Visit with son Warren and grandson Jake in Metaline Falls, WA

It's a nice 5 hour drive from Kalispell/Glacier, MT to Warren's house.  I did it many times in 2005 when I worked in Glacier National Park.  Did a little side trip through Sandpoint, ID for lunch and relished the countryside once again.

Typical fields and mountains and clouds...

photo taken west of Kaliepell

a ribbon of the Kootenay River west of Libby in western MT.

a valley of wheat fields along the Pend Oreille River.  I drove back and forth along this magnificent river for about 2 hours...south through Idaho, across into Washington at Newport, and north to Warren's.   More pictures to come when Warren took Jake and me on a tour of the river's Boundary Dam on the Canadian border, just down the road from his house.

more pasture and wheat fields along the river as I headed north toward Metaline Falls and the Canadian border

A little shower along the way makes the grasses grow.

As promised, here's the tour of Boundary Dam just south of the Canadian border.  There is a nice but small lake above the dam.  A young, local girl who went to high school with grandson Jake conducted our tour.  The turbines were so noisy we had difficulty hearing her, but she was very knowledgable.

Warren posing for Mom

...and again

my turn to pose

Let the tour begin



Inside a long tunnel leading under the turbines ( I believe there are 6)

Warren in front of the upper portion of the turbines

view downstream with Canadian mountains in the background. This solid rock, narrow channel is just below the spillway.  Imagine the force of the water going through here.  Late afternoon sun made a striking picture

The dam was built right into the rock of the river bed.

looking back over the top of the dam

lunch with Warren and Jake at Kathy's, where all the locals eat

Jake and sister Katye developed their love of cooking at Kathy's.  Jake is pursuing Hotel and Restaurant Management in Spokane and Katye is enrolled in The Art Institute of Charleston (S.C.) in culinary arts.

Warren took Jake and me to a beautiful little local park by the side of the highway south of Metaline Falls.  It is aptly named Sweet Creek Falls State Park.

handsome pair, aren't they?

I forgot to take my camera to their favorite local lake, Sullivan Lake, for a boat ride and for Jake and Warren to show off their skiing skills.

Sunday morning, August 14 was hasta la vista to Jake and Warren as Jake headed back to Spokane and school and I commenced my 1,000 mile trek to Zion National Park over the next 3 days.

Folks, I'm almost there for Peg In the Park...just a few more days until we see the most awesome scenery in this wonderful and beautiful country of ours.