Sandpoint, ID

So you’ve grown a monster zucchini and you just can’t wait to show it off? Or maybe you’ve spent that last two years hand-stitching a beautiful quilt. Perhaps you’re sure your sow is the shapeliest porcine example in town. You’re certain your rabbit is the most adorable in Idaho? The Bonner County Fair is where you can see how your projects measure up to those of fellow citizens.

People were talking about the storm, using phrases like “gully washer” and “frog choker.” A few individuals were propping up canopies and wiping rainwater from valuable artwork as a tentative crowd started milling through the fair. Several vendors, having attended to their own booths, were helping others tidy up.
Such is the life of an artist.

So. You don’t particularly relish the idea of wandering from booth to booth, peering at lampwork beads, hand-carved stone, high-quality photography, watercolors, textiles, wood and ceramic art, or forged ironwork. And you’re not a fan of strolling in the park while your mate browses for finely-crafted items that can be found in this one place only once each year. You’d rather spend a perfect summer day at home…mowing the lawn, perhaps.

Beauty abounds in Sandpoint as I think we are all aware of; but during the summer months often times we focus in on what we feel embodies that beauty: the lake. Pend Oreille Lake offers many refreshing activities when the mercury is rising outside. From boating and all the activities that inherently brings, to just [...]

Camping in North Idaho is such a perfectly easy thing no matter where you are, it seems like you are minutes away from great camping. We decided to get out of town and we quickly landed on Priest Lake. Less than 50 miles from Sandpoint this seemed like the perfect place for a weekend getaway.

On a recent trip to scout out locations for my friend’s September wedding we stopped by Jewel Lake. Jewel Lake is located off of Dufort road in Sagle, near Vay and the Hoo Doo Valley. I know it sounds like a lot, but it was actually easy to get to.

If you can race it, I will watch it. Needless to say when I was traveling to Spokane on a Saturday as we passed through Oldtown and Newport I looked down the Pend Oreille river and saw mini hydroplanes, I was beside myself. I knew they had a yearly hydroplane race and I had been to it when I was younger but as an adult I never remembered to look up the date

Tuesday there is always a buzz at my office about trivia night at McDuffs. I decided to round up my friends and try out trivia night. I had heard you needed to get there early to get a good table, near the large TV screen is best. Trivia starts at 7pm, so I arrived at about 6pm thinking that was plenty of time.

Located west of Priest River is Albeni Falls Dam on the Pend Oreille river. My friend and I stopped one day on a trip back from Washington. Inside the visitor center we found a list of tour times, with the next tour leaving in 30 minutes. We waited outside in their picnic area where there were a few information signs about the dam and several picnic tables. Once it was time for the tour we met up with our tour guide and another group that was taking the tour. Our tour began with a decent down a small hill towards the powerhouse.

The finale was spectacular, with colors and shapes that impressed us all and made us wonder just how the heck they make those things. Glittery showers rained down from the sky at intervals while tall shooters streaked up in Vs and fell down again. Did they fall into the boats below? It sure looked like some boaters might have been stomping embers!