Lakeshore Holiday!

Several months ago I purchased a 'gift certificate' for lack of better terminology for the rental of a timeshare. Although we could use the certificate anytime through June 30, 2010, it needed to be reserved by the end of 2009. Serendipitously, the kids' figured out they both had enough vacation days left that could not be 'rolled over' into the new year, that they would have 2+ weeks off from work late in December. So, we proposed the most precious gift of all -- time.

I booked a two-bedroom unit at Lake Pend Oreille Resort in Hope, Idaho for the week starting Friday, December 18. This lake is the largest in Idaho, and the 4th deepest in the country at 1,158 feet.
From our house to the resort, a trek of 543 miles, we drove for a bit more than eight hours. The rides, however, were uneventful -- basically clear, dry roads both ways as well as the added bonus of spectacular scenery.

The top photo was snapped that first evening, after all had arrived and settled in. Meg and I divvied up dinner menus -- but this night was a collaborative effort. She brought Italian sausages to grill and I made a pasta dish of bowties, spinach and my own oven-dried tomatoes. Josh set their camera on a makeshift 'tripod' of a cardboard box to record this kick-off dinner!

Serendipity is a word that comes in handy now and again. Although the rental unit was spacious, clean and quite nice and the adjacent athletic club superbly equipped with exercise equipment, racquetball courts, dry sauna, steam room, indoor and outdoor hot tubs and large indoor pool -- the weather put a literal damper on things. We encountered rain Friday evening about a half hour before arriving at the lake. It poured Saturday, Sunday and Monday as well.
Saturday we made the most of a rainy day by sleeping in as best we could with Miles, taking advantage of the athletic club, lounging about and having a relaxing dinner.
Meg and Josh took advantage of nearby Schweitzer Ski Area's Sunday afternoon half-day rate of $20. They reported very foggy conditions (could see the folks on the chair immediately in front of them, but not beyond) and soggy snow.
By Monday, we were ready for at least a little exploration of the area, so Josh drove us all into Sandpoint. We meandered through the community and made an afternoon of stopping by several antique and thrift stores. It was time for a little serendipity.
The rainy weather prevented our initial ideas of snowshoeing, skiing, sledding. BUT, a stop at the local Goodwill Store was quite fruitful for Miles. Josh found the kid-version Yamaha four-wheeler -- in working condition, but sans battery -- for $15 bucks! What a find!!
As soon as Josh cleaned it up a bit back at the timeshare, Miles climbed right on all by himself and started making "vroom, vroom" sounds!
Tuesday the weather cleared off enough that we collectively decided to get out and about. The several inches of snow on the ground near our timeshare had withered to grass, so we struck out for Round Lake State Park which advertised 'hiking.' We found a decent little trail encircling the lake for its three-mile circumference. While Josh ventured out with his new snow shoes, Glenn took on dray-horse duties pulling Miles on his new sled while Meghan and I tramped along in boots. We didn't seen any wildlife to speak of, but we at least got outdoors, saw another bit of our new home state and enjoyed our time together.
Breaking clearer and with more promise, Wednesday rolled in on us (already!). Josh decided to ski again, but Meghan felt she couldn't handle an entire day her first time out in two years. So, Josh took off for first chair. Later, he called to report that while skiing through the trees, he followed some tracks and other evidence . . . to look uphill at a big bull moose! Quite the experience, that!
Meghan concluded she could probably handle a half-day ski, so Glenn and I dropped her off at Schweitzer around 12:15 so she could finish out the day with Josh. On the way back down the hill, we pulled off to snap this picture of Lake Pend Oreille.
The kids decided, wisely, that they would head back home on Thursday morning (Christmas eve day). They wanted Miles (as well as themselves) to be home on Christmas morning. We stayed until December 25.
After helping the kids get loaded up and seeing them off, Glenn and I took a short hike along the shores of the lake, played racquetball for over an hour, used the hot tubs and pool. We treated ourselves to lunch out at the Panhandler Restaurant in Sandpoint -- apparently they are famous for their pies, but frankly, they weren't much to write home about. That evening, we built a cozy fire, watched our favorite Christmas movie "The Christmas Story", did all the laundry and relaxed.
In the end, we didn't ski Schweitzer. After seeing it, I knew I wasn't ready for a resort of that size and apparent confusion. Even Meg commented on the difficulty of carrying her skis UPHILL in order to buy a lift ticket!

