First Day of School

Well, the first day I've had kids in the classroom, at least. Teachers in our district reported back last Monday and it's been busy, busy, busy ever since.

So there are a few changes. I have my prep period at the end of the day instead of at the beginning. I think it's going to be okay, but ask me that when winter hits, it's dark and dreary, and I'm not moving as fast in the mornings!

We also made some changes to the program, so a few more kids rolled in this morning. Orienting the new kids and integrating them into the existing class community can be a challenge. Today was controlled chaos, but I think it went really well. As for how the year will go....only time will tell.

Road Trip - Wrapup

So, we left Coeur d'Alene on the 14th, traveling south on Hwy 95 to Lewiston, Idaho where we crossed the Snake River and stayed in Clarkston, Washingtion. For those who have never been to Lewiston/Clarkston, the towns are located in a deep gulch. There are tons of signs on the road down warning about steep grades and brake failure. And it's hot. When we left on Sunday morning, it was 87 degrees at 9:30.

While we were in the area we took a little drive over to Spaulding, Idaho to the visitor's center at the Nez Perce National Historical Park. The park is huge and encompasses sites in multiple states. The visitor's center does have a nice exhibit of Nez Perce history and artifacts. We had a good visit but it got a little crowded when a huge bus pulled up with an ElderHostal tour.

On Sunday we continued south and west to Pendleton, Oregon. Pendleton is like many small towns where Sunday is a slow day. We did drive into town to see the rodeo grounds which will host the 100th Pendleton Roundup next month. And we visited Hamley & Co.. We also spent a couple hours at the http://www.wildhorseresort.com/ after dinner.

Today was a long pull home. We stopped for lunch at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in The Dalles. My last trip to the center was probably ten years ago. Mom and Dad had never been, so it was good stop. Then we ran into paving on I-84, which made the trip longer than it should have been.

The bottom line is we had a good trip. In eleven days we drove 1400 miles in three states in the motorhome. We put another 700 on the car in four states doing side trips and short runs to town.

Road Trip - Coeur d'Alene, ID

Yesterday's travel took us just down the road to Coeur d'Alene. We are staying at an RV park on the Spokane River. Today we took in the sights. Our morning started at Cabela's in Post Falls. For those who haven't been to one, it's a sporting goods mega store similar to Bass Pro Shops. This was our first visit to Cabela's. And we did a good job with the shopping.

After leaving Cabela's, we drove to what used to be one of the largest outlet malls. It's sad, but today, the mall is like a ghost town. The majority of the shops are empty, which was discouraging. As a result, we headed downtown. We did a bit more shopping, but the one thing I really wanted to do was walk the "longest floating boardwalk" at the Coeur d'Alene Resort. I remember on previous trip we actually came across the lake, tied our boat to the dock and walked it then.

Road Trip - Libby, MT

Today we took a little side trip into Montana. It's been five years since I was last in Montana. At that time I returned to Missoula (where I spent my undergrad years)for a friend's wedding. Montana really is the Big Sky country, but until this trip I'd never been to the northwestern most part of the state. We stopped at Kootenei Falls, on the Kootenei River. It was a short little hike that was well worth the stop. Then we were on to Libby, which is a lumber town about twenty miles, as the crow flies, south of the Canadian border. We had a really beautiful drive.

Road Trip - Hope

And no, that's not a sentiment. It's a town in Idaho on the north shore of Pend Orielle Lake, about 18 miles from Sandpoint. It's been nineteen years since we were last here and many things have changed. Two things, however, stay constant: The lake and the deer.

Road Trip - Travel

Today was another travel day. We headed out of Twisp on Highway 20. Our day took us through Okanagan, Omak, Tonasket and Republic, where we stopped to eat our leftover lunch. We also took a couple hours to check out the town. It was nice day, and the people were so friendly.

Tonight we're staying in Kettle Falls, on Lake Roosevelt. Many years ago the family spent some time on the southern end of the lake; near Electic City. That's about a hundred miles south of where we are tonight. Lake Roosevelt is over one hundred and thirty miles long!

Road Trip - Winthrop, WA

We spent the day in Winthrop. It's a cute little Old West theme town with a few shops, restaurants and a museum. We wandered through town, ate lunch at the Old Schoolhouse Brewery and then had ice cream. It was so nice to just sit back and relax for the day. Tomorrow we continue east.

Road Trip - North Cascades

We woke up to a few sprinkles, packed up camp and hit the road. Our destination was the little town of Winthrop via North Cascades National Park. I’ve spent lots of time in the Oregon Cascades, so there were times when I felt a little déjà vu.

The weather wasn’t great today. There was some rain and clouds, so the views were a bit obscured. Plus, it’s a long trip in the motorhome, which made for a very long day. We limited our stops in the park to a few scenic outlooks and the visitor’s center.

Road Trip - Mt. Rainier

So, the parents and I took off from home yesterday for a little road trip into Washington. The first jaunt was to the Seattle area, where we spent the night. Today we got up and spent the day exploring Mt. Rainier National Park and the surrounding area.

I love the national park system. I’ve said that before, but I really mean it. Every site has something special about it. Mt. Rainier is big. Really big. And the surrounding landscape is pretty awesome. There are waterfalls, glacier paths and alpine meadows. The weather was perfect. It was the kind of day that photographers love. After a few hours in the park we headed back out the way we came. We had passed a couple interesting looking spots on the way in, and decided to visit. We had to check out the Ashford General Store. It’s got a little bit of everything. I love exploring places like that. Then we stopped at the Ex-Nihilo sculpture park just outside of Elbe, Washington. The artist, Daniel Klennert, asks that you use photos for personal use only. Check out his website. He’s got some really cool stuff and it’s all made from recycled materials.

Another interesting spot we saw was the Hobo Inn and Historic Mt. Rainier Railroad Dining Company. The entire complex is train cars. We chose to try the restaurant for dinner, eating burgers and fresh cut French fries. For dessert we had blackberry cobbler ala mode. It was yummy.

Soup! or I knew I bought those for a reason....

I know, it's kind of a weird topic for August, but I like soup. Usually, when I make soup, it's "Kitchen Soup." Whatever is in the kitchen, goes into the soup.

Last Saturday, on the way to our family reunion we stopped at E-Z Orchards Farm Market. We picked up some really nice peaches and green beans. For some reason I felt compelled to also buy some tomatillos. I've never cooked with tomatillos, but I really love salsa verde, so I thought that was probably what I would end up doing with them. Wrong!

Jump ahead two days, and I picked up a copy Sunset Magazine (August 2010 issue). As I flipped through it, a photo of what looked like salsa caught my eye. Further reading told me it was actually "Mexican tomatillo avocado soup". It looked so good, I had to try it. Of course, I made a couple of adjustments: I omitted the cucumber and cilantro (I don't really like them), added chopped fresh tomatoes and substituted red hot sauce. I was also lazy and kept my soup chunky, skipping the puree and sieve stesp. It's so yummy.

Family Reunion

Yesterday we spent the afternoon hanging out in my cousins' backyard. A few months ago we crossed paths, and Sandi said, "We should have a family reunion." So we did. We ate (sausages, salads, chips and pies), and talked (farming, family, kids and grandkids, camping, fishing, church and school) and played lawn games under the fir trees. Traci showed off Logan. Everyone asked me how teaching is going; which is not an easy question to answer during summer vacation. We sat with Aunt Vi and talked about Grams, who has been gone almost a decade now. And about the family members who couldn't make it: Aunt Charlotte wasn't feeling well, and Ashley was off registering for college. The kids bobbed for green apples - unripe, not Granny Smiths. Cows and the cat wandered by several times. It was a really great day.