Friday, July 16, 2010

Big weekend ahead


It's the Hoot Owl Cafe at 9:45 for me this morning.  I'll be meeting Becky Nappi from the Spokane office of the Spokesman-Review for coffee and to talk about trains.  Seems this week is the Northern Pacific Railroad Historical Assoc. convention in Spokane.

This morning the attendees will be bussed up to Ponderay to catch an historical passenger train back to Spokane.  Apparently Becki is covering the convention and doing some sort of feature story associated with it.

She's interviewing me after running across my first-ever Sandpoint Magazine story back in the mid-1990s http://www.sandpointonline.com/sandpointmag/sms95/railroading.html which dealt with our town being "The Funnel" in train talk.  

Three major railroads pass through the area, and these days that phenomenon provides a magnet for rail fans from around the world to come here to watch and photograph the trains as they pass through the area.

Sandpoint's history is loaded with train lore, so I'll share a few of my own personal  good, bad and ugly tales of nearly an entire lifetime spent around train tracks.

Don't know exactly where this is going, but it's always fun to reconnect with Becky.  

Tomorrow my mother and I plan to spend some time at the Women of Courage gathering at the Bird Aviation and Invention Museum at Glengary.  Some great information about the event can be found at http://www.birdaviationmuseum.com/WASPS.html

Mother served as a civilian draftsman at Kellogg Field in Battle Creek, Mich., during the war.  Her work focused on design details for repairing bombers involved in the war effort. If all goes right, maybe she'll get to tell a few of her tales to some of the women aviators and other Rosie the Riveter attendees at the event. 

Sunday we're planning to drive in to Spokane to watch my sister Laurie ride at a dressage show.  This is a big one for Laurie because she'll be judged by one of the most famous "rock stars" of dressage, Hilda Gurney.  

Hilda Gurney is a two-time Olympian (won the Bronze Medal in 1976 at the Montreal Olympics).  She is also a 9-times Pan American Games competitor.  Her talents as both a rider and teacher have been legendary in International dressage circles for decades.

A few years ago my childhood friend Susie "Sky" Baldwin spent two weeks training with Ms. Gurney at her California facility.  I'm sure Susie would list the experience as one of the ultimate memories of her very adventurous life.  

Anyway, Laurie will be riding Rusty both Saturday and Sunday to learn what the best of the best thinks of her horse's performance.  So, we'll be watching Sunday afternoon at the Sport Horse Arena near Spokane. 

This weekend is also the Horse Expo here in Sandpoint, and my former student and friend Erica Curless will be there with her Dog and Pony Show equine massage therapy booth.  She'll also have her little daughter Quinn.  I don't know whether Erica or Quinn will rank higher on my list of "gotta see's," but it will be fun to see them both.  

And, of course, we'll be checking in to see how Debbie's doing in her 204-mile bike ride down I-5 from Seattle to Portland over the weekend. 

Before heading off to Seattle yesterday, Willie brought the doggies to stay at the Lovestead for the weekend.  He also brought Bill and me each a T-shirt created by Paige Weber, Debbie's partner in the STP Experiment.  So, if it's not too hot, we'll be wearing the shirts to support their effort.  



Guess that's all for now.  It's another beautiful day in North Idaho, and a great weekend lies ahead.  Happy Friday to all.

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