October was a month to look forward to as a very special friend of mine was coming to visit! Before she arrived, the fall colors were beginning to transform the landscape from the summer greens and browns to the fall colors of bright orange, red and yellow!


A picture of Priest River with the fall colors spreading their beauty...



 It almost looks like a postcard setting!


I drove through the little city park in Priest River, and the colors of fall were everywhere!



AND then it was time to pick up my sweet friend from the airport!!  She flew in late Saturday evening, and we were so glad to see her at the airport! The next morning, we were up and ready to go.  We headed over to the property we had just purchased.


It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed the hike around our 10-acre place.


While we were hiking, this little fellow kept calling out to us, and wanting our attention.  He would play hide and seek with us as we walked around the place.


He was the cutest little fellow.... and he seemed to know that!  He really put on a show for us...


We left our property and headed over to Freeman Lake.  The fall colors there were simply "falling" all over themselves!






It was so quiet and still out here.


So still and beautiful... we just stood in silence looking at the beauty around us.  It was an incredibly beautiful day.


You just want to be able to soak up the beauty into the depths of your soul, as you stand here on the end of the dock, and just gaze out at the magnificent color spectrum spread out before us like a feast!







It was a beautiful day to be out exploring!  Before long, it was time to head back to the house, as everyone's bellies were rumbling and it was time to get dinner rolling.


As we drove back down out of the mountain range that Freeman Lake is in, this was the view spread out before us...


This is the Pend O'Reille River on its northbound course into Washington.


The next day was a holiday, Columbus Day, and so the kids were out of school.  We had kind of a lazy day, relaxing around the house, and just enjoying our time together.  Later that afternoon, we went to visit another friend of mine, SL, and to take a hike together with her.
 


She has a beautiful piece of property with lots of rocks, outcroppings, and hills all over it.  It is quite a workout to climb up and down these places, especially if you are not used to it.  I have been hiking out here fairly regularly with her, and enjoy the workout we get from doing this!  But if you're not used to it... it can be a little bit challenging!


These tiny ferns were growing everywhere as we walked, to me they looked like tiny snowflake flowers.  I don't know what they are called, but they certainly were beautiful!


From one of the rock outcroppings that we climbed up, Hoo Doo Mountain was clearly visible to us.




Our sweet canine companion on the hike, Cheetah, was taking a break too.... climbing these rocks and hills wears out even the best among us!






You can see by this picture the hill we are about to climb, but this one was easy compared to some of the places we hiked today!  It was a beautiful day for a hike, and we enjoyed it to the fullest!  It is always so enjoyable to be out in the woods with the trees, birds, and occasional squirrel or chipmunk along the way, and just enjoying the beauty of nature that the Lord created for us.

Sadly, our time together quickly came to an end, and it was time for my sweet friend to head back home. We had enjoyed our time immensely together, and cherished all the wonderful memories we shared while she was here.



After dropping her off at the airport, on the way home, I snapped a few more pictures of the fall colors, shadows and clouds as I was driving.  (So yes, if you see some crazy woman snapping pictures while she's driving, it's probably me!)...


Some pictures of the fall loveliness everywhere around us...


I love the colors in this photo... note to self.... we must plan some red maples on our property... their colors are just gorgeous!



It was a good thing I was able to snap some pictures of the fall colors... because they weren't about to last very long!  Within just a few days we had our first snowfall of the season... which brings me to my next post... see you then!

Yes, the excitement just wasn't ending anytime soon! A long anticipated visit from my dear aunt and uncle from Ontario was finally happening!

They were on the trip of a lifetime themselves!  For her 50th birthday, my aunt had been given money towards a cruise to Alaska.  She saved that money, and kept adding to the fund for several  years until she had the funds ready to take the trip of a lifetime!  As part of their trip, they had made plans to come and see us here in Idaho! How special!  We were more than thrilled that they had planned a visit to us in their itinerary!  They weren't able to stay long, just a weekend, because their next stop was to visit the Grand Canyon, but we were so thrilled to have them make the effort to stop and see us!!!


They were one exhausted couple when I picked them up at the train station at 2 in the early morning!!!  They had gotten on the train in Seattle, after the train had been delayed, and then there were many delays along the way, and so they had been up almost 24 hours.  Not to mention that the seats on the train aren't that comfortable, and really no way to sleep.  

It was so wonderful to see them step off the train, it was only them, and one other man who got off, and the train was barely stopped longer than a minute!


By the time we got back to our home, it was about 4:00 in the morning.  Since it was not quite daylight yet, we all went straight to bed, and slept in.

When they awake, and we had a light breakfast/brunch, they were up for a sightseeing tour!  There was no slowing them down, even after being up half the night!


