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Orofino!
So after a lovely weekend with Maggie and David, last Monday morning we headed down to go back to Orofino, Idaho. That's where Jane did her high school exchange in 2002 - we would be staying with her old host family.
The drive down from Spokane is only about 3hours, but we went via Pullman and met up with Soren - an old Orofino high school buddy. Soren is always such a pleasure to meet up with - she's so happy and friendly that you feel like you've stepped back in where you last left off. We had a lovely visit out on her back porch with homemade cookies and coffee - delicious!!
Then it was off to Orofino, to get there we went via Lewiston - the grade down to Lewiston really impressed Karl and is a favourite view of mine - we stopped to really take it in. You can see so far and there's the valleys heading in either direction - it's really breathtaking!
We got into Orofino about 2pm and met up with Nancy, my old host-mum and Elena, my 'little' host sister and caught up for the afternoon. Then I took Karl downtown to the thriving metropolis of Orofino (there's about 3,000 people in Orofino, it's got a reasonable downtown area - compared to Meg's in Wandoan! - but it's not exactly massive). It's very close to how I remembered it - heaps of mechanic/truck type shops, an op-shop, a couple of cafes and whatnot. The Junior High is on sale -slightly asbestos ridden and condemned but a true do-er up-er. Actually, on a serious note, the school district is trying to sell it, but for obvious reasons there's not much interest. The junior high kids are in one hall of the high school.
Peggy - one of my other host mums - found us wandering down town and we had a great catch up and then all four of us headed back to Nancy's for dinner. The next day Peggy. Karl and I went up to the Merry's Bay - Orofino is right next to a dam, which was made in the late 1960s/eary 1970s, we went for a little hike and took Joyia, Peggy's dog! She loved it - the funniest kelpie/collie cross who enjoys fetching sticks but only if you thrown them less than a meter in front of her - and only into the water - she doesn't do it on land!
Tuesday afternoon, Nancy had organised a 'pot luck' a bring a plate dinner at her place so I could catch up with some of the people from Orofino who're still there. It was great, I saw my old Rotary President, Roberta, choir-friend Lynn, neighbours Janet and Charlie and church friend Jan. A great catch up in the evening - followed by a few too many of Nancy's (in)famous rum punch and a morning to fourth of July feeling very sorry for myself!
Maggie and David came back down to Orofino for fourth of July and David and Karl went on a tour of the dam in the morning (Jane was nursing a hangover!). They really enjoyed the time and the tour guide - volunteers - were delighted to have attendees early on a public holiday morning :)
In the afternoon the five of us (Peggy, Maggie, David, Karl and Jane) went for a swim up at the dam and enjoyed being out in the sunshine and playing around. We found a pine log in the dam and had mock-competitions about who could stay on the log longest - I believe Karl was the best rider, Maggie the best log-runner, Peggy the best side-saddle, David the best jumper and Jane.... well the most improved ;-)
In the evening Maggie and David had to head back to Spokane, so when Elena got back from work we had a lovely meal of left overs and hung out for a while longer. Karl and Jane went down to see the fireworks in town - they were pretty special! Manually run, there was three guys with flares setting them off - they were much closer than I've seen fireworks before and very well done! They lasted a good ten minutes and were pretty special.
Thursday morning we had to get moving - we got up for a pancake breakfast and got into the car - thursday/friday of this week we've driven 600 miles to get from Orofino to Salt Lake City, Utah. Thursday night we stayed in Boise and caught up for dinner with Jane's other host-mum and teacher Cindy. So awesome to manage to catch up with her and see how all her boys are doing! Cindy was (is still in boise) a government teacher - a mandatory subject for high schoolers in grade 12. So we met at the Boise Centre for Human Rights Education where Cindy and her peers have developed an amazing display of the Universal Declaration of human rights - the largest outdoor exhibit of the document in the world. The park is dedicated to Anne Frank and has a lot of quotes and important thinking points from various human rights activists and commentators - it's a really touching exhibit that's been done really well!
Today we have arrived in Salt Lake City Utah - after a long drive - and a great stop at Mollie's Diner in Snowville for lunch!
Salt Lake was interesting - we were spent from too long in the car so we didn't see a great deal, but we went down to the Temple Square and it was pretty special - a family history area with some exhibits on the Titanic and also (obviously) the temple and other ornate buildings. The whole vicinity was really well kept and clean and a nice place to be (karl thought it was too clean - a bit clinical).
Tomorrow morning we will be getting up (before dawn!) to catch a fight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We are catching up with Karl's friends from his old job - will let you know how Florida is soon!
- comments
Maria Ah...Mollie's Diner at Snowville! Your dad and I have such fond memories of that place :-) Mollie loves Aussies; she reckons we produce the best rodeo riders here! We had to break the news to her that we didn't even ride ! lol