chef Rick and Sous chef Candy
So, on we went. We were headed for Round Lake State Park, near Sandpoint , Idaho, and we reached there about 6, just before it was getting dark. We discovered that the water had been turned off to the park, so no showers or flushing toilets, or water from the taps. Hmmm. We called Candy and suggested that we meet in Farragut State Park, about 30 miles back. It is a much larger park (actually it is h-u-g-e) and we were sure it would be more suitable for all. We got there just before the office was closing up, and secured a site that would hold us both. It had power, but, unfortunately, the water was turned off there as well! Time to get ready for winter, we were told. By this time it was getting dark, so we drove to our site and cooked our dinner. We called Candy with specific directions to find us, because, as mentioned, this park is h-u-g-e, and if you miss certain turns, you’ll be lost!
Green algae on the lake
Unfortunately, Candy and Rick did get lost. Fortunately, our new phones get service and we were able to help them find their way back in the dark. They arrived about 10:30. We talked for a brief time, then everyone headed for bed.
Harris and Rick had both become disgusted and discouraged with the Mariners and the Twins baseball teams. (Meaning their losing seasons.) So, just to keep their interest going, they had made a bet on which of the two losers would have a better overall record. Who would have guessed the Mariners? Harris did, and Rick had to cook a breakfast for the four of us the next morning. And what a breakfast!
Steak, grilled over charcoal, scrambled eggs, hash browns, fruit cups, and huge cinnamon rolls they bought earlier at Wheat Montana. It was a feast!
Judy and Candy in the early morning
After this brunch, we decided to go back and check out Round Lake again, since neither park had water. Once there, we picked our sites, plugged Howie in, and set off for some geocaching around the park. The weather had turned sunny, and it was great to hike around, although it was still cold! After we found four, we headed into Sandpoint to do some exploring.
Sandpoint turned out to be a much bigger town than we expected, and we enjoyed looking at some shops, doing a little more geocaching, and trying out the local watering holes. We found one place that was pretty empty at about 4:30, so we ordered drinks and played cards while watching Texas beat Detroit for the AL title. By 6, the place was filling up fast, so we decided we had to relinquish our table for families coming in for dinner. Harris had brought some chicken enchiladas for dinner, but we snacked so much in town that we didn’t need dinner that night. So, back at camp, we just ate cookies and played more cards. (Harris wants it noted that out of four games, he didn’t win one. Judy won one, Rick won one, and Candy won one. He says Judy always whines about his luck, so please put this in.)
Candy and Rick "adopting" Jacob
Did we mention we are starting to believe Candy and Rick are directionally challenged???? When they left Howie to return to their rig, (Goldie), they got lost! Fortunately, they had headlamps, so they found their way back to us. Judy grabbed another flashlight and showed them where they were parked….on our left….
It was another cold, cold, night, and we were grateful for power and our little electric heater!
Sunday morning, Harris cooked an excellent breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast for us all. We walked around the park and lake a bit in the sunshine, and then Candy and Rick had to head home. (We can’t convince Candy to retire just yet, and she has to go back to work Monday morning. Poor thing.) We decided to drive towards home and see if we wanted to stop anywhere along the way.
Instead of going back up to Sandpoint and over to Highway 2, we turned left out of the park and met up with Highway 2 at Priest River. It was a gorgeous drive through the wooded countryside, following rivers and streams. We stopped at one geocache a few miles from the camp and found it rather quickly….it was rated a 4 out of 5 for difficulty so we felt smug.
Harris and Judy by Round Lake
As we drove west through the sunshine, we kept saying that if the temperature rose just a bit more, we’d consider stopping somewhere. It did get up to 64, briefly, but then the shadows started forming and the temps started dropping again, so we decided to just go all the way home. We stopped in Spokane for a bit of gas….good thing because when we stopped again in Monroe, we were down to our last gallon! Harris has a lot more faith in the “empty” signal than Judy does! We also stopped in Wenatchee for an early dinner, splitting a breakfast at Denny’s. Harris wanted to make it snappy, because the last game between St. Louis and Milwaukee was due to start on the radio. We listened to most of the game before we made it home about 8. The weather was great except just west of Stevens Pass we ran into heavy fog and a bit of rain.
Stopping at Albeni Falls dam in Idaho
(Side note: before the games, we were listening to Tina Fey read her book “Bossypants”…hilarious and informative!)
It was a quick trip, but fun to see a new part of Idaho and as always, to spend time with good friends.
Day 1 miles driven =393
Day 3 miles driven =393
Total miles =786 Wow!
