Cabin City Days – August 2018

August 24, 2018January 8, 2019 Carol CarnicomLeave a comment

Saturday August 18: It is less smokey this morning and very pleasant sitting outside writing in the journal.

Later, when the temperatures warm up and the flies become bothersome, we set up the screen house over the picnic table, giving us place to eat, write, and play music without the pesky flies.

Sunday August 19: A walk in the forest is a lovely quiet time for me this morning.

In general, the day has the usual things going on: writing, reading, editing for daughter Ang, and taking photos (Carol); ham radio and CI Legacy Project (Clifford), with the addition of being stung by a wasp (Carol) and going bike riding around the two loops of the campground (both of us).

Monday August 20: It is hard to tell overcast from smoke haze this morning. In spite of the somewhat dreary sky, I walk around both loops of the campground. We are the only people here; even the hosts are gone.

In the afternoon, there is a knock on the door and we are surprised to see my son Saul. We invite him in and I make tea for the three of us. He is headed to an organic farm and has stopped here to spend the night. We have a nice visit and after he gets his camp set up, he joins us for dinner. Since he travels a lot, we get out the atlas and share thoughts about where he and we have been and where we all might be going in the future. Maybe our paths will cross again.

Late afternoon light at our campsite at Cabin City

Tuesday August 21: I walk about taking photos in the mist this morning. Then we invite Saul for breakfast and chat a bit more before he heads out.

Today I am going to Wallace to visit Katie and her family. Katie, her daughter Justice, her mother-in-law Sue, and I go to lunch. Really nice to visit with all of them. Being in Wallace also gives me a chance to go to the laundromat, my favorite second-hand store, and the market before I drive back over the mountain for a late dinner with Clifford.

Katie and Jeremy at the Wallace Coffee House

Wednesday August 22: After my morning quiet time and breakfast with Clifford, I start cleaning out my car. Katie needs to have our remaining stuff moved out of her basement, so yesterday I put as much as I could into my car. It it is too much to take back to Monticello, so I will be sorting and getting rid of books and other items. I find it hard to get rid of books, but in reality, it is not likely I will ever have time to read all of them.

Later, Clifford and I work on the back-up camera issue and find a spot where we can put the receiver (adhered to an aluminum pizza plate stuck in the bathroom door) so that the signal carries all the way from the back of Cougar to the monitor on the Suburban dashboard. It takes a bit of jury-rigging, but it works.

I finish the knit afghan for the newest member of the family, great-grandson Oliver. Bicycle, dinner, viola practice, and reading complete the day for me. Clifford continues with his projects and is up until the wee hours, as is normal for him.

Thursday August 23: It is smokey again and we have caught another mouse. Did it come with us from Bass Creek or are the mice a problem here? When camp host Susi comes around, I ask her about the mice and it does appear they have been a problem the last couple of years.

Today Clifford and I go to St. Regis again, as there is wifi at the Visitors’ Center. I send the completed Princes and Priests synopsis to Ang, while Clifford downloads a big music file. We have lunch at a cafe here, but it is not nearly as good as the meal we had at the $50,000 Bar&Grill earlier in the week.

In the evening, I make plans with Rollie regarding a trip to Sun River (near Great Falls, Montana) to visit my son Matt. Clifford will stay with Cougar at Cabin City.

Friday August 24: I make coffee and sit outside for awhile before getting ready for our trip to Couer d Alene. I have another doctor checkup, and once that is finished, we run errands in CdA.

On the way back to our campground, we stop in Wallace so Clifford can help make decisions about what to do with the rest of our stuff in Katie’s basement. We fit what we can into my car and the rest will be given away. Katie is cooking steaks on an outdoor grill, but due to the lateness of the hour, we have to head back to camp rather than staying for dinner. She sends a juicy steak home with us, which we thoroughly enjoy.

Cabin City – August 2018

August 16, 2018January 7, 2019 Carol CarnicomLeave a comment

Tuesday August 14: Today is moving day. Although we like where we are at Bass Creek Recreation Area in the Bitterroot Valley of western Montana, we are heading to Cabin City, a campground on the Montana side of Lookout Pass. This will allow visiting with my daughter Katie and her family in Wallace, Idaho, without pulling Cougar over the pass.

Forest fire smoke as we drive from the Bitterroot Valley to Cabin City

When we arrive at Cabin City, there is almost no one there, but the spot we would have chosen is already taken. Oh well, that is the way it goes sometimes. We pick another nearby spot that will allow both shade for the RV and access to the sunshine for the solar panels, a bit of a challenge in this forested campground.

After we get set up, we have tuna sandwiches for lunch and proceed with our usual activities. In the evening, the hosts, Susi and Tom, come around and we chat with them for awhile. We met them here a couple of years ago and discovered at that time that Susi is the youngest sister of a really good friend of mine from high school days. “Small world….”

Wednesday August 15: Pretty light on the forest this morning, in spite of the forest fire smoke.

Today we are going to Wallace to visit Katie and her family; my son Saul is there, also, doing some work for Katie. My wellness visit is in Kellogg, just 12 miles down the road. The doctor at the clinic there was my doctor when we lived in Wallace and I still want to see her, but it will be the last time, as she is moving to Texas and I am one of her last patients in Idaho.

After the doctor visit, Clifford and I go to dinner with Katie and her friends. There are several conversations going on at once, so it is hard to talk to Katie to see how she and her family are doing. We’ll be back next week, so will visit more with her then. It is late by time we get back to Cabin City, but I read until midnight before heading to bed. Clifford, as usual, stays up with his projects until the wee hours.

Thursday August 16: Today we take care of the mail that we picked up in Wallace yesterday, having forwarded it there. Later, we make a trip to post office in St. Regis, the nearest town with a post office, and then dinner at the famous $50,000 Bar & Grill at the nearby Haugan exit. The food is plentiful and the gift shop has lots of fun stuff. I buy a top for myself and a T-shirt for Clifford, kind of a splurge, but worth it.

Back at camp, I walk about taking photos and then read most of the afternoon. While it might not be the most productive way to spend time, it good that I have the option to do just that.