Fun in the Sun

A snow-covered beach along Pack River northeast of Sandpoint, Idaho.  A tuna RIP on a sandy beach in Kauai.  

Footgear in Idaho:  snow shoes.  Footgear in Kauai:  what else? flipflops. 

A sunny January afternoon with family members on outings nearly 3,000 miles apart.  The result:  pretty much the same with fun in the sun in the midst of drop-dead beauty.  

And, the fun part:  texting of photos going back and forth across the Pacific.  

Nobody among the trio of Bill and Marianne in Idaho and daughter Annie in Kauai was trying to out WOW anyone.  

Instead, it was more of a texting celebration of sorts.  Each of us was exactly where we wanted to be doing exactly what we wanted to be doing on a lovely January day. 

As I type, Annie is most likely looking over the lights of Seattle with plans to land at SEA-TAC in about 20 minutes.  She took a midnight flight out of Kauai and texted to us that she may be tired at work today. 

It was definitely a trip she'll never forget, having been certain for a few minutes that it was the last place she would ever see on Earth.  Fortunately, the "mistake" in Paradise means she IS seeing Seattle once more and will re-enter the status quo.  

We're happy too that all turned out well on Saturday morning when the ballistic missile alert across the islands was later deemed a mistake. 

Here in Idaho, the momentary anxiety of the event will never be forgotten.

Life did come back to normal, and, happily, yesterday was gorgileous around here and definitely not to be wasted. 

Over the past few days, Bill has been show shoeing twice at the Trout Creek Wildlife Management Area (WMA), off from HWY 200.  Trout Creek WMA connects with Ginter WMA, which is accessed on the Rapid Lightning Creek Road just beyond Pack River General Store. 

When Bill wondered if I wanted to go snow shoeing, I responded, "Not where we have to pack it down."  You see when I was doing all that snowshoeing in our woods a couple of weeks ago, about 75 percent involved packing down fresh snow.  That's a job.

I had a great time opening up new trails, but my 70-year-old body later complained with piercing aches and pains in muscles which apparently have been dormant for far too long. I did not want to feel like that again.

Then, I remembered:  if he's been out there at Trout Creek, the trails are already packed.  So, off we went.

Yes, the trails for snow shoeing out there are very nice, and with yesterday's afternoon warmth, when we decided to go off trail at the lovely old homestead along Pack River, we went with ease.  No hard work whatsoever, just a lot of time spent gawking and admiring the winter beauty.

We met one other snowshoer along the trail.  He had enjoyed a trek clear to the clearcut on the Ginter side of the combined WMA where the Pack River meanders through managed wildlife habitat. 

Once we arrived at the rustic old cabin, it was play time.  Bill went off to a big bolder over across the meadow and used it as a backdrop to snap a cell phone photo of some of his gear.  He later sent the photo off to Kauai to Annie, who had given him some of the gear. 

I mosied around the cabin and enjoyed taking photos of its basic construction. Some is not doing so good these days after decades of weather wear and tear.  While I took pictures, snow continued to melt in the afternoon sun and some big chunks fell to the ground from the lichen-dotted roof. 

Twas a great outing, and this morning, so far, no muscles are screaming.  So, I'm happy, and now that I'm finished with this post, I'm guessing Miss Flipflop has arrived back from Paradise to home ground in Seattle.  

This is truly a story of "All's Well That Ends Well."  We are thankful and blessed. 

Happy Tuesday.    

First time ever:  BIF on snowshoes! Marked that off my bucket list!