Joie de Vivre

A couple of months ago, we got to take a trip that 1) wasn’t to Texas, and 2) didn’t involve taking the kiddos. Clint’s sister, Jennifer and her husband, Miles, live in Northern Idaho, and she’d been asking us to come see them for a while. So late last year, we began planning this trip, and it turned out to be an all-time-fave!

This is a long one (but hey! there’s pictures!) I figure if I’m going to record the details of our trip, I’m recording all of them. Every. Last. One.

That’s just how I roll.

So grab a cup of coffee and a snack, folks, and let’s go out west together!

NORTHERN IDAHO

As soon as his sister and brother-in-law picked us up at the airport in Spokane, we immediately went to the Buck Knife Factory. Since Clint is in fabrication, metal in particular, and loves all things manly, this was a perfect first stop for him!

We did the tour to see how Buck knives are made, did a little shopping in the gift shop, and then made our way to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, for a late lunch/early supper.

After a 5-hour flight with a 2-hour delay in Atlanta (big surprise), we were ready for some shut eye pretty early!

One of the first things I noticed (after waking up at 3 am – my body believing it was 6 am) was after falling back to sleep. The next time I opened my eyes, it was 4:47 am and the sun was already coming up! I was fascinated by this until Jennifer told me that in the winter, the sun comes up around 7:30 am and is down before 4:00 pm. 😳

Can you imagine? Like, street-lights-dark at 4:30.

We started the day with some much-needed coffee, a quiet perusal through Jennifer’s garden, and a proper introduction to her chickens. It made me miss the chickies we used to have! She can’t have them loose in the yard like we did because predators come on her property daily (think mountain lion, coyotes, hawks, and owls, etc.) since the trees come pretty much up to the house, so they have a really nice, protective chicken run with a yard to play and peck in.

She took us on a morning walk on their property, pointing out the native flora along the way. One of my favorites that she pointed out is known as the “toilet paper plant” called mullein. I was simultaneously disgusted and moderately intrigued by the idea. She picked a leaf and handed it to me; it was large and velvety soft. I’m just saying even Charmin could take a few notes. Mullein can also be used to make a tea or syrup for coughs as an expectorant, an oil which can be applied as an anti-inflammatory on skin rashes, minor cuts, and even earaches.

But not having to panic when you’re camping and run out of TP because you can just go pick a leaf might be the most common-sense use of a plant I’ve ever heard.

We also found nearby dandelion seed heads – you know the ones we picked when we were kids, made a wish, and then blew the feathery seeds across the yard? These were literally the size of large lemons.

It also took me a minute to get over the sheer size of the pine trees there! We live in North Georgia, so we have pine trees everywhere, but these are HUGE in the Northwest area. They obviously thrive in that environment.

Late morning, we made our way to Sandpoint, the nearest town (tourists that we were).

Sandpoint ended up being much more unique than I imagined! The Cedar St. Bridge in downtown is a really neat feature. The city is situated on a bit of a peninsula that protrudes into Lake Pend Oreille, and the bridge literally juts out over the lake with a 2-tiered shopping and dining center on it. I don’t remember a single big chain business in that place…as far as I could tell, it was all local.

I also noticed a high concentration of businesses in there were oriented around art or artisan goods, and more than a few were geared for kids. These were more like studios than galleries, and I love that there is enough of a market in this one town to provide for it.

Then we went to City Beach, which is exactly what it sounds like: a white sandy beach lining the lake in front of the downtown area. Except for the fact there were mountains everywhere, it actually reminded me of my hometown. Also except it was about 50* in June, which I’m pretty sure has never happened in South Texas.

At the end of a pier stood a nearly exact replica of the Statue of Liberty. I say nearly because this one isn’t remotely as tall (maybe 10 feet?), but it’s just like a miniature of the one in New York.

Once we left the windy City Beach, we headed up the local mountain. Schweitzer Mountain is a ski resort just outside of Sandpoint, and offers a ton of activities outdoors year-round. It’s the kind of mountain you could do an entire family vacation on and talk about it for years. We didn’t take advantage of a tenth of what it has to offer, but we did go up there for the fabulous view and to enjoy a delectable lunch.

From the top of Schweitzer Mountain, one can view 3 states, Canada, and the beautiful Lake Pend Oreille.

This lake is 43 miles long and nearly 1,200 feet deep in deepest part. It is the fifth deepest lake in the United States and was formed by glaciers, which explains its generous size.

