O Canada! But First - Idaho

Idaho

Visiting Friends... 

We spent several days in Northern Idaho before our crossing into Canada. We stayed in Post Falls again with our friends Duff and Bonita, parking our trailer in their driveway. Duff has built a recording studio in his garage and was also hosting his friends, YWAM missionaries Art and Peggy. Peggy was working on a recording of Christmas music and let us listen to one of the tracks she had recorded. She is an amazing vocalist!

 

 ...and visiting Family

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Grandson Jordan lives in Coeur ‘d Alene and we were able to spend time over two days with him and his girlfriend, sharing some meals, hiking Tubs Hill and enjoying a lake cruise. We had lots of time for visiting and it was a delight to meet Hannah.

 

 

 

 

 

 

O Canada!

First viewing of Lake Louise

 

Part One: Kootenay and Banff National Parks

 

After driving a little more than 100 miles from Post Falls we arrived at Eastport-Kingsgate Border Crossing behind just a few cars and RV’s. When we got to the Border Agent we just showed our passports, answered a few questions and were quickly ushered into Canada. We drove north with the Rockies on our right hand side for about another hundred miles to White Swan Lake Provincial Park, a remote campground about 12 miles off the highway on an unpaved road, which brought us higher up into the mountains to a beautiful wooded site beside a lake. 

 

We selected a site and set up for our first night in Canada. After dinner we enjoyed the sunny evening with a hike along the lakeshore. It rained overnight but seemed clear in the morning. As we started a morning hike, the rain resumed while we were on the trail. Rounding a bend in the path we were met with a deer on the trail, but we stood still enough that it kept walking toward us on the trail. As it got closer to us it left the path and headed upslope into the woods. 

 

We broke camp and headed back to the highway and our route soon took us through Kootenay National Park. The Park drive follows the Kootenay River through steep and forested mountains. 

 

 

Simpson River Trail

 

The first turnout we chose along the National Park drive was a trailhead where we crossed a bridge over the raging river and began a 1.5 km (each way) trail to iconic Red Chairs, which Parks Canada has placed throughout their park system, a little nod to Instagram!

The very narrow Trail, led through areas of previous forest fires. Rain and scattered showers left the trail muddy with some puddles covering areas of the trail and some challenging stream crossings over logs laid in the water. We had our rain boots on this time so we kept our socks and feet dry! It had been sunny when we started our hike but as we got to the turnaround point at the red chairs the rain returned and we moved as fast as we could to get back to our truck. The rain let up again about half way back to the parking area. We lingered at the parking area to enjoy a bite to eat with a river view!

 

 

Marble Canyon

A second area of interest in the Park Brochure was a 0.9 km out and back trail along and over a chasm carved through marble walls by the river far below. Bridges take the hiker back and forth across the chasm for views of the water rushing through the narrow gorge.

 

At the turnaround point of the trail the fast flowing river is visible upstream as is cascades down into the narrow marble chasm we had hiked along. This was a breathtaking sight! 

 

More Red Chairs. 

More puddles on the trail. 

More rain on the return portion of the hike! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lake Louise Campground 

After finishing the drive through Kootenay National Park we arrived at our next campground. Our base camp for the next 4 nights is centrally located to Lake Louise and Lake Louise Village, with views of the 10 Peaks of the area. 

Lake Louise 

 

After our drive day and dinner we drove from our campground a short distance to Lake Louise at about 8:00 pm. Small evening crowds made for a peaceful stroll on the boardwalk to enjoy the stunning views. We have about 16 hours of daylight here, so sunset is around 10:00 pm, which is great for adding time to see more of the area.

