The Bird Refuge calls

It became a tradition last year. During spring break week, we loaded up bikes and headed for Bonners Ferry and Kootenai Wildlife Refuge in the Kootenai Valley. My sisters, my brother and I had a great time pedaling and photographing until Jim's bike tire went flat. That was about half way around the four-mile main refuge loop, so we had a great time walking and pushing bikes for the rest of the trip.

Those sacks full of munchies that awaited us at the end of our journey did not last long. We devoured them within minutes while heading home. Even in spite of Jim's bike breakdown, we all decided this spring outing was a must-do for all years thereafter, so today's the day for 2007. This time our 85 year-old mother is coming along and a different brother.

Jim couldn't make it up this week, but Kevin's here from Frenchtown, so our family herd will descend upon the the flocks of geese, ducks and swans that hang out in big numbers at the refuge this time of year. We expect to see an eagle or two and more than likely will spot those three or four Blue Herons which customarily inhabit in the fields on the north road.

Our entourage will look a little different from last year's, and we're not too worried about bike tires blowing cuz we've got a contingency plan. Mother is a key factor. She bought a used golf cart yesterday from our forever family friend Ray Holt. It's offering her an entire new dimension in mobility. She has discovered that already with several trips around the Colburn farm and some spins down Center Valley Road.

From now on, she can drive out to get the mail. She can traverse the yard to check out the posies. When something's happening down at the arena, she can hop in her cart and go watch. We expect to see our mother out and about a lot more than she's been for the past several years. And, today she's going to get to enjoy the bird refuge more up close and personal than ever before.

In addition to her outdoor opportunity today, we'll count on that cart for a variety of conveniences. It can hold the cameras and the munchies. And, if someone's bike breaks down, it can carry it back to the vehicles, and that someone can sit in the passenger seat while Mother chauffeurs them to the end of the trail.

The refuge remains one of the better kept recreational secrets in our area. Extending for miles at the base of the Cabinet Mountains along the west side of the vast and spectacular Kootenai Valley, it offers great walking, biking, driving and golf carting for anyone who loves a leisurely escape into a peaceful natural world where silence is interrupted only by the choruses of constantly singing birds. A person could spend hours there, often seeing no other humans. It's one of my favorite places on earth.

So, today, with its projected 70 degree-temperature and clear skies, ought to conclude with another bundle of wonderful memories experienced in the beautiful outdoors, especially with our mother along. No doubt oodles of photos will be captured of carts, family and refuge inhabitants. Definitely could be one of those Mastercard-style vignettes: priceless.