HOTdogs, B-ball in ICEland, Et. Al.

 

After their day of guided fly fishing, the kids enjoyed the sights, sounds, food and dogs of Reykjavik yesterday.  Debbie said they lost count of the Border Collie sightings. 

BTW:  each day they get a "grandpuppy fix," with photos of Todd, Brooke and Joe staying cool back at the Love Shack.  

They tried a hotdog from a world famous hotdog stand.   $4. 

They also visited a neat pub which had good beer and tasty meals, averaging about $20 a plate.  

And, they were thrilled to see the Irish influence at the Dubliner.

This morning someone must have sampled fish and chips, which they said are available everywhere.

"Dad would be happy," the text said. 

"How much are they?  Bring me some and I'll pay you back," Bill wrote.  

Ever since the early days of the Pandemic, Willie has been producing basketball coaching podcasts. 

In each edition, he interviews a basketball coach on some specific aspect of coaching. 

Recently, his  Idaho Basketball Coaching Podcast

@CoachingIdaho on Twitter surpassed 50 programs. 

And, as of this morning, he's gone International, literally, after sitting down with Agust, a baskeball coach in Reykjavik, Iceland. 

Agust now owns a Sandpoint Basketball tee-shirt, and when the Young Love's return to Reykjavik later this week, Agust will present Willie with their national shirt. 

Talk about great basketball diplomacy and fun for both coaches!  If you are on Twitter, look up the site, and soon Willie will publish today's interview. 

"Catching up on the conversation. 

Please let it be noted to the family group text—because we are providing fish counts; I caught the FIRST one and then Oden opened the gates into Char Valhalla. "

                                     

                                                 ---Debbie Love

Word was that Willie caught about 15 during the day, Annie 3, and Debbie THE FIRST FISH and maybe one more. 

They really liked their guide "Oden."  

Today, they're off on a sight-seeing trip to Vik, where they'll stay the night.  Last night they each had another Covid test, which is required for when they leave the country on Saturday. 

Again, we thank them for taking us along virtually on their adventures. 

Meanwhile in the heat of North Idaho . . . .

We are celebrating 15 years of living in the Selle Valley today.  Hard to believe and, yes, still pinching ourselves at the good fortune of living here. 

It's truly Heaven on Earth, 'cept for when it's this hot.

  Somebody posted yesterday that they thought they'd better start behaving because the last few days of triple digit heat have convinced them that they really don't want to go to Hell.

I never thought that a prediction of 93 degrees for a high would make me happy, but, by golly, it sounds good.  And, to have some nights back down in the lower 60s or even 50s, I'll take it. 

Yesterday marked somewhat of an official beginning to "summer fun" when Bill asked last evening after I'd wiggled my toes in the cool water of a kiddie pool purchased from Co-Op, "Would you like to go kayaking?"

Ten minutes later, we had the kayaks loaded up and headed off to Sunnyside where the dozens and dozens of cars lined the roadway and their occupants were cooling off in the lake below. 

We launched at Hawkins Point and paddled for about 45 minutes on what was my maiden voyage for 2021.  Bill had already given his new kayak a try two weeks ago. 

Bill noted that virtually every license plate he saw along the road was Idaho and "7B."

So, it was the locals out there enjoying the lake, and everyone seemed to be very nice and accommodating, even helping us with our kayaks. 

We enjoyed visiting with one of Willie's friends from youth baseball days, who, by the way, has his own excavating business when he's not running a crane.  If you need his services, I should have his phone number soon.  Great seeing you, Mike.

My photos of our kayaking excursion are not that great because I discovered that the cell phone dry bag is pretty smudged up for picture taking. 

I'll know better next time.

Our summer fun became official in one more way yesterday.  The travel trailer is now ready for summer, so we'll be setting it up here for beginners and then planning a road-trip getaway one of these days. 

In the meantime, days will still be filled with watering, staying cool and hydrating, keeping animals comfortable and finding recreational ways to get wet. 

Happy Thursday.