Ladies trip prep

I've been polishing up the itinerary for my trip with some good friends to the lakes in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina since we depart in a couple days. The area we're visiting is famous for its many waterfalls. To the point that we've hired a local hiking guide to take us to off the beaten path waterfalls on private property. 

While many of the falls are right off the NC state highways and easily accessible for us, I look forward to seeing the lesser known ones that are reputed to be equally picturesque. I giggled on and off for a good five minutes when I ran across Bust Your Butt Falls, also located in the area where we're staying. Let's hope that's just a humorous name rather than foreshadowing what might befall our middle-aged group when we go take a gander at it.

Idaho odds and ends

Don't let the name deceive you. It's their surname, not a testament to the quality or flavor of what was on offer.

We all agreed that the fritters were delicious. 

I have no clue what sort of grape or berry this is, but we saw it on one of our hikes. 

We spied several eagles while boating on the lake. Squint your eyes and you might be able to pick out the eagle near the top of the pine tree. This was one of those times when a camera other than the one on my phone would have come in handy.

And finally, the entire week we were in Idaho I kept getting notifications on my phone that our Ring camera was capturing this little family of four scuttling around the garage/driveway area in the middle of the night. 

Cooler summer locale

The older I get, the more I hate the sweltering Texas heat. To the point where I'm ready to sell our big house to split its proceeds towards a downsized Texas primary residence. Then we would use the rest of it to purchase a home to enjoy in another state. Preferably one where we can spend summers enjoying milder temps, and maybe even sneak in an occasional white Christmas. Right now, top of my second/retirement home take-a-look list is Idaho and North Carolina.

Last week we took a family trip to northern Idaho, for a look-see, and we were really impressed. No brown gumbo muddy bottom lakes up there. Or skeeters Plus the water was clear. And best of all, the temps were really pleasant. No sweating the minute you step out of the house. As a matter of fact, we didn't even have to run the AC all week in our lakefront rental. We merely opened up the windows to let in the breeze.

I didn't figure I'd get the girls on board so quickly, but they think lake life is great. We all enjoyed sightseeing at places like an alpaca farm and in the cute little shops on Main Street. The restaurant selections were varied and delicious. There were plenty of grocery stores so that we could enjoy grilling on our deck one evening. But in my opinion, the best part was the time we spent on boats really getting to enjoy the scenery and housing options. At least the husband and I. The girls resembled lounging lake lizards about half of the time.

While on the water, we spied an uh-oh in the pic below. At the bottom of a rather steep drop, looks like this truck has found its final resting place.

Castle on the lake, anyone? We saw quite a few interesting houses while puttering around taking a gander at the shoreline from our pontoon boat.

We did spend one day in Spokane, our point of arrival/departure since it's the nearest major airport. After the peace, tranquility and cleanliness of the lake towns, the girls declared it dirty and unattractive. Plus the obvious homeless issue they've got. But we did enjoy some of the shopping downtown, in addition to some comedic murals and the big red wagon in the riverfront park.

Figuring we wouldn't be as interested as we were in Coeur d'Alene, but wanting to take a look at what was on offer, we spent the day in Sandpoint (further up the Idaho panhandle) checking out Lake Pend Oreille. We were all really impressed thanks to a cute Main Street, some great restaurants, nice marina/public beach facilities and precious little Saturday farmer's market in the city park. Plus the scenery... it was even more amazing than Lake Coeur d'Alene. Too bad it's just a bit isolated for our needs since I bet there are some amazing housing deals to be had up there. It's only about an hour's drive to the Canadian border, which is kinda cool. Day trip options to Calgary!

Our rental lake house was situated at the bottom of a steep cliff, maybe 10' from the water. There were exactly 155 steps from where we parked the car to the front door. We did get to ride the tram (seen below) on our move in/out days, but the rest of the time we got in some regular cardio with the hike up and down. Good thing the views were so lovely, because we all had to take a few breaks to catch our breath on the steep stairs during the climb up to the car.

Added bonus... a fun little fireworks display every Saturday night!

Patriotic crafting

Last week, I went with my sister to one of our local big box craft stores. Just along for the ride to visit with her. About $120 later, I come out with the supplies to make a new patriotic wreath for our front gate, along with a sign and a couple pinwheels. Plus two darling blue pumpkins to add to my fall decor collection. And yes, it seemed to me that June is a bit early to see pumpkin and fall decor on shelves, but there ya go. The retail calendar slows down for no one.

Happy Birthday, America!

Unlike all of my other wreaths, I put this one together by myself. I measured, cut, twisted, rolled, scrunched, tied and voila...

I love that I was able to zip tie the pinwheels so they spin in the breeze. It dawned on me after I downloaded this video to my desktop that I should have panned over to show off the newly rebuilt right gate post. It looks just like the old one that got destroyed by the teen's friend in Waspgate 2019. 

Playing tourist

My mother's friend from high school came for a visit this last weekend, with her sister and daughter-in-law in tow, so I played tour guide down on the riverwalk for the ladies. We took a cruise on the new river boats Saturday morning before it got too hot. 

There were ducks all along the river, in and out of the water, as well as mommas with babies. In most places, the river is maybe 3ish feet deep. If tourists get a bit tipsy at all of the bars and restaurants lining the riverwalk and they topple into the water, all they have to do to save themselves is stand up. 

After our river tour ended, we took the trolley over to Market Square to have lunch at Mi Tierra. The decor is a bit over the top. I wish I could say the same thing about their food, because I'm consistently underwhelmed every time we bring visitors. We really do have some great Tex-Mex in the city... it just isn't found here.

This rather diminutive Elvis, seen below, gave us a fright. We though it was a mannequin until he moved after I snapped the pic.