Interestingly, it has been used as a submarine training station and as a research location testing site since WWII (and still is). The purposes and projects have morphed over the years, but today the Navy’s Acoustic Research conducts “sonar testing with large-scale prototype submarines” (Wikipedia). Yes, I used Wikipedia as a source; don’t tell my kids or my former writing students or I’ll never hear the end of it. 🤭

That night, we had to start a fire in the wood-burning stove to heat the house because it was near freezing outside. Blows. My. Mind.

The next morning, Jennifer had a pontoon boat booked for us that we boarded in Sandpoint. Since the weather was kinda “sus,” we stayed fairly close to the marina, but we did venture out just a bit before dropping anchor.

On our way out, Jennifer passed around cups and poured hot cocoa for everyone, which was delightful! Having never been out on a boat in cold weather, this was both foreign and highly welcomed to this South Texas girl.

We anchored close to the mountain (the lake is surrounded by them) to block some of the wind, and we quickly noticed we had company. A bald eagle was resting in a tree on the shore overlooking our boat, eyeing the water for his lunch to surface. Eventually he was challenged for his space by a second bald eagle; to which the first (and bigger) of the two said, “Oh I don’t think so.”

He flew from his perch and took a dive at the intruder, which caused the second to abandon his newly acquired tree. As the bigger chased the smaller, they entered into a spiraled dance directly above our boat and heads!

Dude. It was like something out of National Geographic. Absolutely fascinating!

Of course, not a single one of us was willing to take our eyes off the dual above our heads, so not a single picture from eight people on the boat. 😔 As fun as it was to reconnect on a gorgeous lake on a cold day in summer (!) we all agreed that the eagles’ death spiral was the definite highlight of the day!

MONTANA

The next day was a “down day” and preparation for the second part of our trip: heading to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

As my sister-in-law and her husband live so far north in Idaho, we had the privilege of traveling through the entire western portion of Montana to get down to southern Idaho, where we were staying for a few days in an Air BnB.

I don’t think I can do this place much justice, but I’m going to give it a shot.

You must imagine with me a rugged country that never stops covered by a canopy of sky that is just as infinite.

Read this part slow: a hushed and deeply tranquil peace was palpable, beyond anything I’ve experienced before. Western Montana has Rocky Mountains, deep river valleys, and wide-open plateaus – a serene haven of quiet and calm. Throughout the entire drive, we saw nothing but either beautiful, vast ranches or quaint small towns.

In fact, the whole state seems to be small-town mentality.

Its largest city, Billings, has a population akin to Waco or McAllen, for my Texas friends and between Sandy Springs and Athens for my Georgia clan. But did you hear me? That’s the largest city in the state. There are more people in the city of San Antonio than in the whole state of Montana.

If that doesn’t blow your mind, let me try this: the entire state has only one area code! And it’s not like Montana is a Rhode Island or Vermont…it’s SPACIOUS. And lovely.

We drove from Northern Idaho straight across to Montana on Hwy 200. As soon as we got into Montana in the early morning light, I was taken by it. Eventually we were enveloped by gorgeous pine trees on rugged, steep mountains, unlike any I’ve seen before. The roads were quiet and placid, and only the white crosses on the side of the road spoke for a long while. Just past the “Welcome to Montana” sign, I saw another sign that explained the white crosses: “White Markers Represent Highway Fatalities – Maintained by the American Legion of Montana.”

They were erected in honor of souls who died in each location, and they are all across the state, representing nearly 75 years of recognition and warning. A somber reminder of the vaporous nature of life. The thing that struck me is that the State government allows this, and so do the people; to me, it reflects the hearts of the people there.

There are enough of them to make a statement, but they are spread out enough to cause one to take notice at each one. I wonder what might have happened in all those cases: a moose on the road, an icy curve, a drunken speeder? Any of these things and many more are doubtless to blame.

But I think this was the beginning of the lump in my throat that I carried all the way through that beautifully painted canvas. At one point, I could no longer contain the overwhelming feelings that flooded me, and tears were silently rolling down my face. My husband immediately thought something was wrong, but all I could say was “overwhelmed.” But this was a different kind of overwhelm. It was an overwhelm of peace.

Soon the clusters of pine trees on sharp inclines gave way to an unfurled breadth of rolling land, filled with herds of cattle or bison as far as the eye could see.

