Lost Prairie 2

We arrived on a  Thursday,  registered, set up for camp and Chuck started working. That's right. The drop zone was in need of tandem instructors so between Thursday and Sunday, Chuck took 24 tandems. They were very grateful.

While Chuck was working, I enjoyed reading The Testament, by John Grisham. An excellent book, by the way! Around lunch time, I would put together some lunch to take over to Chuck on the other side of the field and would hang out a bit. We knew several people but they were all working so I enjoyed watching the nervous customers anxiously waiting their turn to jump out of the airplane. Here are a few pics of the area.

This guy kept the dusty roads damp.

The restroom and shower facilities. 

Our tent is the one in the middle.

The staff working consisted of a few locals and guys from the Caldwell drop zone. So it was nice having others around that we knew. Rather than everyone going their separate ways or to join in the loud and obnoxious parting, the local staff had everyone over to their place for a quiet bbq dinner while watching the sun set behind the mountains. The next day after working, we drove over to a small near by lake and jumped off of a small cliff into the water. We also hung out watching the sun set.

(I'm going to stop here.  You can ask us about our trip. Having issues with the blog.)

Caldwell Skydivers that worked also as tandem instructors and packers.

Lots of work to catch up on. There isn't anyone that can cover for me while I'm out.

Lost Prairie Boogie

Not sure who came up with the name Boogie for skydiving gatherings, but it's catchy and it sticks! Boogies take place everywhere around the country and world. It's just a fun time for skydivers to meet and jump out of big airplanes and party. So Chuck and I rented a car drove our way to our first out-of-state boogie held in Montana. We decided to drive through Northern Idaho since neither one of us had really seen much of it. Our first stop, Coeur d'alene. We arrived later in the evening during an unusual windy day to the point of canceling all boating activities on the lake. The next day, we drove around part of the lake towards Harrison, a quaint little lakeside town where we had a picnic and ice cream.

Next stop, Wallace, Idaho. There's over a hundred years of history in this mountain town, we've learned from a former miner that gave us a little tour of one of the mines. It all started because the mountains were rich with silver. A railroad track was built, now turned into a bike trial, "Route of the Hiawatha".  After a restful night spent at our little saloon hotel, we made our way up to Lookout Pass Mountain (by the way,a few months earlier received a worldwide record of six and a half feet of snow in one week) to rent our bikes and ride this trail out. It was beautiful!



Jameson Saloon and Hotel



Our antique room that is supposedly haunted. 

The reading room where we actually spent hours reading.

We were pretty much the only ones staying at the hotel. Even though we paid for it, we felt bad for the owner who stayed up most of the two nights keeping watch for the locked doors in case we needed in if we were out late, had coffee ready for us first thing and cooked us the best hotel breakfast I've ever had! The second day, he could barely walk due to a bad back. Poor guy.

WALLACE, IDAHO

Route of the Hiawatha

There were several tunnels to ride through.
We were warned that moose like to keep cool
in the tunnels. We never did see any.

        

TO BE CONTINUED...