Deep Creek Drive

With the promise of a rainy afternoon, I decided to go for a drive.   Bill was planning his own trip to Cocolalla Creek with his fly rod. 

As usual, I took my camera along and really didn't know which way I'd point the car until the stop sign at Selle Road and HWY 95. 

The Subaru seemed to know because it turned north with ease and rolled on down the highway toward Bonners Ferry. 

One of my favorite drives any time of the year involves turning off the highway at Naples and talking the old highway through the Deep Creek area. 

Lots of pretty sights along this rural way and numerous sightings of Deep Creek itself. 

One area along the way made national attention nearly 30 years ago during the Randy Weaver Stand-off.  

Back in 1992, one couldn't find a parking space along the road where it curves and runs beneath the railroad trestle.

The place was heavily populated for days on end with reporters and photographers covering the stand-off. One of those journalists covering the story was longtime investigative reporter Bill Morlin from Spokane's Spokesman-Review newspaper. 

Twenty years after the stand-off, he wrote an overview of the event and other similar anti-government stances. 

   https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/aug/19/ruby-ridge-carved-niche-history/


Since those days, Deep Creek has remained relatively quiet.

I found yesterday after turning off on Juniper Lane, a few miles down the road from where reporters hung out back in 1992, the place is not completely quiet. 

I like roads not usually taken, but soon after turning off and taking a few photos, I looked in the mirror and saw two vehicles approaching from behind. 

Oops, gotta find a place to turn around, I said to myself.  It was hard to tell if turn-offs were driveways or other lanes, so I just pulled off in the first available junction. 

The vehicles caught up with me, and as one passed by, it came to an abrupt stop. 

"Hi, Marianne," the driver yelled.  I could not see her face because it was hidden in the shadows of her car.

"Lisa Sundquist," she said, wasting no time getting out of her car, adding,  "You've got to see something."

Almost immediately, I asked about her husband Brandon.  

"He's in the truck," she announced, summoning Brandon Gates, a student I had taught years ago when we were still at the old high school. 

I met Brandon when he enrolled in my senior English class.  He had moved from Spokane where his mother Susan was a well-known and beloved substance abuse counselor. 

Sweet. 

That's the first word I think of with Brandon---and a humble gentleman. 

I've known Lisa since she was a young 'un at St. Joseph's Catholic Church where her mom Irene taught droves of little Cathloics catechism.  

Seems like Irene did just about everything at St. Joseph's, always with a quiet smile.  Irene's hubby Doc was a fixture in law enforcement here in Sandpoint. 

Lisa was also a member of our 4-H club. 

So, to pull off on what I thought would be a quiet Juniper Lane yesterday actually led to a trip down Memory Lane. 

We agreed after a brief visit and at the sight of two more cars coming up the lane, that I would come back sometime with Bill and check out the views on Brandon and Lisa's 60 acres of land, which borders Federal land. 

A nice surprise, indeed, and one more reason beside capturing neat scenes that I love to take spontaneous road trips.

Always an adventure.  The rest of the trip did not disappoint as I saw a rising Kootenai River, an unbelieveable carpet of lupine and some mighty pretty mules, among other lovely scenes surrounding the green green farmland grasses of Kootenai Valley. 

Today my adventure will be atop the zero-turn Husqvarna cuz it's lawn-mowing time.  During this time of the year, the route is mighty pretty too with all the bloomin' flowers and gorgeous scenes surrounding the Lovestead. 

Life is good. 

Happy Wednesday.