Kopczynski Family Reunion - Lake Rules, Take a nature walk

This sign hangs in the dining area of Zeke and AnnMarie's home!  We tried to do it all during the week the Kopczynski's gathered at the vacation spot on Payette Lake.

We took nature walks - first hike to Goose Creek Falls, gathering under a tree and one umbrella during a quick rain storm, debating whether to go on!  

Gratefully we didn't go back to the car, because the bridge over the falls was our reward at the end of hike.

We hiked to the secret garden with the kids and they sat still for a few moments for a picture!

Duane, Anne, and I decided to go on a little hike, just 1.9 miles in/out on Saturday.  We found Deep Lake in the hiking book - in the burn area.  Little did we know that meant logs and trees could be covering the trail.  So, not only did we hike, we also hurdled about 200 logs.  We met other hikers coming down the trail who encouraged us to keep going, "Only 170 more logs to hurdle."

 Duane really enjoyed the hiking because we could "see" right through the trees!  As always, the reward of seeing the lake make all the hurdling worthwhile.
As we were taking pictures of the lake, other hikers arrived and we were told they were looking for a place to teach teenagers about survival in the woods.  A director told us each kid would be given a knife, a match, and one slice of bread.  I thought their time would be better spent removing the logs from the trail.  I wonder how those young boys managed because it's been raining ever since.

Duane took this great picture of one of the burned-out trees.

It's the first time Duane and I hiked together and I really enjoyed his encouragement and delight at arriving at the lake.  I hope we can go on more nature walks together.  

Reflections on Father's Day

I've been thinking about my Dad today!  One of my earliest memories of him is kneeling at his feet when I prayed for my brothers and sisters.  The little rote prayer got a little sing-songy as new names were added to the list.  God bless Theresa, Marilyn, Carole, Allan, Connie, Joan etc.  We also prayed for Carole's eye to get better.  By the time Don, Karen, and Larry arrived, Dan gave up on me kneeling at this feet and spent time teaching the little kids instead.

This picture was taken when he & Mom celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1995.

I've watched Duane and John become fathers and this generation is much different than my Dad's.  

My Dad was not present, in the delivery room, of any of his 10 children

 John and Bradleigh 7/9/96

Duane and Colin 11/19/2004

I sure my Dad

 Never cooked a meal

or made and decorated a birthday cake!

Or attended a college basketball game

Or rode a bicycle with his family

But my Dad taught me many things.  He was big on saving money.  He encouraged me to open up my own savings account when I started working for my Aunt Johanna.  He listened to my desire to get married when I was 17 and told me, "you never know what might happen in your life - someday you might have to support yourself.  So, at least, get some training at a business college first."  He also taught me to pray, although I don't get on my knees often enough.  I'm kind of a morning person like he was - I like to say my prayers while having my first cup of coffee every morning.  I know my Dad spent many hours in prayer before he went to work everyday because he told me so!  When I was facing the reality of divorce he told me he was praying for me and for Roy, too!  When he got dementia he couldn't carry on a conversation with me, but he could always pray the rosary.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers in my life - and don't forget - the father in the picture is praying for you!

Biking on the Route of the Hiawatha

My son and his family invited me to join them biking the Route of Hiawatha on Sunday.  We drove to Lookout Pass, purchased our trail and shuttle tickets, and then drove to the East Portal to begin the 15 mile ride on an old railroad bed.

It was a absolutely beautiful day and we were all happy to be enjoying the sunshine and being in the forests of Idaho.

The Route of the Hiawatha was called one of the most scenic stretches of railroad in the country. When the Milwaukee Railroad was operating, the trains traversed through 11 tunnels and over 9 high trestles, covering a 46 mile route that crossed the rugged Bitterroot Mountains between Idaho and Montana. The "Route of the Hiawatha" is most famous for the long St. Paul Pass, or Taft Tunnel which burrows for 8771 ft. (1.66 miles) under the Bitterroot Mountains at the state line.

We had to have appropriate headlamps and head gear to travel through the tunnel - 40 degrees year round and dark, dark.  I kept telling Colin, "this is more exciting than Space Mountain at Disneyland."  I encouraged him to keep smiling because I was quite sure someone would be taking our picture at the end.

 Anne took this picture with her IPhone - ah, the light at the end of the tunnel!

 

We marvelled at the beautiful scenery and wondered how the pioneers carved the railroad through these beautiful mountains.  How did they ever get the ties and beams down the mountain?  

