July 10, 2008 Breakfast at Rembrandts

Marlin treated me to breakfast at the Rembrandts Coffee House in Eagle. It is a quaint coffee house and cafe housed in an old church.

It is very artsy inside with a bookstore and artwork. We sat on the patio and enjoyed the morning sunshine while it is still bearable down here in the valley. The temp is supposed to be in the 100's today.

July 10, 2008 Drive Down from McCall

We got up about 5, packed up and made our way down to Boise on Route 55 which runs along the Payette River. The morning sunlight began its ascent by casting shadows on the majestic mountain tops.

July 09, 2008 A Night at Roseberry

There is a small western town not far from McCall called Roseberry. They have a Wednesday night Summer Music Series which began last week. B&J played from 6-9 pm. As I mentioned below, today was a very hot day, but that didn't stop us from an evening of music and friendship.

Last Day on The Job

Today was the final work day albeit a short one. Bon & Jon have a gig at Roseberry tonight so they wanted to stop work after lunch so they could rest and be fresh for the show tonight. Today was a hot one reaching 87 degrees here in the mountains. We went to Ice Cream Alley for some Huckleberry and Blackberry Cheesecake Ice Cream while they slept in our tent in the garage. When we got back, Bon said, "Lou, I won't lie. Your air mattress in that tent is more comfortable than our camper!" Jon was so excited to finally get to park his van in the garage. We have been teasing them about how we are the first ones to get to sleep in their house!


In spite of Jon's distaste for heights, Marlin hoisted him in the bucket of the backhoe (look closely at the bucket and you will see Jon peering up over the edge). He hand stained the facia in Bonnie's "Bonus Room"...a.k.a. her art studio which doubles as a second bedroom. Marlin and Jon are setting the window other window in Bonnie's Bonus Room. They are standing in the bucket of the backhoe. We got a little bit of a lotta work done during the week, but there is an overwhelming amount of work left for Bon & Jon to complete. This will give Jone an excuse to come up to the mountains more often. The final picture shows the view out of the back upstairs bedroom above. Maybe next time we come back, we'll get to stay in this room! Bon & Jon, Thanks for inviting us to share in your Mountain Home Adventures!

All in a Day's Work

Bonnie, Marlin and I started the day by going to the Pancake House. Jon wanted to stay behind to talk to the framers about having Marlin fix the Entryway so that they could get everything else done today as they had another job scheduled for tomorrow. Bonnie and I took a walk when we got back from breakfast and I took this picture of their house from another angle. While Marlin worked on the entryway, Jon climbed the ladder to get the Tyvek finished. Marlin had his challenges, but he finally got the entryway finished much to Bonnie's delight.


After not having showers for a couple of days, Marlin had to explain to the others above that he had enough of sleeping on an air mattress so we secured a room at the Holiday Inn. We swam in the pool and soaked in the hot tub before retiring to the room. Bon and Jon brought pizza and showered, but had to get back to camp to practice for tomorrow's upcoming show at Roseberry. All in all, it was a very fruitful day. Tomorrow Bon and I will get to work cleaning up the mess left behind by the carpenters while Marlin and Jon put all the windows in the house.

Mountain Critters

We had this friendly little butterfly moth which took turns landing on Bonnie and I today while our hobo dinners were cooking. All John could attract was a horse fly that had a thing for the button on his cap.

Mountain Wild Flowers

The mountain flowers are especially prolific this year. I've been collecting them every day and there are always new ones that we didn't see, or weren't there the day before.

Facia Fixes and Cell Phone Misses

Today the guys fixed the facia mess and added some special fixes to make the peaks look nicer. I went in to town to do a load of laundry. There is only one landromat for the whole town. I couldn't find any Lysol for my wash so I didn't want to do my colors since I shouldn't wash them on hot. The car said it was 71 degrees but it felt much hotter in town so I brought home ice cream bars for everyone. Marlin amazed everyone because he moves around the roof with such ease. Someone said that he is part monkey. Mary Ann was gracious once again to provide us with supper, a place to shower and a place to do a second load of laundry. That's the good news. The bad news is that I washed my cell phone so if anyone wants to reach me, they will have to call Marlin's phone. Paul told me that someone told him that if you pour dry rice over it, it will absorb the moisture and you might be ok if you don't try to turn it on first. Whoops! We'll see...

Today the women played while the guys worked on the front porch and the back deck. Bon & I went to McCall to look around the town. At the Farmers Market, I met a couple selling Emu Oil products. She went to Columbia and graduated with a Graphics Arts degree. He runs a printing business.That's their full time jobs. Selling the Emu products is something they do in their spare time. They had a beautiful brown eyed Aussie that reminded me of Clancy.