 

 

On our second evening we took advantage of the long daylight hours to visit Lake Louise again, this time walking the lakeside trail for views of the lake and back over the water to the grand Fairmont Hotel. The Canadian Pacific Railway was instrumental in Banff’s early years , building the Chateau Lake Louise and the Banff Springs Hotel,and attracting tourists through extensive advertising. And while million's still come annually, this is still a place to slow down and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Moraine Lake

 

We awoke early the next morning and took a shuttle from the campground out to the ski area where a park and ride is set up for the shuttles that take you to the Lakes. We boarded the shuttle to Moraine Lake for about a half hour ride on a narrow two lane road up to the Lake.

Rockpile Trail is a short but steep climb up rocky stairs with a payout at the end of breathtaking views of Moraine Lake stretched out into the valley below, with a series of mountain peaks in the distance.

 

In 1884 John Wilcox wrote of Moraine Lake, “No scene has ever given me an equal impression of inspiring solitude and rugged grandeur”, adding that contemplating the view from the Rockpile was the happiest half hour of his life.

We had to share this site with a lot of people, and I think we spent more like an hour here (and could have enjoyed staying longer), but I agree it is a grand and glorious place to linger.  

 

 

 

 

It is even the place to take wedding pictures, apparently! It struck me that the bride wore red, (it was Canada Day) and the groom on the left and the photographer on the rights were too busy looking at their devices to look at the gorgeous bride!

 

While on the Rockpile, Steve and I met Tamara, a Family Doctor from Ottawa,  who was quite interested in engaging us in conversation. She had offered to take our picture at one viewpoint and we met her again at another spot and continued visiting as if we were longtime friends already. 

 

 

 

The Lord worked the conversation to allow Steve to share his testimony and he was able to encourage her to seek the God who created her! Wow!

 

 

Tamara likes to take selfies with the people she meets on her trip, so we took a selfie for her and for us as well. We continue to pray that the Lord will use our conversation for His purpose in Tamara’s life!

These opportunities are why our travel blog is called SpeakGrace46, taken from Colossians:

 

"Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” ‭‭

Colossians‬ ‭4:6‬ 

 

 

After lingering on the Rockpile, we enjoyed a Latte and picnic lunch, followed by a hike on the lakeside trail through the trees, each bend in the trail offering new and stunning views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our last night in this area we had to take one last visit to Lake Moraine! We arrived just a few minutes before sunset to a traffic jam at the entrance to the parking area. A mama grizzly and her cub were feeding just beside the first few parking spots! 

 

Yikes, she was a big bear! We parked further in to the lot and went down the trail to the Rockpile for our last views of the Lake, watching for bear along the way. Fortunately the Parking Lot Bears were the only ones we spotted!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In our  next blog episode we will tell you about our day trips on the Icefield Parkway and at Yoho National Park! Can't wait to share more of our Canadian Adventures on the Road with you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Idaho, and a bit of Washington!

Happy Independence day to you all! We enjoyed the holiday here in Idaho, still camped out at the home of our friends, Duff and Bonita!

We heard a great sermon this morning, entitled "Love that Frees Us", at the church that Duff and Bonita attend here in Post Falls. The message was an uplifting reminder from Ephesians Chapter 1:3-5, reassuring us that Before God made the world, that He loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy. He decided in advance to adopt us into His own family, through what Christ has done on the Cross for us.

Our drive from Montana after Father's day, took us through Troy where the highway follows the Kootenai River. A good sized pullout and parking area allows for a hike to Kootenai Falls and to a suspension bridge that crosses the river. This provided a nice break from the drive, and gave an opportunity to stretch our legs and to enjoy lunch before continuing into Idaho.

 

Sitting beside the Kootenai Falls and watching the river churn past us was a sight to behold. Having grown up in semi-arid Southern California, the sheer size of this river was mind blowing to me. It makes no sense in my mind that this volume of water can be flowing past me continuously! And this was just one river we saw in the Northwestern States. I am sure that there are larger rivers, but this was very impressive to me!