On our way into Hope the previous Friday, Glenn and I spotted three bighorn sheep along the road and were excited about the sighting. We watch often for these elusive animals, and those we've seen in the past have been pretty much at a distance, small specks seen through binoculars and/or spotting scopes.
A wee bit down the road, we'd begun to see warning signs such as the one above and ultimately saw 15 of the animals before arriving at the resort.

When the Jurgens left early Thursday, we received several text messages and a photo from them. Apparently, the route to the timeshare drove right through a wintering grounds for bighorn sheep. They, on Christmas eve morning, and we, on Christmas Day morning -- counted well over 100 of the creatures in groups near the road.

The drive home was uneventful, which is generally a good thing, and a turnoff on Montana Hwy 135 wound us through the Clark Fork River canyon. The wise call on Meg and Josh's part to leave the prior day revolves around their traveling with a toddler and almost nothing being open on Christmas Day. I'd offered to set up the coffee pot and make a light breakfast before our departure, but Glenn opted for breakfast out. It ended up being lunch at one o'clock p.m. in Butte, MT! The cashier at the Denny's restaurant commented, "We've never been open on Christmas Day before; we're surprised how busy it is!" Having just driven for roughly 300 miles, we could attest to the lack of options on the holiday!

As we neared Pocatello, Meghan phoned to report she'd cobbled together a spaghetti dinner and asked if we'd like to drop in for supper. Of course! So we rounded out our Christmas Day traveling with a meal at the Jurgens' and Miles' delight in showing off all of his new toys.

Nearly a full week has floated by since that drive home. Glenn and I initiated our ice fishing season on Sunday afternoon, December 27 at our favorite spot, Devil Creek Reservoir. Once again, we limited out with 12 trout, now 2 3/4 pounds of fillets in our freezer.

The local ski hill behind our house opened the lowest lift last Saturday, so we took advantage of our season passes and tried it out Monday afternoon. We made five or six runs on the 'bunny' hill, but it wasn't much fun. Too little snow (lots of weeds still sticking through) and too many kids (most of whom were trying their apparent Christmas gifts of snowboards and skis for the first time) made a less than truly pleasurable experience. But, the beauty of the season pass and living nearby -- we just went home.

The past two days have dropped probably 6-8" of snow on our part of the hill, but whether or not there's enough above us to open the entire ski hill remains to be seen. Since that little resort doesn't make snow very much, they rely almost completely on the whims of Mother Nature. It requires an abundant snowfall to allow them to open the other lifts (as well as cover the many rocks that dot the runs during summer months!).

Tonight is New Year's Eve and the Jurgens are treating themselves to a nice dinner out at the local Senang Wine and Tapas Bar. We'll be ringing in the New Year with a sleepover guest -- Miles! Tomorrow, we'll have the kids up for either brunch or lunch -- and give Miles the Christmas gifts we've had under the tree for several days.

We'll be resuming our official daycare duties on Tuesday, January 5. In the meantime, Glenn's off playing racquetball with friend, Barry and I'll be heading out soon for a little snow shoeing with Dixie. We've talked about another ice fishing expedition this weekend; perhaps will try skiing again.

The following week our schedules may vary just a bit as Meghan is scheduled to be in St. Louis, MO January 11-14, leaving Josh to fly solo with Miles and work to boot.

In the meantime, I've purchased my next timeshare week so we can begin daydreaming about our next adventure!