Bonners Ferry Yummy Delights and Memories

We found Billie Krause's farm, thanks to her Palomino pal.

My daughter-in-law Debbie and Billie Krause of Copeland. 

Debbie and I were headed to Bonners Ferry yesterday to attend the Mennonite Crafts Fair.  Debbie had never been to one but she's enjoyed enough goodies from the Bread Basket Bakery and the new Miller's Deli in Sandpoint that she needed no persuading to join me.

We arrived around lunch time and walked through the display area, checking out what we may purchase after lunch.

Then, it was time to eat.  For $10---two meals, we enjoyed soup, a roll, Amish peanut butter and honey butter, coffee and a piece of pie.

Okay, the soup.  Mine was broccoli potato.  I'll search for the recipe.  Best bowl of soup I think I've ever eaten.  I ate slowly to savor the flavor and enjoy the chunks of soft potatoes.  

Debbie chose the chile with onions and cheese.  We exchanged bites from our bowls.  It would be hard to say whose palate enjoyed the most satisfaction.  

We also exchanged our honey butter and Amish peanut butter.  

All the while, we also enjoyed people watching as families would come in with trays of lunch goodies, sit down, eat and visit quietly.

We did eavesdrop on one conversation where we learned that the baked goods contributed by that family had to go through an obstacle course to get to the school, including a trip to town for eggs, no electricity, no telephone, someone stuck in the road, and much more. 

But the baked goods arrived along with the family who were enjoying what had finally become their comedy of errors.

Before leaving Sandpoint, we received a tip from Bill.  He wanted us to drive on from the craft sale and explore a road along the Kootenai Valley.  We would have to go further up the highway and turn off at the Turner Road.  

He described what we would see on this tour and expressed the hope that the sun would be shining for some nice picture-taking. 

After finishing our lunch which was topped off by the ever-delicious Mennonite homemade pie, we purchased a few more goodies and recipe books and headed on the next leg of the journey.

We found the road, went down one wrong road, doubled back and drove through an area I've never before seen on the eastern side of the Kootenai Valley.

The sun didn't shine.  We did stop once, and  I took a few so-so photos.  We moved on, and I commented to Debbie that this would be a nice area for riding my horse.

A little further down the road, I saw the sign:  Krause Road.

"We're going down this road," I said to Debbie.  "There's a gal who lives out here that I've known off and on for more than 40 years but I haven't seen her in at least 40."

Billie Krause is my age, and I knew her because of her cousins in Sandpoint and probably because of 4-H.  She also attended the University of Idaho and lived in Houston Hall, the dorm below our Carter Hall in the Wallace Complex.

I think that was the last time I had ever seen Billie until she showed up on Facebook a few weeks ago.  We have written a couple of notes back and forth to each other.

Now, fast forward back to yesterday: 

A little ways down the road, we saw a driveway. 

"Let's do something stupid," I said. "If Billie doesn't live here, we'll just say we're looking for someone else."  That's when I told Debbie that I knew Billie had a Palomino horse, cuz I'd seen a picture of her aboard the horse on Facebook.

We drove down the driveway and saw a man loading hay. We drove on.  No sign of a horse.

We got almost to the house, and my boldness had turned a bit tepid.  I decided to turn around and get out of there before some stranger came out of the house.

So, I did.  Then, Debbie said she saw a horse.

"What color?" I asked.

"Palomino, I think," she said.  "What color is Palomino?"

"Is it light-colored?"

"Yes."

"Well, this is where Billie lives then," I announced.  So, I backed up a bit and then saw Billie for the first time in more than 40 years standing at her door.

She came out with a cup of coffee and said, "Come on in and had some coffee."

Then, she said, "Who are you?"

When I opened my mouth (always a good giveaway), she said, "Oh, Marianne." 

We went inside where National Public Radio was playing old band tunes of the '40s and '50s.  Our conversation rattled on as if no years or decades had passed since our last meeting.

Billie and I have agreed to get together with our horses and ride that Kootenai Valley. 

It was a serendipitous meeting, I guess, when I think of today.  This is the seventh anniversary since our dad, Harold Tibbs passed away.

Around the dinner table way back when, even before I knew Billie Krause, Harold would talk about the Krause family up in Copeland, north of Bonners Ferry. 

We all knew Ella Krause Cantrell here in Sandpoint and went to school with her kids Suzan, Kathy and Harmon.  

Apparently, the older generation of Tibbses and Krauses attended school together in Bonners Ferry.

So, seeing Billie after so long was a pleasant experience.  The visit also ignited some wonderful memories of our dad and his own Bonners Ferry days so long ago. 

And, we'll be thinking about him today.