So, we all piled in our van, our family, my mother, and my aunt and uncle, and amazingly...  we all fit comfortably!  Our destination was Priest Lake.  We didn't have a lot of time, and they wanted to see the "best" of what Idaho has to offer... and everyone knows that Priest Lake is the highlight of any trip to this area.


We arrived in the Priest Lake area, and drove down to one of the resorts on the lake, and found out we were just in time for a wedding!


Except that they hadn't invited us.... and had even closed off most of the resort to any other guests because of the wedding party.  We waited around for a bit to see if the bride would make an appearance for us, but she never did.


So we continued our exploration of the Priest Lake area ... it was another beautiful day, certainly a perfect day to have a wedding!  This is a view from the Elkins Resort looking out towards  Priest Lake.

 

We found a place to park at the Ledgewood Picnic area and walked down to the beach.  There were a few people swimming, but not nearly as many as when we had come earlier in the summer.   The lovely view of the mountains, clouds and water was majestic... as usual!




The afternoon was passing by quickly, and we still had quite a bit of territory to cover before it got dark. We made our way next into grizzly bear territory...




.... although we have never yet seen one... but that is probably a very good thing!  If I ever see one, I hope it is within the safety of our vehicle!


Here is one of the streams or creeks that flows down to Priest Lake.


Then we continued on our journey down the dusty gravel road to Huff Lake.


I love the serenity of Huff Lake!  This is the lake where we got to observe a momma moose for about 30 minutes or more come out and have her evening meal at the lake's edge, a stone's throw away from where we were standing on the dock.  It was an incredible experience.


We have come back many times since hoping to see her again, but to no avail...


The beauty and stillness of this lake are incredible all by themselves though!



Our goal was to show our Canadian family the huge cedars north of Priest Lake.  But, sadly when we drove out there, the whole area was shut down due to a terrible storm that had passed through a couple of weeks before, and a huge cedar had toppled over, killing a man camping there in a tent.  We could see the effects of the storm damage as we drove through the area, with huge trees uprooted everywhere.  We were disappointed that we were not able to get into the campground to see the huge trees, but we knew it was for the best.  Apparently the Park Service was still inspecting trees for damage.


As we turned around from our day of exploring, off in the distance, there appeared to be "something" far off in the distance in the field.  I took several shots of "it", but never was able to get a close enough zoom to see if it was a moose, bear, or elk.  We were hoping to show our tourists some of the wild animals that we have been able to see on our many trips out here, but it was not to be.

What I've kind of noticed about these animal encounters, is that they always come when you are a) not prepared; b) have no battery power left in your camera, c) its too dark; d) or they are moving too fast for you to get more than a glimpse of them anyway!


So we contented ourselves with the gorgeous sunset as we drove home.  The sun was busy sending her fiery flames over the blue tipped mountains, and the tops of the pine trees seemed to wave and dance as we drove by them.


No matter how many times we've taken this drive, it seems that it is still as enchanting as ever each time we go.

Our travelers rested up over the weekend, and on Monday we went to some shops around town, and relaxed some more, and just enjoyed visiting and sharing one another's good company.  Tuesday was a busy day, as my aunt and uncle flew out early, and my mom's flight left a little later.

So we dropped my aunt and uncle off at the airport, and then Mom and I spent a couple of hours together in downtown Spokane before her flight left.


It was a beautiful morning, and the air had just a nip of fall in it, crisp and clear!


We walked through downtown Spokane through the River Park area.  It was a beautiful morning to be out walking and enjoying our last bit of time together!



The Spokane Falls had calmed down a lot since we had been here earlier in the summer after the winter ice melt, but they were still very impressive!


As we strolled through the park, the ducks tried to keep up with our pace, they are beautiful to watch, so graceful in the water!



We didn't walk through the entire park, because of the construction that was going on, and they had a huge area of the park blocked off, but we really had just enough time to see the falls, and to walk through part of the park before trying to find a coffee shop and eat some breakfast.



We found a lovely quaint coffee shop close to the mall.  It was a bookstore/coffee shop, and vintage store all in one.  We shared a croissant and each ordered a coffee... I was quite impressed with the shape of the cream in the coffee... a heart shape!  Wow!  What a unique touch!



All too soon, it was time to take Mom back to the airport and wave good-bye to her too!  It was sad to see all my company leave at once!  Yet, we had made so many wonderful memories while they were here, and I think they all enjoyed their "Taste of Idaho" and I certainly hope they will come back to visit us soon.... and stay longer!!!

Even though the bulk of my company had departed... I still had something to look forward to... and I'll share that with you in my next post...  :)