We moved to Bayview, Idaho for a weekend by the lake. Lake Pend Oreille, to be specific. [It’s pronounced locally pretty much as “Ponderay.” I’m sure French Folks groan to hear it, but I sure don’t know a better pronunciation.]
We thought it would be a good place to get the kayak wet. Apparently, so did everyone else in Northern Idaho. We got to the Eagle boat launch area in Farragut State Park where we’d chosen to launch, only to find that the ranger was there to divert traffic and say the beach was closed. Too many cars and people! So we tried another site, Buttonhook bay, where there was a dirt path leading down to the lake. The shore there is quite a long and steep walk down from the parking area. I figured with the detachable wheels attached, we could get the kayak down there, but dragging it back up in the heat would be miserable!
At the bottom of the trail was a small marina, and a bridge to a small island. We walked the circle trail around the little island, then hiked up the steep trail to the car.
We then drove to Beaver Bay Beach, which had been open when we drove past it on the way to Buttonhook. Now it was closed, with its own ranger deflecting traffic. We asked if we could drive the half mile or so to the parking area, and drop off the kayak. Nope. So we parked alongside the main road (with many others), put the wheels on the boat, and walked it down the steep (but thankfully paved) road to the water. It was indeed very crowded, but we found room to launch our little craft and hit the water.
It was a beautiful day, clear and super hot… Well over 100 degrees.
We looked for areas the trees shaded the water! We met a bunch of friendly ducks… they must frequently get fed by people.
A couple of kids were having fun jumping off rocks:
After a long day, with lunch aboard the kayak, we found the parking lot was now open. I hitched a ride up the (long) half mile, got the car, and came down to retrieve both Cherryl and our boat. Back at the campsite it was time to clean it up and put it away.
This little marina was within walking distance from our campsite, but we didn’t think it would be a good kayaking spot. But it’s always fun to look at boats, especially crazy, elaborate floating homes!
Bayview was busy producing lime a century ago, to be used in making concrete. It was processed in large kilns, two of which are still visible near the marina. The lime was sent to Spokane by steamship and railroad, until the a depression decreased the demand for concrete.
Back in Spokane, we spent a few days in the Northern Quest RV park again. Changed a tire on Cherryl’s road bike (which normally lives at Loren & Karen’s house). While working on things, found that the hinges on the basement compartment with the freezer failed! Ouch! A couple of “Linear Bearings” wore out, and allowed the door to drop 3 or 4 inches. Not fall off, just slide down a bit. Turns out this side’s hinges are just like the ones on the other side, which are supposed to slide down on opening. They just have the linear bearings installed differently. So I ordered a couple, and they arrived by magic of 2nd day air. Then a bit of adventure getting some new snap rings, and all was installed and working again!
One afternoon was quite windy, and then there was a huge burst of wind and a lot of heavy sounding noise. It turns out our Starlink satellite dish, which was sitting happily on our roof, tried to fly! It lifted off the roof, flew a couple of feet to the side, up 9 inches or so to clear the awning casing, and tried to fly a long way to the ground. The cord caught it, so instead of making it all the way down, it settled for scratching the paint a bit and hanging upside down on the wall. Sigh. It wasn’t really damaged, but seemed traumatized. It took far longer to boot up than normal, but it is working fine now.
We had some nice neighbors from New Zealand! I noticed their dish was upside down, and set it right for them. Theirs had been on the ground, but in flipping over and maybe dragging around a bit, the face was all scratched up. Sigh.
We did have a great time talking with them. They spend a lot of time in the states every year; like 5 months! Very fun folks! Great travels to you, Stuart and Carolyn!
And then another week draws to a close!
