Our week started at Loren and Karen’s home in the mountains outside of Spokane. In the next couple of pictures you can see Ken and Crystal’s trailer hiding behind our motorhome. They were storing it there for a week while at Camp Mivoden, a couple of hours away. We boxed them in, but we left the day before they were to pick it up, so all worked out. For the trailer… the sad part is we didn’t get to see these great people!
Flowers are still blooming and beautiful:
Even weeds can be pretty!
Lots of trails for Bryan on his bike.
This next picture needs some explanation… no, they don’t [usually] have a pool in the basement. The thermal expansion tank above the water heater had quit working, and they’d received a sizable estimate from a plumber to replace it. We decided to do it ourselves… it should be a 15 minute job, tops. I thought we could just shut off the water to the water tank, and replace the expansion tank… WRONG! Instead of just a little water I’d expected, we had the pressure of the whole house supply spraying everywhere! Loren shut off the main valve in seconds, but in that time we were soaked and so was the utility room. So we used shop vac, towels, squeegee, and fans to get rid of the basement pool. We not only got the expansion tank installed, but the floor cleaned up as well!
The MAC is more formally called the Northwestern Museum of Arts and Culture. We heard they had a display of ’70s cars this summer. Bryan and I went to check it out. There were posters telling about the reasons the ’70s were dismal years for American cars. Governmental interference with automakers, including huge safety bumpers, and stricter emissions controls, as well as increasing competition from overseas made for some lackluster cars in this country.
So the museum displayed 9 cars, two of which were foreign, and one was Italian with American parts. All cars on display were pre-1974 cars: that was when the “Hit something at 10 MPH without damage” bumpers were mandated. The mid 70’s cars were pretty ugly as a result, and none of them made it into this exhibit.
There were many other exhibits in the MAC, most of which we ignored. One room had interesting info about the remodeling of the Spokane River for the 1974 World’s Fair. An area formerly an old railroad yard was transformed with beautiful parks, bridges and even a gondola crossing the river. Now celebrating 50 years since its creation, it’s a great retreat from the noise of the city.
A poster showing excitement about the proposition, over 50 years ago:
A block from the MAC is the Campbell House. Admission is included in your MAC ticket, and the tour is wonderful.
Amasa B. Campbell partnered with John Finch in 1891, mining some gold and mostly silver in Northern Idaho. They became fabulously wealthy, and Campbell built this beautiful house to showcase his prosperity.
Campbell lived here with his wife Grace and daughter Helen. The house had every luxury imaginable when it was built in 1898. The provisions for the 5 servants were quite nice, especially when compared to other mansions we’ve seen. Electric lighting was all through the house.
Grace Campbell would entertain visitors on Thursday afternoons… in the ornate sitting room below.
Kitchens are always interesting, and this is no exception. The stove was plumbed with gas on the left side, and could use coal or wood on the right. The story is that the cook didn’t understand or trust the “Newfangled” gas oven and burners, and never used them. Below the kitchen is an ice room – where ice could be stored for a very long time, packed in sawdust.
Below is a sample menu… after the family and guests ate, the servants would eat the same dishes in their own dining room. Buttons throughout the house could be used to summon maids; this indicator on the wall would tell the staff where they were needed.
Mrs Campbell was a very proper lady, and everything had to be perfect when serving dinner for guests. She was known for having perfectly trained servants, who knew exactly when to serve each course… that was made a bit more predictable by her having one of the call buttons under her spot at the table!
After our museum tours, we needed a bit of extra sustenance from a local ice cream shop!
Back at Loren & Karen’s place, I had to shoot the clouds from the back patio!
These next couple of shots were from High Drive, across the valley from their home.
We have been looking forward to visiting friends we met in Tucson… who have their home in Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho. Campgrounds in the area were pretty much full (You’d think we’d plan ahead more!) but we found a very secluded little place… miles from anywhere, including where we hoped to be! But we had a great few days with Quentin and Kathy.
One morning we went blueberry picking with our friends.
We got to wear little buckets on chains around our waists, and tried to put as many berries in the buckets as we did in our mouths! We picked 14 pounds of blueberries! Quentin and Kathy beat us with 18 pounds. I’m told they freeze well…
Near the berry patch were some structures in need of a bit of love…
Our campground was a long ways from either Sandpoint or Bonner’s Ferry, but it was quiet! There are really only TWO sites, but the owners had full hookups next to their home for their RV, which they just sold. So they let us stay near their house.
A nice little creek ran beside the property:
On another adventure with Quentin and Kathy, we came across this interesting RV. It was obviously from a country where they drive on the left, but it was based on a MAN truck, which is German. They drive on the right in Germany. So we had to investigate, and met the nice lady who is traveling in this rig with her husband. From Australia! The rig is very strong, and has all kinds of clever design features. Big batteries, solar panels, large tanks were all as I’d expected. One thing I didn’t expect was an input where they can suck water from a stream and run it through filters, then use for showers and washing up.
We did a nice hike on the Myrtle Falls Trail, up to a waterfall.
A nice bridge gave great views of the stream.
video here
A ways above the falls gave us a great view of the valley below.
The drive back from the trail took us on a nice loop through the nature preserve. We saw no Moose or other big animals, but did see a flotilla of geese moving through the river. We had a great time with our friends in their beautiful surroundings!
It is fun to hear of your travels again! You weren’t too far from Kim and her husband, Daniel. They live in Kooskia (center of Idaho.) They have five plus acres of the most beautiful garden you can imagine and would love to see you! Kim is Diane and Rich’s second daughter. Have fun!!
[…] One morning we went for a walk in the John A. Finch Arboretum. Not far out of town, this place is very pretty, and the beauty would make you think you’re in a park far from civilization… but it’s directly adjacent to I90. The freeway noise is substantial. Very nice to look at though! [An interesting note here: John A. Finch was the mining partner to Amasa B. Campbell I wrote about last week. See Campbell’s mansion here] […]