It was a Father's Day celebration a day early.
Since Bill attends church on Sundays and the drive to and from would take some time, Willie and Debbie asked if we'd like to join them and the grandpuppies on a Saturday road trip to Canada.
That sounded great to us, and the dogs were thrilled too.
In fact, blind and slightly deaf Foster was so excited he kept pacing back and forth between the house and the car, finally maintaining his spot right next to the car door where he would be picked up and placed on the seat.
The anticipation for all of us was matched by memorable highlights all along the way.
There was the stop-off at Sturgeon Station north of Bonners Ferry where gas is at least 50 cents cheaper per gallon than at the pumps in Sandpoint.
There was the Border Patrol check where both sets of Love's were asked to park around back after already answering several questions at the Canadian entry window.
Once there, Bill and I simply had to answer a few more questions while Willie and Debbie took their dogs out of the car so the agents could search it.
Finding nothing of concern, they sent us on our way.
The walk around Elizabeth Lake wetlands park south of Cranbrook offered a welcome break for the sleeping dogs to get out and to go sniffing.
Bill tried to sniff out a geocache there but came up short.
Then, we moved on to St. Mary Angler Fly Shop where Willie arranged for a dad-son guided fishing excursion for later this summer.
It was warm in Cranbrook so we opted to order out and eat our lunch in the shade of a city park.
The Firehall Kitchen and Tap, situated right across from a beautiful park, provided the perfect place to pick up some food, all prepared fresh and by hand.
At the park, we met Sprocket, a huge, 1-year-old mostly Bernese Mountain dog. He was a friendly pup but Bridie snarled a couple of times to deter him from being too friendly.
We enjoyed some quality time relaxing, visiting and nibbling away in the shade.
We had planned to travel and explore some more, but with time zipping by much too fast, so we headed back south with Two Scoop Steve in Yahk as our next destination.
I've heard about and have seen this place, but we've always passed by in the fall or winter when it's closed.
After our late-afternoon visit yesterday, I'd say it could easily be considered a destination place.
After all, just before arriving at Two Scoop Steve's on the side road, you think your eyes are deceiving you when you spot a goat surrounded by a bed of grass, lying down on an overhanging roof.
Your eyes are telling the truth, and, upon further observation, you see that someone even built some goat stairs leading directly to the roof and the aerial goat pasture.
Unfortunately, when I went back to take a picture, the goat had descended the steps and was grazing on the ground.
We loved every minute spent at Two Scoop Steve's. The ice cream scoops (I used my pills and was able to enjoy one scoop of maple nut Gluten Free) and the cones are huge. One scoop is more than enough, by the way.
We sat in a beautifully landscaped shaded area on cushy chairs to enjoy our cones.
A look at the link above will reveal that, besides ice cream, there are some delectable dishes and treats offered at the restaurant in the back.
After Two Scoops, it was off to the border where we stopped and in no more than 30 seconds were back inside the United States.
As I type, it's now the real Father's Day, and Annie's gift of peanut patties has arrived for her dad.
We'll just enjoy the day and the memories of a wonderful early celebration in beautiful Canada.
Thanks to the kids, and hats off to Bill for being a much admired and good dad.
Happy Father's Day to all who have served as meaningful male mentors to their kids and to others.
Enjoy the photos.