Peace. Solitude. Comfort. Warmth. Wide open expanse yet comfortably hemmed in by titanic, protective mountains in the distance. Layers upon layers of geological forms of wonder that were laid bare for the eye and heart to behold.

I almost couldn’t take it all in.

At one point on our way back to Idaho (and I was so engaged in my surroundings that I didn’t think to take a picture of it) we were driving US Hwy 287 from Yellowstone along the Madison River. From the highway, I looked down into a valley with a beautifully displayed river snaking alongside, and up on the other side of the river, the land slowly curled upward toward what I suppose would be almost a grassy covered mesa or plateau as they rose up above the river and flattened out a bit before rising again into foothills, then rounded mountains, and then finally a layer of rugged rockies behind that. All this was stretched out over miles and miles of wide-open expanse that created an innate desire to breathe deeply and speak softly (or not at all) out of pure reverence. And this level of serene grandeur was literally ALL. The way. Around. Me.

Wildlife was, of course, everywhere. Montana has “Open Range Laws” which basically means landowners who don’t want cattle or bison on their property are responsible for putting up fences to keep the animals out, whereas in most states, that responsibility falls on the livestock owners to fence their livestock in. In other words, the livestock have the right of way. This explains why one doesn’t see as many fences as one would expect. I think I saw more snow-drift fencing than I did anything to keep animals in or out.

Another thing I realized once we got on I-90 was that there were very few signs of any kind. No billboards or advertisements anywhere that I remember, and very few traffic signs even. The effect of the lack of clutter was utterly refreshing.

I think it’s interesting that the same Hwy. 287 starts in my home state of Texas in Port Arthur and goes around Yellowstone and into this slice of heaven on earth. I don’t know why that captures me, but I think it just has something to do with connection. Guess I’m a low-key fan of connecting the dots.

Maybe not so low-key.

GRAND TETONS

If Montana felt like home (and it did), The Teton Mountains felt like Disney World!

As we made our way back into Southern Idaho and very close to the Wyoming state line, we finally made it to the house we were staying in. It was the upper level of a barn that had been turned into a two-bedroom house with a full kitchen, living room, and large deck on the back.

I loved that they placed the welcome mat on the outside of the door, welcoming you to the view. ❤️

I was standing on this deck after we got everything unloaded, lost in the wonder and anticipation of it all, and a bright bird flew around the deck and then landed on a nearby birch tree. It was an American red-crested robin, and she immediately began singing from her perch. It was distinct and sweet, and I could think of nothing that would make for a warmer welcome.

In the picture above, the Grand Teton is the tallest of the 3 dominant peaks to the right, all part of the Cathedral Group. These three, in order, are Grand Teton, Middle Teton, and Nec Perce. From this angle, to the left of Grand Teton (and barely visible beyond the closer mountains) are Mount Owen and Mount Teewinot. When you get inside the park, this order is reversed because we are seeing the backside of these beauties from Idaho.

The barns you see in the distance are not part of the property we’re on, but this is what I mean when I say not many fences. You can’t tell where one property ends and the next begins!

The first morning, I was up super early (sunrise is by 5 am, remember?) to get my coffee and camera and wait for the show outside. It was lovely and slow, and as intentional as you would expect any Artist to be when performing for a captive audience.

We got to spend two whole days in this house overlooking the backside of the Teton Mountains. After the sunrise on Day 1, we headed out for Jenny Lake in the Grand Teton National Park.

Since we weren’t staying in the park itself or even in Jackson Hole (which would be closer), it required a drive around the mountain range to get to the other side. This ended up being a really good feature to our trip, because by going around the southern tip of the mountains to get to Jenny Lake on the first day and throughout the rest of the park and Jackson Lake (which is the entire eastern side) on the second day, then on the last day leaving the house, we went up the western side of the mountains to get to Yellowstone. So we had the benefit of quite literally going all the way around this mountain range, and I suspect not many can say that!

So heading to Jenny Lake for our hike, we drove for nearly an hour, but of course it seemed like a flash because of the views.

Our plans for the day were a boat ride across Jenny Lake to get to the trailhead, hiking up to Hidden Falls and then Inspiration Point, and then hiking back into the mountains through Cascade Canyon – in and out a full 9 miles.

We almost made it. But what stopped us was worth cutting our trek a bit short!

