Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Driving Memory Lane on the Moyie

My brother Kevin and sister-in-law Joyce have been visiting for a few days, and with Spring Break freeing up the local teachers in the family, we decided to take a drive to some places we all remembered from as far back as young children. 

We also heard stories around the dinner table for years of the days back in the 1920s when our dad's mother Iva Tibbs taught in a one-room school at Meadow Creek, northeast of Bonners Ferry.

So, it seemed fitting to have her granddaughters, Barbara and Laurie Tibbs, also teachers, stand next to the weathered Meadow Creek sign along the train tracks.

Barbara and Laurie were standing just a few hundred feet from the spot where the school for Meadow Creek once stood and where our dad brought in firewood for each day's session of learning.

As a family, we've been to Meadow Creek and the Forest Service campground alongside the Moyie River off and on throughout our lives. 

Yesterday seemed a bit more poignant to me since neither of our parents who had introduced us, as a family, to this spot on picnics and Sunday drives were along on this trip.  I'm sure they had to be in spirit, though, with smiles from above, knowing how much the place still means to us all.  
 
 
The Moyie River was running high as it passed by the campground from it source in Canada, on its way to meet with the Kootenai River near Moyie Springs, Idaho.   
 
As usual, cameras were active throughout the day as was the visiting that accompanied our sight-seeing, nostalgia and picture-taking.
 
Willie shared with his Uncle Kevin the results of a memorable day a few years ago,  fishing the Moyie----a trout he caught and another hooked by his dad, Bill.
 
The ultimate destination on yesterday's trip was Feist Creek Falls and its nearby restaurant on the Moyie not to far from Good Grief and the Canadian border. The falls are elegant and beautiful as they ripple over rocks on a mountainside overlooking the Moyie.

Feist Creek Restaurant has become one of my favorite places on the Moyie because of the good food, wonderful scenery and the memory of a wonderful fall day when Mother and I visited there----one of her last significant road trips.
 
 
The restaurant's rustic décor offers a few opportunities for selfies with a nice river background.
 
                                                                                                                                                             --Will Love Photo

Almost diverting complete attention away from the beautiful falls are dozens of plump and hungry-for-more trout swimming in a pool just off the restaurant deck. 

Willie took several photos while throwing out treats to the trout. 
 
And, this is the group, minus Selfie Lady:  Barbara, Laurie, Willie, Kevin and Joyce. 

 Besides our visit to the Moyie, we started off with a side trip to the Bread Basket Bakery, north of Bonners Ferry and Sharon's Country Store, where Kevin purchased a beautiful Amish rocker for Joyce.

Plus, we broke our promise to quit eating with the purchase of several fresh-baked treats from the popular bakery.

Twas a great day for cherishing longtime family memories and generating some new events to add to the memoirs.

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