Days Ten to Fourteen: Hanging in Spangle

I got a text from my new boss the other day. In effect, he was wondering why the heck I hadn’t posted any updates.

Oops, sorry guys.

I haven’t been doing anything too noteworthy. I’ve attended multiple basketball games and cheered Jake on to victory, mixed with a few defeats. I visited Tacy and John at their house. John put some new mudflaps on Rory, for which I am quite grateful. Tacy grew up next door to me in Spokane. She’s about the same age as my baby sister, so I’ve known her all her life. She’s grown into a wonderful person, and her husband John is great, though I don’t know him nearly as well.

Brandon came home Thursday, but I’ve barely seen him as he was in a wedding yesterday and between rehearsal and the actual ceremony, he’s been a busy guy.

img_20190609_092603 — Brandon working on his weed book for school. He’s in ag, so they’re the kind of weeds that farmer’s hate. Not the kind that’s also legal in WA.

And I’ve done a lot of running around with my sister and brother in law. Dave’s helped me a lot with some of the trailer/truck things I wanted to do. Overall, it’s been a great week. But I’ve been neglecting all of you.

So, here are some of the basketball pics.

img_20190608_142735 — Final game of the weekend tournament. Liberty was guest again. Jake really played well in the second half.

Went to the zoo to see the zebras. How many can you count?

The weather has been a bit on the cold side and rainy.

Rain clouds gathering over Spangle. I’m on the main road into town.

But, to have something more interesting to show you, I drove down to Steptoe Butte yesterday. It’s a state park. A monolith of very old rock that wasn’t covered by the volcanic flows that make up most of the bedrock around here, it sticks up over 1,000 feet from the surrounding fields and gives a great view. I’d never been there before, and I have to say that I would not recommend driving up it in a SuperDuty. The road was relatively narrow and there are no guardrails or anything to keep you from flipping down the hill if you make a mistake. By the time I realized I really didn’t want to go all the way to the top in Rory it was too late; there was no way to turn around. I was shaking so hard when I got to the top that I almost puked. But, I made it and coming down was waaaayyyy easier as I could hug the side next to the butte.

REC_2019_06_08_09_41_07_F_Moment — Initially, I thought it was no big deal. Road is narrow, but not scary. There are huge antennas on the top of the butte, to give you some scale.

REC_2019_06_08_09_51_07_F_Moment — Then things started to get interesting as I climbed. I kept praying no one was coming around the bends, as you couldn’t see at all. But there was a bit of a shoulder.

REC_2019_06_08_09_53_07_F_Moment2 — And then there was very little shoulder, nothing to catch me if I went off and another freaking blind curve. Thank goodness I never met anyone coming down while I was going up. Note how far I am to the left, lol.

REC_2019_06_08_09_54_07_F_Moment — This is near the top. I’ve nearly lost continence and I’m trembling like a leaf at this point. I’d go up in a regular car, no problem. But not a truck. No. thank. you.

The views from the top were pretty cool.

They grow wheat, barley, garbanzo beans, peas, etc in this incredibly fertile area.

View to the east. I wish it hadn’t been so cloudy.

The above shots from the top were off my Canon camera. Here are some off of my phone.

Hope you enjoyed them. It’s time for me to move today; I’m headed to the RV park in Coeur D’Alene where we officially start the tour to Alaska on Tuesday. Looking forward to seeing my fellow trip mates and getting going! I promise to update regularly from now on. Shout out to Jim C. for the nudge.

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