1. Meagan, Patrick, and I pointed the Nissan Sentra west on Highway 2 and, after breakfast at Carolyn's Cafe in Hungry Horse, set out for Kootenai Falls. We hiked down to the different viewing points of the falls and I marveled, as I did back in 2019, at the sheer power of the Kootenai River as it blasts through this passage over cliffs and rocks, creating eye popping cascades, churning pools of water, and tremendous force. We then made our way to the Swinging Bridge and, as on my last visit here, I just wasn't ready to walk across it. Patrick and Meagan enjoyed it a lot. I sat in shady spots on rocks bordering the trail and gawked at the power of the Kootenai River, feeling like I didn't need to walk above it to appreciate its beauty and force.
Note to myself: it's been a lousy month for me as far as physical activity and I really felt it hiking up out of the riverbed and back to the parking lot. The heat bothered me a lot, too. I have to get back moving again and regain a better capacity for wind and stamina. Right now, I'm in lousy shape.
2. We continued on Highway 2 until the junction with Highway 56 and turned south until we reached Highway 200 and headed on west along the Clark Fork River, into Clark Fork, ID, around an upper region of Lake Pend Oreille and on into Sandpoint.
We piled out of the car at MickDuff's, found a spot to sit on a large picnic table outside, and I ordered MickDuff's version of a Black and Tan. Its a mixture of their Tipsy Toehead Blonde Ale and their Knot Tree Porter. I love MickDuff's Knot Tree Porter -- it takes me back to the days, oh, 20-24 years ago when I loved drinking McMenamin's Black Rabbit Porter. For me, drinking two glasses of this beer was classic memory drinking -- yes, the taste was awesome, but the memories of Black Rabbit Porter made this beer session exquisite.
Until today, I'd never eaten a poke bowl and now I have. I loved the raw ahi tuna in a terrific sauce that included toasted sesame seeds to give the dish some crunch.
Meagan went inside and returned with four 25 oz crowlers: Blonde Ale, Mole Stout, Summer Crush (a milkshake IPA), and a pale ale.
3. Upon arriving back at the house in Kellogg, we were delighted that Zoe, Molly, and Carol were all at the house. Zoe had just fed Copper and Luna (no cat messes while I was gone! Victory!) and we invited them to stick around for a party on the deck. Christy was out watering flowers and we invited her over, too, and Patrick made a tasty batch of guacamole to go with chips Patrick and Meagan had on hand. We had plenty of beer. Christy enjoyed a bourbon and coke cocktail. We emptied all but about 8 oz of three of the crowlers. We stayed out until around 10:30, telling stories, laughing, just having a fun time.
Patrick and I both squeezed in some laundry time and I made some progress getting reacquainted with Luna and Copper after our two nights of separation. Last night, they loved being out back while all of us were out there. In fact, Copper loved it so much that he stayed out all night. I was a bit anxious about him not being in when I went to bed, but around 5 a.m. I checked out back, saw Christy's cat Grayson in the back part of the yard, could hear another can squawking, and sure enough, Copper was the squawker. I walked back to Copper. Grayson shuffled off, leaving Copper at liberty to saunter back into the house and enjoy his morning meal.
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