Clickin' Sisters Pursuing Pork and Pics

It had been a while since my sisters and I had gone clickin'.

Horses, summer and life in general got in the way.

Half a pig, cut and wrapped at South Hill Lockers in Bonners Ferry, brought that hiatus to an end yesterday afternoon.

We received word yesterday morning that our pork, grown right here in the neighborhood, was ready. 

So, I texted Barbara and Laurie, asking if they'd like to join me in picking up the pork and then spending some time driving less-traveled roads to take photos on the way back.

An immediate thumbs up popped into my screen. 

"I might stop at the Bread Basket aka The Gathering Place too," I texted back.

A second thumbs up. 

So, off we went, stopping first at South Hill, where I saw a familiar face at table preparing meat. 

Yup, Mike Larson, a fine wrestler in his high school days at SHS,  used to work at Gooby's Meat Plant, just down from where we lived on Great Northern Road. 

Mike had already told the crew that a teacher was coming to pick up meat. 

So, we had a nice visit, a staff member put the boxes of hams, chops, bacon, ribs and sausage links in the back of the car, and we head to the bakery near Three Mile. 

As an aside, I must note that this morning's first taste of link sausage receives another thumbs up. 

The same can be said for the cookies and pastries we purchased at the bakery and sandwich/soup, which these days continues to bustle with activity. 

The next plan was to turn off the highway onto a road that would take us across the valley. 

So, the first one that looked like it went for some distance, next to Hooten's Hollow, got the nod.  

We were all amazed at how quickly the terrain changed from open fields to canyons and trees. 

I kept thinking it was gonna open up soon into the Kootenai Valley, but that road took its time, and we didn't mind one bit taking in views of what was to us all new country.

Finally, we pulled into an area, almost like a little rural village nestled between mountains and the valley. Turns out it was Mendenhall territory. 

We left the car several times within the next mile or two.  At the first stop, Laurie saw turtles on a log in a pond next to someone's house. 

Barbara warned her that those turtles could move fast.  They did.  By the time we exited the car, the turtles had gone under water. 

We kept on taking photos and then moved on to where we met horses with cockle burrs, horses in a pasture that looked more like Montana than North Idaho and a "renegade cow."  

This matron (she had an udder) first stood in a field.  Later, she stood in the middle of the road.  Barbara mentioned something about bull fighting while observing that cow's expression as she stood staring down the Subaru. 

I told Laurie she might want to shut her window cuz that cow (black with a set of sharp white horns) might just try to gore the car.

Well, she held off as long as she could stand it, then did a 180 and ran up a well-beaten path straight up a tree-covered hillside. 

We had a feeling that particular bossy might do a lot of wandering from the herd. 

We moved on and found the neat grass blowing in the wind and then the wind mill.  

Our outing lasted only an hour, but we were thrilled to have explored a new nook and to have enjoyed so many unique sightings along our way.  

Plus, the afternoon weather was downright lovely. 

I don't know where Clickin' Sisters will end up next time we get together, but yesterday's outing was as fun as ever. 

Happy Saturday. 

Enjoy the photos, and we plan to enjoy our pork off and on for many months to come.