Hoot Owl to O'Doherty's: Points in Between

We put in a busy, fun-filled day yesterday.  Not a lot was scheduled except a visit with these ladies at the Hoot Owl mid-morning and a stop at Costco in Hayden to pick up my glasses.  

We took along our ZAGS gear, just in case we decided to move on into Spokane for the annual Craziness in the Kennel, showcasing the upcoming season's men's basketball team.  

As if, we would decide NOT to attend the event.  

It was our first time, and ZAG GRANNIE, whom I met while doing my ZAGmania story for Sandpoint Magazine, had advised me that it's a good idea to show up around 11 a.m. to get a good spot in the line.

Our day's events did not exactly allow time to do that.  

My Hoot Owl visit with Francie, Glory and Linda stretched far beyond the few minutes I had expected to spend there.  And, with these ladies, I could have stretched it even more.  

As usual with a short bloc of time devoted to catching up on four lives in the past few decades, stories were flying left and right.  A few went unfinished as others popped into the discourse. 

We did okay, though, on catching little vignettes into each other's lives.  

It was nearly noon when I finally arrived home, after making one more stop after the Hoot Owl meeting.  

Bill said he thought he'd like to head south, so we put out extra food for the animals and headed on our way.  

We saw my sisters out walking, with cameras in hand, along the sidewalk overlooking Sand Creek north of town.

Barbara has purchased a new 3-in-1 lens, and she put it to work yesterday, capturing some glorious fall scenes along the "Jewel of Sandpoint" and the Bay Trail.   

Our stop at Costco involved a little more time than I had expected----Saturdays are pretty busy at the optical department.  

Eventually, however, I opted to not wait for my number to be called, grabbed my glasses and a mocha latte and headed to the car where Bill was munching on a sandwich.

Without discussion from its occupants, the Suburu seemingly automatically headed toward Spokane. 

We both knew all along that we wanted to go, regardless of how long the line would be outside McArthey Athletic Complex.  

It was LONG.

As we walked from the car, we could see layers of the line filled with hundreds of other ZAG crazies zigzagging along the campus.  

Once the doors opened to the Kennel, however, that line moved with unbelievable efficiency and speed.  It probably took all of five minutes for fans eager to see this year's edition of the ZAGS to grab goodies and find their seats or NOT.  

Of course, the student section has seats, but I have a feeling those seats don't get a lot of use as that side of the gym pretty much rocks with super-charged students standing and cheering from start to finish in any ZAG event.

All the crazies got their money's worth (it was free) as the ZAGS staff, cheerleaders, band, dancers and team put on a fast-moving, entertaining 90 minutes of fun. 

We especially enjoyed the event because, as in past experiences, pretty much everyone is happy, friendly and polite.  Plus, they're serious about their role as fans.  

The 20-minute scrimmage between the red and the white team showed a scrappy, competitive group of players----lots of new faces and, of course, the now household-word faces like the Kyle's, Karnowski and Sabonis.  

Bill and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and especially enjoyed seeing "Stockton" and his family again.  This is not a John or a David; this is "Stockton" whom I met last March practicing his basketball moves during the NCAA Tournament in Seattle. 

Stockton (from the Worley-Plummer area) was a little on the quiet side yesterday, but Mom and Dad assured me that was probably because he'd already played in a football game earlier in the day.  Great to see him and his nice family.

We topped off our fun experience in Spokane with dinner at O'Doherty's where a tight game between Oregon and WSU was keeping the crowd glued to the TV's.  The Cougs won in overtime. 

With that, we headed home, happy that we had made the last-minute decision to give our own ZAGmania an entertaining jump start. 

Enjoy the photos.  Happy Sunday. 

My friend Stockton (on the right) and his nice family.