Utah State Parks

Utah State Parks
Hiking Wild Horse Canyon

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Hiking to Imnaha Falls

I talked my sister, Karen, into going with me and the Lewiston Hiking group to Joseph, Oregon for a day-long hike along the Imnaha River.  The weatherman predicted scattered thunderstorms, but we felt not one drop!!!
Prepared for rain, but I wore my coat only the first five minutes!
New friends, Larae and her daughter, Judy, rode with us to Indian Crossing Trailhead.  Larae charmed and inspired us with her stories of volunteering, as a nurse, to assist surgeons in Haiti.  She went to Haiti three times and told of awakening one morning to a noise she could not identify.  When she got up she realized the noise she heard came from hundreds of Haitians whispering and waiting to see the U.S. team of doctors and nurses.  Unfortunately Larae slipped on rock after lunch and had to head back to the trailhead.  We found out later she was fine, just suffering a bruise on her hip.  She, at 79, inspired all of us with her physical fitness.
 The Blue Hole is a popular stopping spot on the hike - the water so clear and aquamarine in color!


I loved all the gorgeous rock formations as much as the river running through them.
My beautiful sister enjoying her perch on the lovely rocks!
Don saw evidence of the 1994 Twin Lakes forest fire.  We learned it was a hot fire that devastated acres of forest lands, but new trees, shrubs, and wildflowers now punctuate the landscape.  
Karen and I posed for this picture after our lunch break.   
We stopped for a quick picture of this huge log jam.  Our leaders reminded us that we'd have to turn around and head back down the trail by 3:00 PM and had not even reached the falls yet.  Everyone picked up the pace and we were so intent on reaching the falls by three that we hiked right past the little trail that led to the viewpoint.  We could've easily missed the falls because of the low water this time of the year.  Then it was on to serious, quick hiking back to the trailhead while we had some daylight!  Carol and I came in last and honestly didn't think we'd make the last mile!  We were so tired and agreed that 12 miles in one day was too much for most of us.  We barely made it back to Joseph by 8 PM, when most of the local restaurants close for the night.  
A nice waiter at Mutiny Brewing invited us in and brought us the best wine, beer, and food!  I was too tired to even take a picture of our group, but their were 10 of us seated together at these long tables.  
An added bonus to this hiking trip was our stay at the Historic Enterprise House, a lovely B&B.  Jack and Judy, the owners welcomed us as if we were family on Friday evening.  We enjoyed a short visit with them, a glass of wine on the porch, and a quick visit with other guests from Australia.  Then we took a quick walk, past a high school football game, to a lovely place for dinner, another micro-brewery, Terminal Gravity.  We thought it might be too cold to sit outside, on a picnic bench by the creek, but after a cup of hot water with lemon we were fine!  

This lovely setting was our breakfast before the big hike!
We felt so pampered by the innkeepers - first course a fruit compote
Second course, baked french toast stuffed with cream cheese and fresh berries and bacon slices
The breakfast room!
Sweet touches in our bedroom!
The owners, Judy and Jack Burgoyne, sold their Christmas tree farm near Astoria, Oregon, and bought this historic home, restoring it with love and care over ten years ago.  
Above the fireplace hangs a local artist's "clip art" of the Enterprise House depicting a Christmas scene reminiscent of their Christmas tree business.  

We said good-bye to Jack and Judy on Sunday morning and headed back to Lewiston, up and down the famous Rattlesnake Grade.
We stopped for a quick picture of the hills surrounding the Snake River and Hells Canyon.  Karen insisted that our sore muscles from the 12 mile hike did not get stiff by stopping for a quick hike in Field Springs State Park.  

Thank you sweet sister for another great adventure!

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Congratulations, Dan and Jean

My friend, Jean, married her "sweets" Mr. Dan on Saturday, September 7th

Family and friends packed St. James Church.  Joy and love surrounded this couple who invited half the world to their wedding.  Everyone was included, from relatives in the Philippines to god-children from Texas.  The Johnson relatives arrived from Louisiana, Texas, and Wisconsin.  I felt so much joy as Jean's nieces walked down the aisle, each with one of Jean's grandchildren in tow, including 6-month-old, baby Henry Kaufman. 

