Slight Detour: Fry Pies and Errant Sandwiches

Do not drive and try to eat a fry pie from the Bread Basket Bakery.

I did just that yesterday, and within a mile or so of the bakery, I had to pull off to the side of the road and do some major cleaning.

Some of the inside goop from the pie fell on my glasses, but that was minor compared to the piece of peach and filling that came shooting out of one side of the pie after I had bitten into the other side.

That dribbled down my shirt and landed on my jeans.

By the time I pulled off from the road, my hands were also sticky from trying to scoop up the messes.

Twas a ten-minute job getting cleaned up and ready to take the wheel again.

Anyone who's tried to drive with a sticky steering wheel knows how distracting it can be.

And, licking off the fingers does no good, so one has to get serious and thorough about fry pie cleanup.

Other than the fry-pie incident, the only other problem I encountered during my "freedom drive" on the Bonners Ferry, Bull Lake, Pend Oreille loop also involved trying to eat.

This time I was sitting in a chair at Spar Lake with the ham and cheese sandwich from the Bread Basket. Bill and Willie were finishing their lunch while taking a break from what they called "slow" fishing on the lake.

I had taken two bites of one half of the sandwich and was about to take another when a hungry bee landed on my sandwich.

When I made a comment about the bee, Willie observed that I was pretty well surrounded by bees.

I jumped from the chair to escape them, and the other half of my precious sandwich fell to the ground. It lay there for about a second, semi-separated, when I picked it up and put it back in the brown paper bag.

"Nobody saw that," Willie once again observed.

I took a cue from his observation and mentally planned to eat the downed sandwich for dinner when I got home.

Besides the food debacles, my "freedom drive" was filled to the brim with beautiful scenery and other fun stops.

Stops included the gas station in Bonners Ferry for cheaper gas, the Bread Basket for goodies, a boat launch near the Yaak campground for doggie relief, a stop at the Silver Spur Restaurant in Troy to say hi to a former student who owns the place.

Two years in a row, on my trips to Spar Lake, which is a few miles off from the Bull Lake Highway, I've stopped at the Silver Spur and my friend has not been there. Yesterday she had just left.

I left her a note on the chalk board in the establishment's neatly decorated women's restroom.

I also stopped at Spar Lake for about 45 minutes to visit with Willie and Bill, then a gorgeous spot along the Bull River and finally The Pantry in Clark Fork where I picked up a loaf of lemon huckleberry bread.

Yes, it tastes as good as you might imagine.

Upon arriving home, I did eat the other half of that Bread Basket sandwich. Too tasty to throw away, and no hint that it had picked up any residue during its brief stay on the ground.

It was a lovely getaway on a pleasant day, in some of the most pristine and beautiful country around. And, the food was good, no matter where it traveled on its own.

The doggies seemed to enjoy the trip. Plus, Bill and Willie were happy to take a break from sitting in kayaks with little or no fishing activity.

Back to normal today, and that will include a lawnmower segment along with picking some beans and other odd jobs.

Happy Wednesday.