 

Northern Idaho

As you can see this area of Idaho has mountains, rivers, forests and as we would find out, really large lakes, Pend Oreille Lake being the first one we enjoyed in Idaho. (Flathead Lake in Montana was incredible large and beautiful as well.)  To further enjoy the lake we booked a boat tour of the lake that would take us to hopefully see some birds of prey.  We did see some eagles' nests and some eaglets with their parent enjoying a view of our boat from the edge of their nest.  Very awesome, but my camera couldn't capture the birds in the nest so I can't show it to you. Sorry!

Sand Point was a sweet little community on the edge of the lake. It had a nice walking downtown area and a great beach and park along the shore of the lake. The arch way is made of fish cut out of metal signs, so colorful! 

The picture below is a bridge over the river that has been converted into shops and restaurants, very cool!

 

 

 

Some more travel brought us down to Post Falls and Duff and Bonita's home. We parked our trailer in the driveway and have been enjoying there company from our "base camp". (Also they watched over our truck and trailer during our little breakaway to come back to California.)

 

Steve and I enjoyed exploring Coeur d'Alene with a hike around Tubbs Hill, which is in a great park along the shore of the Lake Coeur d'Alene. 

Someone had left this little scripture reminder along the trail! Some of you may remember when we did a rock painting outreach at CCFR called "Jesus Rocks!" Fun to find these little truth rocks along our way!

After our California detour we returned to Post Falls and enjoyed a ferry boat tour of Lake Coeur d'Alene, giving us a reverse view of Tubbs Hill from the water!

Check out this house built on a Rock!

Steve and I enjoyed an evening in Spokane, Washington, about 45 minutes from Post Falls. We had a really great dinner overlooking the Spokane River at a restaurant called Clinkerdagger. Then we walked to Riverfront park, which has a couple of places where the river runs through it! It had great play grounds, a skate park, basketball courts, splash pads and a fountain! I think it even goes into a shopping area, but we ran out of time to explore it! It was a beautiful place to stroll around in the evening after dinner!

Historic Towns and Silver Mines

We very much enjoy visiting Historic sites and finding out about the history of the area. When we heard about a town that is pretty much unchanged for the past hundred plus years we had to go check it out! The town sits along the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River and was founded in 1884. This area of the Idaho panhandle is in a valley of the Silver Mining district. This town remains mostly unchanged because the town devised a way to avoid being demolished when Interstate 90 was planned to pass through the town. The solution? Get the entire town onto the registry of historic places. Well, it worked and the I-90 passes beside the city on an elevated section of roadway which hugs the mountainside! The architecture of the town is very beautiful. 

Even the pubic stairways that lead to upper streets and neighborhoods were on the national registry!

 

Another interesting feature of the town of Wallace, is that in 2004 the Mayor of the town proclaimed Wallace to be the Center of the Universe, (because it can't be proven otherwise, rather strange logic); there is a manhole cover at the designated intersection marking the exact spot of the Center of the Universe! The town even celebrates this proclamation yearly! Who knew!

Wallace is also famous for its 100-plus year run as the world's largest silver producer, making it the richest mining town still in existence. We took a great tour of the Sierra Silver Mine. A third generation miner with 18 plus years experience in the mines in the area gave a great 1 hour tour, during which he demonstrated mining equipment and explained how silver was mined. 

 

 

 Steve is holding a core sample which has been split to reveal the silver rich content...what they are all trying to find!

 

 

 

Sadly, we also learned the tragic story of the neighboring Sunshine Mine disaster of 2005, in which 91 men died, leaving 77 women widowed and 200 children fatherless. It was quite sobering to be in a silver mine while learning of how the industry was changed after this tragedy. A nearby memorial honors those who perished.

Another tragedy in the area was the Big Burn of 1910, a raging firestorm that killed 87 people, mostly firefighters while it burned 3,000,000 acres of forest and some structures. So much history to ponder in one small area.

 

We are getting reading to leave Post Falls and head south to new sites to explore in Idaho on our Adventures on the Road!  Thanks for taking time to read our blog and enjoy the pictures. We are praying for all of our family and friends and so appreciate your prayers for our safety and health and enjoyment during this time!