Who can be opposed to a little foreshadowing? 😂

The boat ride was only about 10 minutes long, but it cut an extra 4 miles off our hike round-trip, taking it to 9 miles. Since we didn’t know how long it would take to get all the way to the back of the canyon and back out again (many people on All-Trails said 6-7 hours), we decided to skip the walk around the lake to make sure we could get back down before dark.

Once off the dock, we were immediately ushered onto the trail to Hidden Falls.

It wasn’t far before we were able to hear the rush of the falls. One of the many things I loved about this hike was the fact that there were so many points of interest; we never felt weary even though the elevation gain on the first mile or so was quite steep in places.

The falls were a satisfying reward for our hike so far, but we were anxious to get up to Inspiration Point next!

I was fooled when we came to this point thinking this was Inspiration Point, but we weren’t quite there yet!

We had one more steep (and rather intimidating) climb to reach the top, but I was so proud of us…we didn’t even think about it. We were almost there!

THIS was Inspiration Point overlooking the pristine Jenny Lake! So invigorating! The boats that you see are what we took to come across the lake in the morning and on our way back in the afternoon. They do charge $20 round-trip for each person if you ever decide to do this hike and want to do the same.

Once we caught our breath from the view, we headed back into the canyon behind us – straight into the Teton Mountains themselves! This was the part I was really waiting for.

I have no words for the masterpieces at every turn. It was utterly like something out of a fairy tale. Or a Bob Ross painting.

The trail followed Cascade Creek the entire way. Sometimes it ran rapids, and sometimes it lingered in a gentle flow, but it was always present and a prevalent part of the landscape.

As we were wandering the trail and trying to soak it all in, people who were coming out of the canyon and heading the other direction kept telling us there was a moose ahead…and it didn’t take long before we ran into him!

We waited around for a good while to see if he would move up the mountain or down toward the creek so we could get by, but he was obviously very hungry and it takes a long time to eat enough when you’re as big as him!

Jennifer told us she would rather run into a bear than a moose…that they could be aggressive and they would stomp a person to death if they got mad (!) but this was a Bullwinkle moose, I’m just sure of it! 😂

Oh, I kid. We took him seriously; gave him lots of room and respect. But he was captivating to get to see like this!

Jennifer said she had learned if you are approached by one, to stand next to/behind a tree; they can’t get to you because of their large horns. Well there were plenty of those around! So at one point, I got probably more brave (stupid?) than I should have, but I stood behind a tree and got as close as I could to get a shot with my good camera…he never even knew I was there. Or he just didn’t care. I kept hoping he would lift his head for a second so I could get his whole rack, but he never did. And I didn’t hang there very long.

He was rather young, so he wasn’t as big, but my brother-in-law’s picture shows he’s still a massive animal for a pipsqueak. 😂

There were still two more undiscovered (by us) miles behind him, but at last we made the decision to head on back to the boat dock since he hadn’t made way.

As you can imagine, the way back out was just as beautiful and dream-like as the way in. At one point in the quiet walk back, I heard the song of a red-crested robin nearby.

Once we were back to earth and across Jenny Lake, we made our way to Moose, Wyoming, for some delectable Dornan’s Pizza. Dornan’s has been there over 100 years (since 1922) and their food was delightful! View wasn’t bad either. 😉

By the time we got back to the house, it was somewhere between 3:00 and 4:00. Everyone else had lain down to take a nap, but I sat alone on the back deck for a very long while, just me and the Lord and my new little robin friend.

Then the wind kicked up and the trees around me started swirling, and it made my heart beat a little faster. I knew something was making its way over the mountains and headed our way, and so did my little red robin. She took shelter while the Lord and I had a very long talk watching the clouds roll over His handiwork.

That night after supper we played cards for a while, and everyone agreed to get up at 4:00 am so we could make it to the other side of the mountains in time to catch the sunrise hitting the Grand Teton.

Well, that turned out to be a really big ask on my part. Jennifer and I were up, but the guys were still sawing logs when it was almost time to leave. I told Jennifer that yesterday took a lot out of them and we’ll just need to come back and stay a little closer to get the sunrise pictures. We can still get there early enough to finish out the day like we planned. So we made breakfast instead.

Now I have to go back! 😉

The agenda for the day was to hit as many overlooks as possible for my photography addiction (how can you not be addicted in a place like this?) and get to Colter Bay on the north side of Jackson Lake in the afternoon for kayaking (one of my favorite summertime activities)!

