Saturday Slight: Billie Jean's Cabin

I had sent a note to Sandpoint Magazine editor Billie Gerke, with a story proposal for the summer edition.  We storytellers often write what we know about and even sometimes topics close to our hearts. 

In this case, my walk past the Sandpoint Depot the other day ignited such an inspiration.

So, I sent my proposal and received a response later yesterday morning.  In the response, Billie invited me to a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for her place a few hours later.

Her home is not too far from ours.  I often wave at Billie when she's headed for work. Over the past several months, she has often told me the progress of her cabin in the woods. 

Well, now what Billie terms a "Western rustic" is open for business.  In fact, she had a relatively short window yesterday for changing the beds from one set of guests who had left and getting ready for another group, due in at 2 p.m.

We all met at her place for the ceremony at 12:30 p.m.  "We" included a few members of the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce, Billie and me. 

And, yes, Cecely Musso-Britton from the Chamber office had her large set of scissors and a strip of reusable red ribbon for the ceremony.  

Immediate approval and several "I like it's" greeted Billie as we all walked on the adorable front porch and through the door of The Cabin in Billie's Selle-area woods. 

What else could we say while scanning the interior of a well-thought-out sleeping and eating quarters for folks wanting to spend some time in the woods with a blend of creative and fine craftsmanship and a sense of roughing it.  

After all, there's an outdoor john, pretty cute one too.  Seems that Billie told the group that a relative built the john for her a few years back.  The Chamber members missed the best part of the outhouse by just admiring it from afar.

Inside, the simple but tasteful ambiance for thinkin' and readin' and doing some business provides the perfect welcome from a trip through the snow with a purpose. 

Heck, Billie even has some Sandpoint history decorating the walls of her commode in the forest. 

The price is definitely right (very reasonable) for a night in the cabin that can sleep six with its downstairs and loft beds.  Billie provides dishes, a big container of water and a growler of Sandpoint's own Laughing Dog beer.  

We were all impressed, and Billie was beaming from ear to ear, having this chance to show off her dream project.  

And, my thoughts:  seems like this would be a neat thing to do to have a few more such structures positioned in private forests around our beautiful area. 

In our case, we'll be sticking with the new-old motor home for a while, but if folks coming to town want to rough it just a bit in a classy little structure with a classy commode nearby, we'll tell them about Billie's place. 

Congratulations, Billie.  It's neat to see dreams fulfilled. 

Of special note, Billie Jean gave me the following information about making reservations: 

The cabin is listed on airbnb.com at https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/4854011 if people want to reserve there, or they can just call me at 208-920-1910.

If they go through me, I ask for a 50-percent deposit to confirm their reservation, and the balance when they check in. 

I don't take credit cards, so if people want to use credit cards, I invite them to reserve it through airbnb.com.

In other news, we've got ZAGS night at 5 p.m., and it's looking like I'm gonna cook up some elk steaks to go along with our hamburger feed for the game. 

At Christmas, my brother Kevin brought over some of his elk samples for Swiss Miss, and she hasn't tried the meat yet. This is her last week as an exchange student with our extended family, so we've gotta get those steaks on the grill. 

Some of us are not exactly wild-game lovers, but Laura seems open to giving those steaks a try, and I received a commitment from Bill this morning that he'll be happy to try one too. 

It's been a good run here in North Idaho for Swiss Miss, and she'll have an action-packed and packing week ahead.  We'll try not to think about saying good bye but will simply enjoy every moment with this young lady who's added such a nice dimension to all our lives. 

And, so the ZAGS take on Pacific tonight.  Let's hope all goes well and that when game No. 20 is over, their ranking will remain No. 3 or even go higher.  Right now, we're thrilled with where they stand and how they're playing. 

GO ZAGS!