Mary Ann was working at the Farmers Market and gave us coupons for Buy One Get One Free for the Friends of the Library Sale. We stopped by and I bought several books for only a dollar each. After Mary Ann got done at her booth, we went to the Craft Fair at Roseberry. I bought a pair of earrings made from antique spoons from 1807.

We came home and made Taco Salad for the guys and then moved out onto the almost done deck for a relaxing view of Jug Handle Mountain. We saw several species of birds...Magpies, Swallows and Red Shafted Flickers. It was a fair fine day!

Fourth of July in McCall

I forgot to mention when we arrived in McCall last night, it was the first time that Bonnie had seen the house since had been framed out. She squealed with delight when seeing her house for the first time.
Today Bonnie and I picked up the trash, and swept out the mess left by the carpenters while John, Marlin, and Paul (B&J's friend) worked on the deck. Mary Ann and Paul invited us over for a 4th of July hamburger bake and showers. I can't think of a nicer way to end the day! Thanks Paul and Mary Ann for your gift of hospitality.

Lunch at Buddy's

For those of you that may not know, Marlin's sisters still refer to him as "Buddy" so when we happened upon Buddy's restaurant in Salmon, Idaho, Joyce said we just had to stop for lunch. This picture show's Buddy outside of Buddy's. While in Salmon, I stopped to take a picture of the Salmon River. It was a good thing that we stopped and ate on the other side of town because when we drove through the town, we soon realized that we had just missed their annual July 4th (a day early) parade. We made it to Boise about suppertime, loaded Bonnie up and made our way up to McCall. The temperature in Boise was over 100 degrees so we were more than happy to be making our way up to the mountains at McCall.

Nez Perce and the Bitter Root Mountains

Today we missed our turnoff and ended up on Route 278 instead. What ended up a mistake lead to a journey to heaven on earth. Marlin said it was the best mistake he ever made. We wound through this valley that runs the length of the Bitter Root Mountains. It was breathtaking yet peaceful. At one point we saw five elk standing by the road. I didn't get the picture because there was a motorcycle running behind us. Jerry said it was the first time he had ever seen five elk standing together like that. We think they were waiting to cross the road. They still farm the old fashioned way. I captured this farmer with his dog following close behind.

At the end of this valley we went to the place where the Nez Perce Indians were massacred in their sleep. Lodgepole tipi's stand where the village stood those many years before.

Boys Will Be Boys!

You’re never too old to play “Cowboys and Indians” so before leaving, the "boys" dressed up in Indian and Cowboy regalia. (My connection is really slow so I will only put one pic here for now). After a great deal of laughter, we headed out on our continued trek toward Idaho, and we all commented that today was definitely the highlight of our vacation thus far thanks to Loren and Rosanne. We ended up in Butte for the night, a town that we soon discovered was Casino crazy. Casino's can be found in almost every location from laundry mats to gas stations to just about every restaurant...hmmm...I wonder if the local Wal-Mart had a Casino located within its walls? They have more casino's here than Peru has bars!

Montana Artistry

On to Billings where we met up with Jerry's cousin, Loren Entz and his lovely lady friend, Rosanne. We were given a most comprehensive tour of his beautiful ivy covered studio, a place where Hemmingway once stayed with friends. We were all enamored by his talented art work and his collection of Indiana artifacts. He is working on remodeling the space next door for a future art gallery. It is already taking shape and will be a wonderful addition to the downtown culture of Billings.

Montana All Day

Custer's Memorial

Today was more than a fair fine day! We started out at the site of the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It definitely helps standing in the place to visualize how things happened. The picture on the left was taken at the Indian Memorial. Custer's grave marker is in the center of the other picture.

South Dakota and Wyoming

Day Two saw a change in the landscape from the Prairie to the Badlands and on to the Big Horn Mountains. Marlin and Jerry are taking in the dream of a life lived by pioneers, and keep commenting, "I could live here!" Both days we have stopped for lunch only to be handed a Breakfast Menu. Who would have thought that the time change would have an effect on us all. We stopped for an afternoon treat at a Starbucks, then on to Sheridan WY where we stayed for the night. We ate at the 1896 Steak & Spirits venue located in the soon to be remodeled Sheridan Inn, a place where Buffalo Bill Cody interviewed many for his Wild West Show.

Trek To The West

Day 1 of the Trek started early before dawn. Highlights of the day included being stopped by a cop in Iowa for having tinted windows. He measured them with a device that recorded the windows to be 32% tinted which is legal for Indiana so he "let us go". We made it to Sioux City, Iowa right on the border of South Dakota where we stopped for the night. Marlin is already asleep resting up for the big day tomorrow!