Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Meadow Creek, Moyie Outing





What to do.  What to do when it's cold, the skies are deep blue and the outdoors is calling. 

Bill and I decided an afternoon drive answered that question yesterday, so we loaded up Kiwi in the pickup and headed toward one of our favorite back roads.  

The Meadow Creek Road off HWY 2 northeast of Bonners Ferry extends along Meadow Creek, through beautiful McGinnis Meadows and on to some phenomenal views of the Moyie River. 

The road ends at Good Grief, where, if you want, you can go on up to the border at Eastport, take another road to Copper Falls, or turn south on your way back home.

We have many reasons to enjoy that route-----family history at Meadow Creek where our dad's mom taught in a one-room school house in the 1920s, more recent family history with our parents on picnics, our siblings and kids and eight dogs on a camp-out, and, not in any particular order but pretty supreme on Bill and Willie's list---fly fishing. 

Plus the drive is downright beautiful pretty much any time of the year. 

I have always loved McGinnis Meadows and even did some journalism work there once while writing features for the Northern Lights' Ruralite Magazine.

That's where I met up with a "welder with an attYtude," who lived in the area of the houses and barns in the photos below.  

Yup, that's what he called himself.  This welder, who'd had lots of experience in the oil fields, had put together some video tapes (the VHS kind) on the how to's of welding, and at the time, they were selling like hotcakes to vocational schools around the nation. 

What a character he was with a great story!  

I don't know if he's still living up there, but I do know I have fond memories of the assignment.  I also don't know if those VHS tapes have been updated.  It's been 20 years-plus since I did that story. 

When we approached the area where my welding friend had lived, I asked Bill to stop the pickup, let me out and drive ahead where I would catch up with him.  

Yesterday afternoon, that little stretch of Meadow Creek Road was, indeed a photographer's dream with the gorgeous sunshine, pure white snow surround and covering the new and old structures. 

I was in Heaven with my camera, and, except for the cold, would have just kept walking and snapping. Twas nice to get back in the warm pickup. 

Later, we arrived at Bill's beloved Moyie, and, of course, had to stop a couple of times to admire the frigid waters rushing over and around snow-covered boulders and beneath various layers of magnificently artful ice. 

Our final highlight occurred as we turned back on to the highway and headed south.  That's when I brought up the reminder that our friend Marv had told us about the cheesecake at Wild Horse Mercantile just down the road. 

Marv said that cheesecake was so good that on his birthday, they had cheesecake before dinner.  

So, I suggested we give it a try.  We had been to the Mercantile when the owners held their grand opening a few years ago.  Since then, a small restaurant has been added. Unfortunate for us, the restaurant is closed on Mondays.

But wait!

Jean, who was clerking yesterday, told us the owners would not want to hear that we came for cheesecake and went away empty-handed.  

We did not want to impose but finally said we'd take a piece for the road. She made sure all conditions with that piece of cheesecake were perfect, even going back to get some whipped cream on top of the huckleberries for artistic presentation and, of course, more supreme tastiness. 

After a short photo shoot, we returned to the pickup and within seconds, forks were at work as were our tastebuds.  

Oh my, Marv was right!  That is, for sure, that best cheesecake I've ever eaten:  somewhat like New York cheesecake, a slight hint of coconut and a bit of a brown sugary crusty layer.   

We should have ordered two pieces because our slice was gone within a mile down the road. 

I'll definitely go back for more, next time we take that drive.  And, we shall.  It never disappoints, and many aspects of the route always seem to take us back a bit in time, which I love.  

Another beautiful, cold morning out there.  Don't know what today will bring.  Stay tuned. 

Happy Tuesday.   
























1 comment:

Dom said...

Oh wow! So many of these photos look like they should be postcards! Gorgeous area.