Kate Eddy came several times to visit her "pretend" grandparents, Dan & Marilyn
The Veil and Cord Ceremony, a Filipino tradition, clothed Dan and Jean in Unity and the cord binds them for life.  Christabel, Jean's cousin, brought her veil from the Philippines to be used today.

The choir sang Wherever You Go, I Shall Go, at the presentation of the Gifts!
 The entire church broke into major applause as Father Les introduced Mr. and Mrs. Dan Johnson. 
Jean and Dan put a lot of thought into this special celebration.  It took the whole family and the Catholic Community to decorate, orchestrate, sing, and share in the joy of this day.

Hailey, Lauren, Amy, Gloria, Jean, Jen, Sidney, and Tancie - Jean's family

Jean and I spent a Sunday afternoon with a glue gun decorating over 50 jars that held wheat and flowers from Dawn Wittman's garden.  
 Marcia, Regina, and I found cupcake recipes on Pintrest and decorated 150 of them the morning of the wedding.  Regina made Raspberry Lemon and Marcia made Cherry Chip.















Jean told me she and Dan took a quick dance lesson from Kathryn Claussen just a week before the wedding.  The band, the Kingpins, did not know how to play the song, L-O-V-E, by Nat King Cole, but had a CD and Dan and Jean nailed their first dance!

Jean chose Marcia and me to give the bride's toast and Marcia asked people to look around and notice how inclusive Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have been.  Guests included family, friends, work and church communities, and political acquaintances. They invited over 750 people to this wedding and everyone enjoyed the food, the music, and the cupcakes!   I asked the guests to bless this sweet couple:

We’ve known each other for 12 years.  Our friendship grew over Sat morning coffee at Sage Bakery, walks around Normal Hill, and suppers of Salsa Corn Chowder at Tomato Bros. 

We never dwelled on our single again status, but looked at our lives as a time of new beginnings, a time filled with hope.  Sometime, over coffee, she said to me, “I’m ready for a new dream because my girls completed college, got married, and have their own families.  So, Dan, became her new dream and I, once again, see her life filled with hope.

Here they stand, Jean and Dan, hand in hand,
They’ve just exchanged wedding bands.
Today is a day of new dreams and new plans…

And all us, their loved ones, are here to say
God bless this couple who marry today!



Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Biking the Trail of the Coeur d'Alene

 While the husband is away, sisters must play.  Karen's husband, Dale, was off on a caribou hunting trip to Alaska, so she decided to take a little bike riding trip and invited me to join her.  We both love the Rails-to-Trails Coeur'd Alene Trail and planned our route so we would ride about 12 miles one way and then back to the car each day.  We headed north to St. Maries and took a little detour into Emida and Santa, Idaho, where Karen lived with her first husband, Steve, when they were newly married.  She reminisced about the "shacks" they lived in, the grocery store in Santa where they could "charge" their groceries, the lack of telephone service, the helpful neighbors, and the maturing she did while living in the backwoods of Idaho.  A new house replaced the dilapidated house in Santa, but she drove right to the lane and noticed the fields around the house are now mowed and well taken care of.  Leaving the small towns behind, similar to leaving that part of her life behind, we got on the trail at Medimont, making a goal of riding to Cedar Cove for lunch - about ten miles.   


Karen and I love to stop along the way and at this stop we noticed several newly-shorn llamas and their skinny necks.  One little black one looked like a bandit with his black and white face!  

We thoroughly enjoyed the quiet protected table where we ate our lunch, among majestic cedar trees!  When we got back to Medimont we met an older gentleman and his son from Seattle.  The son was quite chatty and asked us if we knew if there was a town named Medimont because his brother intended to meet them there.  I made a comment to him about how physically fit his dad was and he told me to ask him his age.  The man responded, "I'd give anything to be 80 again" ...he was 83!  When he found out I worked in an assisted living community he started talking about the excellent care his deceased wife received in a facility near his home.  My heart filled with pride to hear his stories and gratitude to the wonderful care-givers! Darn, did not get his picture!  But we heard about him later when we were shopping in Wallace.  He made quite an impression on the people on the trail and people in the shops.  
The weatherman predicted rain, but we never felt a drop and actually felt grateful for the cool, cloudy weather.  
I think we fell asleep shortly after enjoying a nice dinner at Noahs, and glimpses of the gorgeous sunset.
Our hotel, the Guest House Inn, was within walking distance of the entrance to the famous Silver Mountain Gondola Ride!
Day Two, we drove from Kellogg to Pinehurst and began riding back toward Cedar Cove.  Our first stop was the 1880 structure called the Snake Pit at Enaville.   Karen remembered taking her mother-in-law, Ada, here when she and Steve lived in Pinehurst.  Now, unfortunately, the place only serves drinks - no food until the business sells.










