Another beautiful afternoon begged for an outing yesterday. Bill had left for Spokane, and I had finished mixing up my first-ever whole wheat dough.
So, while it did its rising gig, I loaded up the dogs and pointed the car toward the Long Bridge. The view from Bottle Bay Road is always pretty spectacular this time of year.
Yesterday was no exception, even though some clouds were rolling in. Later, I drove to City Beach and snapped a few more shots while walking around in what was beginning to feel like frigid air.
The beach was pretty empty while I was there, as it was nearing the end of the work day for most at the time.
I saw just one walker coming from the north side of the beach.
I wondered if the gentleman was on his regular route because he walked with a definite purpose to the newly renovated Statue of Liberty, seemingly issuing a greeting before turning around quickly and heading on his way back to the north.
After a few photos, it was time to go home with the evening's darkness coming on.
Bill had gone to Spokane to watch the Gonzaga women play in what turned out to be a nail biter win for the ZAGS over Portland.
Twasn't quite the same outcome for the men's game, which I watched. It was a fabulous game from start to finish, as the ZAGS and Beavers truly were evenly matched.
The only problem for all of us ZAGS diehards: the Beavers won.
One other incident important to the daily report: Bill hit a deer at Algoma on his way home from Spokane.
The front end of his "going to town" pickup doesn't look so good this morning.
Before leaving, he had filled out a survey for the insurance company that covers the vehicles. In the survey, he expressed dismay at how much the premium had gone up in the last couple of years.
Ouch! He'll be on the phone soon to call the company and work through the bureaucracy that goes along with hitting deer.
I guess the only consolation is that some of the local deer accident fix-it companies donate a portion of the payment for repair to the food bank.
In the meantime, add one more thing to the continuing list of "have to get in line" and "have to pay for" items.
We've had our share lately.
My bread turned out okay. It has no sugar, something I'll discuss in a later post.
In the "there's always a Sandpoint connection," the following item is from Wikipedia about Hollywood director David Lynch who died yesterday.
"The Lynches often moved around according to where the USDA assigned Donald [Lynch's father].
Because of this, Lynch moved with his parents to Sandpoint, Idaho, when he was two months old; two years later, after his brother John was born, the family moved to Spokane, Washington.
"Lynch's sister Martha was born there."
I met Nick yesterday while taking pictures on the road to Bottle Bay.
He pulled into the same wide spot where I had parked to check his tire.
Eventually, he struck up a conversation, and we talked for about 20 minutes.
Turns out we know and knew a lot of the same people.
Nick knows Dover and many of its early residents, including Verwolf's and Beckers, etc.
He hayed for the Curlesses, and he looked for caves while diving into the Pend Oreille River from Dover Bluff.
Nick, who credits what he does in his profession to teaching of the late John Knowles, frames houses.
He also cuts wood and gets really disgusted people who leave messes in the woods.
He believes in hard work and knowing how to do practical things, like changing a tire.
And, something Bill will appreciate: Johnny Rogers is Nick's admired friend. Johnny, a longtime local logger, was one of Bill's Boy Scouts.
Twas nice to meet Nick and chat about locals.
The mountains around Sandpoint aren't lacking for snow.
Looks like another nice day to enjoy the relatively snowless valley.
Cold but beautiful.
Happy Friday.
