Fall snippetography

Driving Mrs. Tibbs

I called Mother yesterday morning and asked if she'd like to go for a photography drive. Fewer than two seconds passed before she said, "YES."

So, we went. I took my camera. We took back roads wherever possible. A favorite family trip for all of us ever since we can remember is to pass through Bonners Ferry, turn east at Three Mile Junction, follow HWY 2 to the Meadow Creek Road and stay on it until we reach Good Grief.

We stop at the Good Grief Restaurant, then head back home via the highway. The trip seldom disappoints.

The route has significance because my dad's parents taught school at Meadow Creek, along the Moyie which no longer exists. There's a campground there now. In fact, it has been there for years, and we've enjoyed many a family picnic and fishing trips there. Bill and Willie also planted a geocache near the old school site not far from the railroad crossing and the weather-worn sign announcing "Meadow Creek" to train engineers as they pass through.

We also love to stop at the Good Grief Restaurant, where our friend Kathryn (I hope I spelled it right) cooks up food so tasty that if you don't get there on time it's all gone. That was the case yesterday with her cookies and her soup. We settled for sandwiches. Mother had a heckuva time grabbing bites from her sourdough sandwich stuffed with four thick pieces of ham, but we noticed just a bread crust remaining when we paid the tab.

Yesterday we met Kathryn's sister Trudy, who helps out three days a week. She's an RN who moved up to Good Grief from San Luis Obispo five years ago. Their brother also came up. He works for the Border Patrol.

They're nice folks, and they provide a nice place to stop on a Sunday drive. But make sure you get there long before 4, cuz that's when they close on Sundays.

I've also been snapping a few other fall shots around the Lovestead, including that apple tree. So far, I've picked five 40-pound boxes of apples. My buddy Rose Marie has picked a sackful, and the horses have averaged two apples a day for the past two weeks. More than half the tree is still loaded, so that's what I'll be doing today.

Happy Holiday, however you view it.