It seemed like a good idea, and it was.
I had just finished drinking my afternoon cup of coffee and munching on M and M's.
Bill told me he wanted to go to Boulder Creek to check out progress on the road restoration project again.
Did I want to go?
"Yes," I said, knowing it would be good to see some different scenery from the dismal blah, blah, blah we'd had for the past week with all the smoke.
A very light rain overnight had opened up the skies a bit, but our Lovestead shrubs and trees were still covered with several weeks' worth of dust.
Maybe somewhere else, it will look different and better, I thought.
Well, happily, that was the case.
I think the folks up north of us got more rain than we did, and there was a noticeable difference with hints of late summer color coming back to the foliage and trees along roadside on Twenty Mile Road.
Bill had asked for 20 minute for fishing, so I asked him to put in a chair cuz I would be bringing along a book to read during that 20 minutes.
I had no idea at the time that our destination was actually Boulder Meadows where chairs are not needed because of the make-shift benches around a fire pit.
We did end up there, after Bill drove a ways on the Katka Road which ends up in Bonners Ferry.
Our friend John Fuller had told us a week or so ago that he had never made it to Boulder Meadows on a Labor Day weekend trip because he ended up on the Katka Road.
With all the road work up in that area over the summer, the sign pointing toward Boulder Meadows is gone. So, it's easy to see why people might head off the wrong way.
There is still construction going on in the area, but travelers can get through without having to wait for several hours.
We have noticed an amazing difference both timewise and comfort-wise in the road over the summer. Most of the millions of bumps are gone.
On our way back, we also took the shortcut road a mile or so from the meadows. Talk about slicing time from the trip along with a nice change of scenery.
Anyway, within a moment or two of our arriving at the meadows and once again observing that we were there ALL by ourselves, we found out we were NOT all by ourselves!
I won't go into detail, but let's just say Bill's initial introduction to Bonners Ferry resident and avid biker Scott Bourassa was memorable.
I WILL divulge, however, that excitement ensued several minutes into his visit with us. He was heading home from a bike trip on some of the trails associated with the meadows.
Talk about a guy who knows seemingly every square inch of North Idaho because he has traveled it on that bike or, in some cases, by foot holding that bike over his back.
The excitement came when I learned his last name, a name I hear frequently in telephone conversations with my editor and friend Helen.
Seems Scott's dad Art spends a lot of time with Skip. Both worked for the Forest Service, which probably had a little influence on Scott's incredible relationship with the outdoors.
Once the last name reveal happened, I wasted no time taking a cell phone photo and sending it to Helen.
Then, I called her, and we all enjoyed a visit and some good laughs.
One other family connection: Scott's grandfather and our dad were good buddies because they both spent a lot of time at the old City Hall because of their respective jobs with the city police and fire and water departments.
We had a delightful time visiting with Scott yesterday. He eventually went on his way, and Bill walked to the creek with his rod.
I skipped my original plans to read a book in favor of sitting on one of those benches enjoying the cold air and the ever improving views of landscape and mountains. There's a definite hint of fall surrounding the meadows.
Nice to have the smoke gone and equally nice this morning that we received a little more rain for general landscape cleanup.
The world does look a little brighter as long as we keep our eyes focused on the outdoors and stay away from the news.
Nice to meet you, Scott.
Happy Sunday.
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