Daily Walks

Each day, around lunchtime, I have been taking a 30 minute walk around Troy.
We have a beautiful park along the Kootenai River with a fishing pond, all manner of birds and flowers and kids playing and people launching thier fishing boats....it is a nice diversion, gets the blood flowing and suffices in keeping spring launched in my heart.

So, last week I was walking with Randy, from my office, and two big fish trucks from British Columbia pulled in. they said B.C. Trout on them, and I knew we didn't get trout from BC as we have our own hatcheries, so I asked them what they we up to. They were transporting Kootenai River white sturgeon that were hatchery raised in BC.
I got to hold fish and release some fish! It was SO wonderful to play with fish again, it really made me wish that I worked fish again. It really made my day!

I had never seen baby sturgeon and they are fantastic. Here are the fotos that Randy took with her phone.

A few spring flowers

I took many flower fotos but didn't do such a good job, they all turned out blurry, this is the best I could produce for public viewing. I took many, hoping to have some to use as sketch templates, I guess it will help, but I wish I coudl have gotten a better shot.

Camping Night 2

Saturday was a gorgeous day but a bit breezy which made it cold, but lovely to have sun.
We found our next camp site and then went to Libby to get the new battery.
We came back to camp, set up and then hiked around a bit.
Our camp site had a little stack of wood all ready to go near the fire ring and a nice view of the reservoir. This time we were above the Dam, which made me more comfortable!

Here is our spot.

I climbed this perfect climbing tree, conveniently right in camp.

So, I climbed the tree and hung out and took in the views.

Looking down the bole of the tree.

See those perfectly spaced limbs?

What a wonderful tree!

First Camping Trip of the Year

We got invited to a 60th Birthday Bash that was at a location about 50 miles from our house and I thought that was just too far to drive home after a potentially wild party and with all the deer grazing on the fringes of the road with all the new spring greens....so we busted out the camper for the first time of the season! And what a treat that was! Early spring camping, with all the ammenities.....well, no toilet or shower, but, Hey! It is not really camping if you have those!

This is the view from the bunk, or the kitchen table, they are really very close to on another! Kootenai River just downstream of the Dam.

A view from the waters edge of the camper.

Another view from camp.

Mike was worried that the camper might leak, {he found some water on the floor last year after our Labor Day Weekend trip...but I poured water on the roof while he looked and we din't find any leakage} and that the heater was going to be too loud, {he was working on stuff a few nights before our departure and the heater sounded really bad, but he did some magic to it and it was FINE, but he packed us earplugs just in case!}  and it did get rather chilly Friday night, but we didn't have a thermo with us so we don't really know how cold it was!

But we did great! We were warm and comfy.

We left the party about midnight, I was glad we weren't driving home then!

We drove up the road about 3 miles and found a sweet little spot, VERY developed but, HEY! We were the only ones there AND we were going to fast asleep really soon!

Mike brought a back up battery as the truck battery was the original that came with the truck (craiglist, baby!) and he was afraid it would not support the camper.....it did fine all night, but he was corrrect {as usual!} and the next day when we were all packed up, in the truck seats, NO POWER! Rats.

He tinkered with it while I walked to the road and flagged down assistance and we were running in no time.

We did go to Libby and buy a new battery before our second night out though!

See the Dam.

Not the best view from camp, but I thought I'd show you the not-so-good stuff too!

eAsTeR Sunday Drive

And we drove s-l-o-w too, just like old fogies...we are practicing for the day that we really are and I think we are going to be great at it! (or Mike will be anyway!)

Mike spotted these tracks while driving, I was gawking off in the other direction, looking everywhere but the road, {O how I love to be the passenger!} so we had to stop and investigate.

Large canine tracks in big groups, we called them wolf tracks since we were many miles from civilization AND there were no other vehicle tracks on the road as you will see in this next foto. ANd see how large they are, compared to my large hand!

We drove all the way to Idaho, the back way. A road that I had been halfway on and Mike hadn't been that far on it, so it was a first for both of us, call it an adventure!

The Kootenai River as seen from the "other side"...the backroads version! Looking downstream. FYI, the mighty Kootenai originates in British Columbia and flows south into Montana, where we Americans dammed it up, it travels further south into Libby and then it turns west and flows through Troy and on into Bonners Ferry Idaho.  5 miles outside of Bonners it turns again and returns to British Columbia travelling north. So, in essence, it makes a big bow shape through the US. So for our Easter outing we followed it into Idaho on a sunny Sunday.