Fall in Idaho

Woah, where have I been for 20 days??? I just realized my last post was on the 5th of October, and now October is almost past! So what have I been doing?? Well, I got sick for about a week and thoroughly enjoyed taking the time to slow down and get healthy. I always love a great excuse to sit around, drink buckets of tea, eat soup, and watch movies. I've also been spending more time with co-workers outside of work, which is great, but our conversations always end up back about work and the kids! We are thinking about putting a time limit on work talk...

Buck is still my best bud. My favorite place to take him is Pend Oreille Bay. The trail starts near the train station. It's a large gravel path that runs north along the lake with a couple yards of trees and foliage between the trail and water that acts as a great wind barrier, but is thin enough for Buck to run through to repeatedly "check on the water." It is a great place for me to take him and let him off the leash. The other day I decided to take him there in the morning before work on one of my late start days. Never again. As I sat on the dock with my feet dangling over the water after we had walked 80% of the trail and we were about 5 minutes from the car he decided to go swimming, completely submerged swimming. I am also convinced he attempted to push me in as he came running out the water, ran to the dock, shook himself all over me, and then leaned up against my back with all his weight. If it was not for the ladder I grabbed onto I would have ended up in the water. I took my wet dog in my car, where he proceeded to jump into the front seat and then home where I had no time to take care of him as I had to get ready for work. I think it was our first fight.

Today it was one of those gorgeous fall days with a brilliant blue sky, crisp air, and a golden landscape. Buck and went hiking on the Mickinnick Trail that offers great views of Sandpoint, Lake Pend Oreille, the Pend Oreille River and the Cabinet Mountains (which the school is nestled in!). Buck is so cute. He has learned to recognize the signs that mean we are driving somewhere to go hiking or walking and he gets so excited he starts whining and whimpering in the back of the car. As we reached the end of the trail there were little bits of frozen ground and I can just imagine in a couple of weeks if I were to do this hike again there would be snow the last mile or so.

For those of you who knows that my sister lives north of San Diego, she was evacuated for a few days because of the fires, but she and Bobby are home safe now, thank goodness. I am off to attempt to make pear butter with pears I got from a neighbor. I will add new pictures to the album later tonight or tomorrow so check 'em out!