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Shortly after moving here a friend in Ohio sent me a picture of a train on a bridge in Sandpoint. I’ve always wanted to get a similar shot. The other day, Jenny and walked the long bridge to get a great view of the trains going over lake Pend O’Reille (I’m thinking that I spelled that wrong, sorry). Click images to see larger shots. Another day, Another Postcard.

  

We know the weather is changing by the location of the cats.

When you let the cat out of the bag, where does it end up? What is it about cat’s and boxes. (click thumbnail to enlarge)

I try not to rub it in, but my motto for Idaho is “another day, another postcard.” The beauty of God’s creation never seems to wear off.

If the president can do it, so can I (with a little help from Photoshop). I sent this letter to the pastor of our church:

Dear Pastor Jim,
I submit this publicity photo of an Air Force One flyover as a donation to Kootenai Community Church. Please return a letter of receipt so that I may claim a few hundred thousand dollars on my 2009 tax return. It was only by grace that I was able to be in the right place at the right time as our Commander in Chief was landing at the Sandpoint Airport.

In His Service,
Thomas Leo 

I’m Rich!!!

(Begin bleeding-heart voice) “Don’t worry about me, I don’t mind sleeping on potting soil. I just appreciate having a warm window to sleep in. In the orphanage, we didn’t get to see the sun or know it’s warmth. I’m just glad that I don’t have to sleep on the floor anymore.”

I went to visit an old friend on my ATV. It’s springtime and she waits for visitors in the wood at the bottom of a mountain. As long as the snow melts, she’s there. Greetings from Talache falls (probably not her real name). Come visit in spring and I’ll be happy to introduce you to her.

Some trails are opening up in the mountains. A friend and I road up today to discover a beautiful cascade of water flowing down from the snow thawing up at higher elevations. I wish I could capture the full extent of the beauty of the rushing water. It might be easy to lose perspective but those are very large trees along the edge of the water.

I’m not sure what heaven is going to be like, but it must be like riding with a friend on an ATV, up a mountain, where you snow shoe out to a ledge overlooking a lake and see clouds held in by the mountains like a giant cauldron. Or, it was just like yesterday when I did and saw just that. Truly euphoric.
Here’s a shot over the lake where all you can see are the clouds that have have been trapped by the mountains.

In this shot, you can see the clouds as they lap up the edge of the mountain.

I’ll have another. Thank you.

I just couldn’t get enough last time so I returned to Lake Coeur d’Alene to get some more shots of the eagles. I feel a tradition coming on. Click the thumbnails below to see full size images.
 

It’s not snow; It’s not an ice storm; It’s frost.

Technically it’s known as “Hoar Frost”. Let’s just say it’s when fog freezes and forms a crystal wonderland. I caught these shots while traveling in Washington on Thanksgiving day. Since the fog was a few inches above ground level, the ground was left alone.

Click Thumbnails to Enlarge Images

I’ve posted several pictures here looking out at Little Blacktail mountain looking East from our deck. The following image is a shot, looking East from the top of Little Blacktail. As the crow flies, Blacktail is only 4+ miles from our house. As the ATV drives, it’s 20 and the views are spectacular.

Click to enlarge

Many have asked why we moved here. The answer is complex. But here’s a few hints from a recent ATV ride about 30 miles from our new house, plus another 20 miles on our ATVs.

At the top of a mountain called Roman Nose, there’s a 300 foot cliff. In this first picture, I’m sitting on the edge and in the second, you’re looking at a pristine lake below.

 

In the third image, there’s a moose there if you look closely. And in the final shot, you’re looking off the top of the mountain once again.

If you can view this video file  video_00002.mp4 you’ll see my neighbor, Robert, riding his ATV across a river on the way home. This was shot from my phone so excuse the poor quality.

To have the priviledge to see God’s beauty up close and personal is one of many reasons we came here.

I finally figured out what ORVs were long after I’d past this sign while riding my ATV with a neighbor.

What in the world could these ORVs be and if they’re stampeding, am I in any danger? I knew that the ATV I was driving was probably an ORV but it took me a while to realize it meant “Off Road Vehicle”. Thankfully, I didn’t see any stampedes but the ORV I was on was pretty wild. What’s more, my ATV isn’t exactly an ORV because here in Idaho, you can license them for the street. Now I can ride it to the store or up mountain logging roads without getting into trouble.

Here’s a shot of the beast. Unlike Gritz, my ATV hadn’t earned a name yet but Beast is pretty close.

Here is the beast atop a large sand dune. It may look like a forest in the back ground but under that woodsy exterior is an ancient desert.