I found this information on the website:  The route proposed for the new line was through the rugged Bitterroot Mountains. Prior to preparing official plans for the construction, significant exploration had to be undertaken to select the most feasible route. Various possibilities existed westward of Butte and up beyond Missoula. The exploration and reconnaissance crews reportedly covered over 2,000 miles in country that was wild, uninhabited, with very few trails, and virtually no maps. In the late 1800's the Milwaukee Road was a prosperous railroad out of Chicago that had over 6,000 miles of track in the upper Midwest. Experiencing competition from other rail lines, the company decided to expand west to take advantage of the expanding West Coast markets, as well as the Pacific Rim trade. The exploration work on the Montana side began in November, 1904.  The exploration on the Idaho side began in May, 1905. In November of 1905, the Milwaukee Railroad Board of Directors formally approved the lines extension to Seattle-Tacoma, Washington. Because time was an enormous factor, the crews worked year round and did not stop because of winter weather. By the spring of 1906 the choices were narrowing to the St. Paul Pass and St. Joe River valley. After the exploration surveys, during most of 1906 engineering survey crews finally helped select and identify the actual location of where the tracks would be located.  By early in 1907 the construction work began. The actual construction of the rail bed and the track was very difficult due to the forbidding terrain and the weather conditions. The cost of the project which was originally estimated at $45 million, ended up exceeding $234 million, (plus another $23 million to convert to electric locomotives in 1910 to 1911). All in all it took nearly 9,000 men, Italians, Serbs, Montenegrins, Austrians, Belgians, Hungarians, Japanese, French, Canadians, Spaniards, Irishmen, Swedes, Norwegians, and others all working together from 1906 to 1911 to construct this Pacific extension.  Intercontinental freight service on the new line began on July 4, 1909, with passenger service following six days thereafter.

Colin probably would've preferred a few more stops to throw rocks into the creek, but we had to keep going in order to catch the shuttle bus back up the hill.  

He and Anne got a little too close to each other and he suffered quite a scrape.  Four "angels" were behind us, one with a huge first aid kit, iodine wipes and big bandages.  I asked her if she was a nurse, "No, but I'm a bleeder."  I had a few bandaids and a washcloth so we were soon on our way, determined to remember the first aid kit on our next bike ride.

Colin really kept up with us and needed very little encouragement to keep going.  I stopped to take a few pictures and felt quite sure that Mom and Dad travelled this route on their honeymoon trip from Chicago to Idaho in 1945. The tour guides told us to notice the mile post markers - we started at the tunnel, milepost 1750 and ended up at 1763 - that many train track miles from Chicago!

We were happy to let the bus shuttle us back up the entrance to the Taft Tunnel.  This time we all got a little muddy from riding in the puddles in the tunnel.

Nice bike racks on the bus!

Colin fell asleep on the bus....

We ended our adventure at the Moose Creek Grill in Kellogg - a lovely restaurant in an old home, owned by a husband & wife team of professionally trained chefs.

We enjoyed our dinner, topped off with a huckleberry ice cream cake!  

I continue to be surprised by the wonderful travel experiences so close to home.  Travel to Disneyland and Europe is highly over rated because Here We Have Idaho....

Opening Day for new Lewiston Library

It's been 13 years since Dawn Wittman, former Library Director, presented her idea of a new library to the City Council.  She could not stop grinning today, although I think she shed a few tears out of sheer emotion!  She told me, "Oh, there were many days I'd come home and say to Dick, 'I don't think we'll ever get a real library.'"  She had wonderful community supporters who formed a foundation, held auctions and wine tasting events, and just plain never gave up.

Dawn and Barry Kough, Tribune photographer

The donation wall

Flag raising followed by short dignitaries' speeches, including Mayor Kevin Poole.

Supporters Dennis Ohrtman and Colleen Mahoney

My friends Mary and Jean

 Cindy and Lisa

 Mary Lou, Betty and Alyse

Senior citizens trying out the new computers!  

The architect, Larry Kom,  preserved the character of the old Erb Hardware building.  Cecilia worked in the paint department shortly after she graduated from high school.  The floors, exposed brick walls, beams are original!  I spent a lot of time in this building, when it was Cornerstone Interiors, looking at furniture, flooring, and other decorations.   They had the best open house at Christmas time. 

I also visited with Larry Kom.  He told me, "this has been my baby for two years.  I'm so happy the way it turned out.  It's so 'Lewiston' with the rough beams, wood floors and industrial lighting - it works for our community." From the Lewiston Morning Tribune:  Ironically, Kom's love affair with the former Erb Hardware/Cornerstone Interiors building began not with creation, but destruction.

"That's when it got really exciting," he said of the initial days of demolition, when old suspended ceilings came down, flooring was removed and partition walls fell. "The design team found that we had a real diamond in the rough, that with some attention and care could become a real special place." Crews tore through four layers of floors and three layers of ceilings in some areas before they found the original surfaces, he said. The remodel of any old building will come with its share of surprises, many of them unwelcome. But Kom said that as the team stripped the interior down to its bones, gems began to emerge from every corner.

The new library is just down Normal Hill - a short walking or bike riding distance from my home.   I rode my bike down for the opening ceremonies and locked it up on this cute bike rack - one of many that were part of the urban renewal project, also completed just a short time ago. And now I have a cute library bag to haul my books back and forth on my back!

There are several lovely pieces of art displayed near the library - this is one of my favorites.

I'm so happy and proud to be living in Lewiston!