What a blast

July started off with a bang with the Fourth of July fireworks in Priest River just across from our docks and two weeks into the month, it has been a blockbuster.

We love to have visitors, and feel really lucky that so many want to see us and that they love the area as much as we do.

Our first guests were Carol and Terry from Calgary.

Hanging out on the dock

It was still a little chilly for boating, so we decided to check out the Bird Aviation and Invention Museum near Sagle, Idaho.  It turned into a gem of a place, and Roger has returned twice since then with other guests. 

Dr. Forrest Bird is 93 years old - has been flying planes since he was 14 and is responsible for inventing early ventilators and in the 70s invented a respirator used on babies.  Chances are if your baby was put on a respirator in the last 40 years, it would have been one of his.  I had a chance to meet him, and commended him on making such a huge impact to the world.  He humbly responded, "I had some help".

The museum has an amazing collection of his planes, cars, helicopters and inventions that he's created as well as others.

Great quote.

This is just one of the rooms with air craft which all work and have access to the airstrip on the property.

Apple computer signed by Steve Wozniak, "Woz"

The Baby Bird Respirator is responsible for decreasing deaths in infants suffering from respiratory distress from 70% to 10%.

Boats and jet skis ready for summer

Our next guests were John and Laurel MacPhail.  They visited us in Australia, and we had such a great visit there.  We were thrilled when they took us up on our invitation to see us in Idaho.

Nothing like sharing a glass of wine on a boat!

John taking a group picture of our dinner on the boat.  Fun times.

Sun setting on the river

Laurel and John bobbing on the tube on Lake Pend O'Reille.  The weather was in the 90s.....in July --- and we couldn't believe we almost had the lake all to ourselves.

Took the boat to 41 South and had a great dinner with John and Laurel. 

John and Laurel loved the boat, and we're hoping John's enthusiasm for getting a similar boat enables them to join us boating next summer on the coast.

One of our favorite things to do is go to Windy Point in the shadow of the Monarch Mountains on Lake Pend O'Reille and anchor overnight.  Our friends Paddy and Dave Carlson who have a place at Martins Bay joined us for dinner before they headed home at sunset.



Boats rafted up

A grand feast with wonderful friends

We tried to recreate our synchronized swimming routine we did while sailing on the catamaran we charted several years ago before Brad and Anette got married in St. Lucia.  This time we were wearing bathing suits.  'Nuf said.

Hard laughing, treading water, and doing some moves!

Carlsons heading off into the sunset

Finding a place to anchor

Woke up to a crystal clear morning

Game of Scrabble after breakfast

Our last visitors before we headed to Calgary for Roger's mom's 80th birthday were Jenny and Lee Haldeman, who stopped by for a couple of days on their way to the coast. 

After hearing about how great Idaho is -- the Haldemans came to see for themselves!



What a blast the last couple of weeks of visitors, boating and discovering a new "must see" place has been.

And people think Idaho is just potatoes.