I loved the railing made out of tree branches.  Still unique even though some are missing..

Karen resting on the rustic wooden bench.  

This was our lovely resting spot for lunch, then we rode to Dudley, an abandoned town along the Coeur d'Alene River, and turned around knowing we'd be riding our bike for 25 miles this day.  

Karen took this picture so she could post it immediately to FaceBook and get a little free advertising for her son, Gus, and his device called Cellfy!  She put her phone-camera in this little bag and tied it to a tree.
 Here's the resulting picture!!

We stopped here for ice cream and the owner invited us back for dinner, but first we rode back to our car, then drove to the Mission at Cataldo.
Coeur d' Alene's Old Mission State Park is a state park and National Historic Landmark in North Idaho, USA. It is also known as the Mission of the Sacred Heart or Cataldo Mission. It contains the church itself, the parish house, and the surrounding property. Mission of the Sacred Heart is also the oldest standing building in Idaho.  n the early 19th century, the Coeur d'Alene Indians had heard of these powerful "medicine men" in black robes with a book and wanted some of these men for their own tribe. They sent men east to St. Louis, and in 1842 Father Pierre-Jean De Smet responded to the request and came to the area. Fr. Nicholas Point and Br. Charles Duet came and helped to pick a mission location. The first was along the St. Joe River, but was subject to flooding. In 1846 they moved it to the current location.

In 1850 the church was taken over by Antonio Ravalli, who began designing the new mission building. He made sure that the building was constructed by the Indians themselves, so that they could feel part of the church. It was built using the wattle and daub method, and was finished some three years later, without using a single nail.

This mission location is named after Giuseppe Cataldo, a sicilian priest born in the village of Terrasini, who spent there most of his life.

In time the mission became an important stop for traders, settlers, and miners taking on the role as a hospitality and supply station. It was also a working port for boats heading up the Coeur d'Alene River.
In 1961 it was designated a National Historic Landmark, and in 1966 was put on the National Register of Historic Places.  (From Wikipedia)


I like this picture of an original confessional.
A very simple altar.
The organ
The original ceiling, with a section in the middle stained with huckleberry juice to get the blue tint.
We went back to the Old Mission Inn for dinner and found an old juke box!  Karen said, "I know how to get the waitress to turn off the TV."  She put a few quarters in the juke box and sure enough music replaced some baseball game on TV.  The waitress surprsied us with a few more tokens, "You made some great selections so I want you to choose some more music."  Funny thing was that we did not recognize most of the songs!  I think she found some Eagles music and I found some hits from the '60's.  Not showing our age, are we???
On Thursday, Day Three, we rode from Kellogg to Wallace and enjoyed a great tour of the former train depot.  It's even more amazing because the building was moved to make room for the freeway, which you can see just behind the depot.  
We both agreed, Wallace takes pride in the appearance of their historic little community.










I loved the tour inside the railroad depot, especially the old telephone
and
typewriter.
I'm fairly certain this diagram outlined our trip back and forth to Chicago in 1965 and maybe even Dad and Mom's trip after their wedding in 1945. 

The bench held hundreds of passengers waiting for the arrival of the trains over the years.  
Lovely flower pots all over town.  I took this one in front of a little museum about the mining industry in the Silver Valley, as this entire area was named after silver, iron and other ores were discovered here.  I should've taken a picture of a poster that promised $7.00/day to lure men to work in the mines in 1932.  The promise of high wages drew many workers to the Silver Valley in the depression because people like my Dad only earned $1.00 day.  The pictures and stories of the miners tugged at my heart.  
We enjoyed a lovely lunch at this converted garage and discovered Wallace truly had a well known red light district during the hey-dey of the mining business.  

The garage doors formed a framework for posters on the ceiling!

This little spot on the trail near Osborn delighted us and we did stop and take pictures and rest a bit!
We did leave a note and thanked the owners for the delightful stop!
A perfect end to our 3-day adventure!