A Sisterly Kind of Day

Sisters dominated my day yesterday:  three sets of them.

I received a call shortly after finishing my blog yesterday morning, asking for a change of plans.  Theresa and Liz had planned to come today, but it turned out that today wouldn’t work. They're in Sandpoint visiting their elderly mother. 

Theresa had told me she had something she wanted to drop off, so she asked if they could make a quick morning trip out our way.

Half an hour later, they pulled into the driveway where Theresa handed me a beautiful pillow, covered with vintage images of various breeds of horses.  

She told me she’s doing sewing these days, and I must say she does nice work.  The pillow fits nicely with our Amish rocker.

What was going to be a quick visit turned out to last more than an hour.  After all, I had promised these sisters, both former students, that I would induct them into the Lodgepole Society.

So, after a quick lesson on driving the 4-wheeler, they were off putzing toward the God tree through the morning fog.

I’m honored to have these two ladies as the latest edition to our fun little society.  They are an absolute delight, to say the least.

The fog held through most of the morning; hence, a planned afternoon outing with my sisters looked very much in doubt.  Shortly before noon, however, hopes arose as did the fog.

So, my sisters and their two pups--also sisters--joined me on an outing over in the Clark Fork-Western Montana area. 

Barbara and Laurie had never seen the Henderson Ranch wildlife management area on the south side of the Clark Fork River, so after obligatory stop at the Pantry for baked delights and chocolates, that’s where we headed.

Our major disappointment:  the sun was hanging out everywhere but where we happened to land yesterday.  We could see it brightening up the hillsides across the river, but we had to settle for the blahs (photographically speaking).

Still, we enjoyed walking with Meggie and Jessie through an area on the Henderson Ranch where I had never been.

 

Shortly into our walk, we met a deer hunter who hadn’t had much luck; he was headed back to his car.  So, his departure meant that we had the whole vast plot of land set aside for birds and wildlife to ourselves.

Later, we headed east toward Heron, stopping off at the Cabinet Fish Hatchery.  No fish to be seen during our brief stopover.  I don’t think they give fish tours for visitors who show up unannounced on Saturday afternoons in November.

The trip down that road had historical significance; our dad’s mother taught at a one-room school in Cabinet, and we have a family friend whose Finnish parents lived there.

I told Barbara and Laurie that I wanted to go down the road pointing to the Amber Bear Inn.  I’ve heard so many good things about the place but have never seen it.

http://amberbearinn.com/

The country road just east of the Montana border was filled with rigs----a lot of pickups with flat bed trailers, horse trailers and a whole lot of other vehicles.  An auction to sell off items owned by a couple who died tragically in a motorcycle accident a month or so ago had drawn a huge crowd.

We wound our way through the rigs parked alongside the road and proceeded on to the Amber Bear Inn, where we met Mom (Nancy) and Pop (Mike, I believe) the owners of an impressive lodge where wonderful meals are served.

Mom was fixing dinner for a diner from Plains, while Pop was digging up a hole down the driveway for a stand pipe.   

After visiting Mom inside the lodge, we spent some time snapping photos of Shelby, the 28-year-old registered Paint who has run of the place, along with goats, chickens, guineas and peacocks.

 

Oh yeah, it looks like they have three dogs too---well fed---I must say.

As hints of darkness approached, we headed on our way, determined that sometime we must plan a family outing to the Amber Bear and sample some of that famous food.

So, it was a great day with these three sets of sisters----filled with good memories, more than enough fog but plenty of bright sunshine associated with the joy of enjoying time together.

 

Happy Sunday.