The first time I ever remember seeing a photograph of the Teton Mountains was Ansel Adams’ famous photo taken in 1942. The Snake River Overlook is where he captured this famous shot. Of course, after over 80 years, the trees have blocked the view of the river a bit.

On our way around the overlooks, we also hit the Elk Ranch Flats, which is kind of funny because we didn’t see any elk here, but we did see some bison and pronghorn.

Finally, we made it to Oxbow Bend. This was one of those “if we have time” stops, but MAN I’m glad we had time!

We then headed up to Colter Bay on Jackson Lake for an afternoon kayaking. We have 3 kayaks at home and we even have some of those cool waterproof cases for your phone, but we didn’t bring them because they were all packed up in our camping stuff. I am so dismayed that we didn’t take a phone or camera for this because as we were mounting the kayaks, we realized they had waterproof pockets on them, but everything was in the car. 😢

Guess I’ll have to do this again too! 😊

The mountains were absolutely surreal on the water. They looked like they were right on the edge of the lake, towering over us with snowcaps in 70* weather. It was GORGEOUS.

We have single kayaks at home, but Clint opted for the double kayak for this trip. I found out later those have been dubbed “Divorce Canoes” 😂 It can definitely put your marriage to the test trying to work together in that thing! I thought that since two people were paddling, every now and then one can rest for a bit while the other keeps you moving. Well, no. That’s not how that works. If only one person is paddling, you go absolutely nowhere. We had two hours and a map of the islands around the bay (Jackson Lake is huge) and we used almost all of that time to take the route they gave us. We didn’t have time to go nowhere!

Our marriage survived as did our dignity and appetites. It was time for some FUEL.

Signal Mountain Lodge was not far, and we had seen on a YouTube video that the Trapper Grill was the place to go for Signal Mountain High Nachos.

And like everything in this park, the view was one of a kind.

As we headed out of Grand Teton National Park the next morning, we drove on the western side of the range and entered Yellowstone from the West Yellowstone entrance.

We were not going to have time to visit any of the MANY stops that Yellowstone has to offer, but we had one goal: to visit and eat at the Old Faithful Inn.

One of the marks of this whole trip was the perfect timing every time we turned around. From catching the plane, getting to the Buck Knife Factory on time, meals, boat docks, even parking at Jenny Lake (which can be a bear). We got the very last spot in that parking lot that morning!

As I’m pulling into the parking lot at Old Faithful Inn, the parking lot was completely packed. It was right before lunch, and this is the only full-fledged sit-down restaurant in the entire park (have you seen how enormous Yellowstone is on a map? Look it up. Gargantuan.) I was concerned we were going to be held up too long for our 7-hour drive back to Northern Idaho. Clint sees a possible spot in another part of the parking lot, so he says for me to pull around and head to the back. As I make the turn, I couldn’t believe my eyes: the very front parking spot by the sidewalk to the door is not handicap and it’s not taken! “How about right here?” I said as I pull in.

It’s the little things, y’all.

As we walk in, I am taken aback by the unusual architecture of the inside.

Built in 1903-04, this fabulously old building has an almost medieval feel to it. And whoever thought to hire this guy is a freaking genius:

Classical solo on violin? Yes, please.

After wandering the gift shop and eating lunch, we decided to explore the building just a bit to let our food settle before heading out. We had no intention of trying to catch Old Faithful (the geyser) on his predictable schedule as we were not planning to stay long.

So Clint heads up the broad staircase to explore up there, and while I’m mesmerized by the giant clock in the lobby…

…he calls me upstairs – I gotta see this.

The rooms for the inn are in corridors off the main loft area, but along the walls are these writing desks with dark green lampshades and pockets for pens and postcards.

As I’m gawking over these relics of history, imagining how many tourists came out here to write a postcard to send back home, Clint excitedly calls me to come to the back doors leading out to a deck. On the deck (we’re upstairs, mind you) are huge benches all facing one way…toward a large group of people standing around on the ground.

My eyes grow wide as I realize that is Old Faithful they are waiting for! We had absolutely NO IDEA that Old Faithful was that close to the inn, so this was a complete shock to us.

I turned around and saw a guy eating an ice cream cone, so I asked him when was the next eruption (it’s about every 90 minutes or so).

“Uuuummm…” he says looking at his watch. “It’s in about 3 minutes!”

We were going to get to see Old Faithful after all.

If we had just left from the restaurant, we would have had no clue what we missed. All I can say is we were on God’s schedule, not ours. We just didn’t know it!