Saturday, September 12, 2009

A Labor Day Trip and Panic Attack....


Labor Day here in N. Idaho dawned cold, wet and gray. Of course this didn't stop us from heading out on an adventure. It was a bit drizzly and the thermometer hovered around 50 degrees. We donned sweatshirts and hot drinks, the dog and we were off. This time to a digging site that Jim likes. It is an old mining area, as long as you take care..there is no real threat. As we were doing more rock picking up and not any digging.


We were headed to the Silver Valley area..this unfortunate sign welcomes you to one small town entrances. At first this seems funny. But if you know the history of the area..not so much. This 21 Sq. mile area is a Superfund Cleanup site. Huge amounts of work and money have been invested here to clean up old mining areas of heavy metal toxins left over from a century of silver mining. In the 1980's the children in the area in tested higher for lead content than any other area in the country. So..seeing these items on the same sign seemed unfortunate to Jim and I.

As you can see it is a stunning area! We are thrilled it has become available to tootle about in again. But as parents..remain careful.So..Jim decides to take the loooooooogggg way to the mine. Uhmmmmm..ok it all started fine..nice logging road..pretty scenery..but then....OMG..not so much.. The farther along this logging road we went the more treacherous the road became...no way to turn around...and the drop offs were getting worse with every hairpin turn. These pictures do not do this horrid ride justice. To be completely honest I was to terrified to look to the left and take pictures!!

It was a very narrow, old, edge crumbling, bolder blocking terrifying ride. I am not a chicken really I am not...I can handle lots of things, bugs, spiders, snakes, rats...almost anything but this. Putting my children in a car and tootling around terrifyingly close 1000 foot drop offs no guard rails, for an hour. To say I was an absolute wreck when we finally got there & completely pissed off at my husband...would be the understatement of the century. I kept 90% of it to myself as not to freak out the children.....he owes me in a huge way for this one!!!!!


So..we are almost there and Jim said,"Gee I hope this turn up here is not washed out this time." WTF are you serious(sorry that's how upset I was)....it was somewhat - but by the skin of our teeth we made it across without getting stuck. So when I exited the car, the evil "you are a dead man looks" were flying his way. After a few minutes..I was OK and we got to a bit of fun rock collecting. I was breathing again. The kids - had a blast the whole time! Go figure!

So....where did the kids and I go while he drove back? We walked the rest of the short way (yeah..there was a short way - really short way with a gate..we could have walked up) to the main road and played in the river as he drove around. He loves me..he really does..knew I would never make it going back down that road!!! Of course he would not have survived my wrath had I been forced to return that way.

This river is stunning! One of the things that was done for the cleanup...this whole river bed was scooped out down to the bedrock and replaced with river rock from Montana.






They had fun - they really did. I managed to start breathing again & catch a few fun pictures. Jim was quickly forgiven as nothing horrid happened - lucky boy. But uhmmm the next time we head up that way...I will not be taking any logging roads!!! Have a wonderful weekend all!! Namaste, Sarah

18 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Wonderful photos -- I wish that I'd been there, too!

Holly said...

Yeah, I see what you mean, now. I get a trip to Erie and Niagra, you get a trip that scares the "Holy Effin Crow!!!" outta you. But, you know you love him...and the kids? Oh don't they for certain!!!

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Sarah: I would have felt the same. That road looked so narrow and unstable! These macho, fearless men!! And the kids follow along oblivious to the danger.

We were in Maine once at a motel perched out over a cliff and lots of rocky shorline. My husband kept taking the children out to the edge of the rocks, to see, feel and hear the waves crashing there. I kept waving him to come back but he ignored me chuckling - kids having a blast. At supper in the motel's restaurant the waiter told us that the week before a child had been swept off the rocks by a big unexpected wave and the frantic father dove in after his son. Both died.

My eyes pierced my husband's like lethal lasers! He looked slightly embarrassed, but shrugged it off saying in must have been a rogue wave. Grrrrhhhhhh!

Happy to report my children survived their childhood - in spite of adventures with their father!

Happy weekend and thanks for the great pics and story.

Rosaria Williams said...

Oh no. You too have a husband who takes the road not taken by sane people. Glad everything worked out. The description of how the river bed was recovered was quite interesting.

p.s. Glad to know Nonni likes kindergarten.

Diva Kreszl said...

yikes!!! I don't understand why men never think things completely though before proceeding. My husband has pulled that stunt on me a few times as well and by the time we get where we're going I can't even relax enough to enjoy it. Must be the testosterone!

holdingmoments said...

Edge of the seat ride then?
Glad it all turned out safely. It looks a wonderful place to explore.

stregata said...

Take some more deep (come on now: deep!) breaths. Glad you all did have a safe expedition. Men can't help it - it is part of their nature. They are different. That is probably what attracts us in the first place...
Hugs!!

Barbara said...

Glad to see the beautiful photos of the hairraising story you already told me! Yikees! Glad it all worked out all right to say the least. I love pics of Idaho. So pretty. Ahhh-hh, pine trees...(inhaling and exhaling imaginary pine scent...) Hugs, B

Dede said...

LOL My heart soars when I read things like this. I find out that my husband is not the only one that does these crazy things. Someday I will tell you about he explosion in the yard near his shed. Now that was fun. The pictures are great!
(((HUGS)))

Emmy said...

We have some roads around us that are similar and my husband and kids think it is so fun to drive on them... me I play along.
Looks like you ended up having a great time though. I remember seeing a TV special about that high lead levels.

A Palmer said...

Hope you at least found some really good rocks!

Cindy said...

Well I have to say I would not have been a good passenger. I am not a big fan of heights. I love the photos. it looks beautiful out there. Have a great weekend.

Tammie Lee said...

congrats on surviving that road! Sounds like you had fun, anyway.
Spirithelpers

Unknown said...

I love the honesty of the WTF..thats what I would have said too.....LOL..

What a great adventure..

Love ya honker
xoxox

Joanna Jenkins said...

Jim is a lucky man. I'm not sure he would have lived to tell the story if he was married to me :-)))) But it ended wonderfully and what a beautiful place!
Have a great Sunday.
xo

Karen D said...

Glad to see the day ended well with no damage to spouses! I have been there with my husband a few times I just close my eyes and he thinks it's all so funny, NOT. Great pics of the day.

clairedulalune said...

Oh my goodness Sarah! Nerve racking stuff, glad you all made it out in one piece! Pictures are beautiful too!

Unknown said...

I would have reacted the same way but oh look at the beautiful views you got to see!! Priceless!! Kind of like life, you think you're on the ride from hell and then the Universe throws you a little treasure!!! :) Since I feel like I'm on one of those rides in my life right now, I hope the treasure comes soon! :)