Last days in Chewelah, Washington

We have been in Chewelah for about five days finalizing some  paperwork that I will be elaborating on next week... but for now it's business as usual.

How could you argue with a windshield view such as this? This is from our camp spot in the Chewelah Valley.

For two nights I watched this coyote hunt for mice and rats among the bales of hay. I must curb my enthusiasm for the coyote in this area because he is not well thought of in the area.

We took a ride over the hill to Usk, Washington just to see what was there. While driving over the mountain we saw an unusual sight, an 8 ft wood craving of a bear that did not appear to belong to any nearby property. I could only think of that old proverb...does a bear **** in the woods? ha ha

On top of the pass between Chewelah and Usk, by way of the Flowery Trail Road, is of all things a "ski resort"? Not to be too uppity, but neither of towns folk seemed like ski people to me...just saying. Even way up here, the ski tickets are $50+ which really astonishes me.

Donna is walking down a dirt road in the heavily moose populated northeast Washington calling out..."here Bullwinkle, here Bullwinkle"!

We both thought to our self...how could this marsh not have a moose in it?

Off in the distance is the Pend Oreille River that flows from the USA to Canada then back to the USA as a tributary to the mighty Columbia River.

There were many homes and docks along the Pend Oreille River and as you can see, the water level must fluctuate quite a bit otherwise there would be no reason for the 20 foot dock poles.

The geese make a great foreground for the logging poles from yesteryear on the Pend Oreille River. Before you get too twisted in trying to pronounce the rivers name, apparently it's French...just say "pond o ray".

Here is a group of bikers heading for the "no helmet" law of Idaho.

Just a hint of next weeks blog...

Just before I closed out this blog our power went out and the wind suddenly started howling. Totally unexpected, the second most powerful electrical storm we have ever seen was overhead. 

The #1 storm was 30 years ago in Kansas where I swear you could read a newspaper in the middle of the night just by the constant flashes. This storm was a close second! Wild and we loved it but I fear for some fires tomorrow.