"Look, there's Walmart!" "Really Dad, we didn't see that HUGE sign"

A statement you've heard more than once throughout my blog posts, "life has been hectic." And the past few weeks have certainly been just that. After making a lot of changes and big decisions, this weekend provided an opportunity to get out of town and visit with family. Bringing back memories of our journey west, Jay and I reunited in my trusty Volvo, but this time we had an extra passenger -- Dad. Arriving on Wednesday, they experienced game night and Quelf, a rather unique game which can initiate anyone into a group of people by embarassment. My first time playing came a few weeks after I arrived in Pomeroy. In short, I had to sing a love song on one knee to Lisa. Anyways, Friday we left Pomeroy, but not without my Dad noticing how I've certainly settled into town and I no longer get those funny looks, nonverbally saying, "who's that girl?". He caught onto my hand waving to passerbys and our trip to get vegetable oil at Pomeroy Foods took longer than necessary due to stopping for conversation with a few familiar faces. Finally, though, we made it north to spend the weekend in Coeur d'Alene. We arrived yesterday, took care of some business in Spokane (oil change...) and on the way east towards CdA, stopped at the ginormous Cabela's, a compromise with my brother so I could stop at the Gap. Wow. As you enter the store, you're immediately overwhelmed, and greeted by the firearms check-in station -- only at Cabela's! For this gal, I've never been a place with so many taxidermed animals (if thats how you phrase it...) and guns. Walls and racks of guns. Aisles and aisles of shelves stocked with bullets caught me by surprise as I browsed around. On the other hand, Jay was in heaven. After what seemed like hours, we left and made the final trek to CdA and found a hotel. After checking-in, the three of our stomachs warned us we needed to eat or else. We found a restaurant called Crickets downtown which had live music. The band started off with James Taylor and we knew it was going to be good. For the first time, we all enjoyed a few beers, dinner, and talked for a hours. We called it a night and today spent the day snowshoeing at Schweister Mountain in Sandpoint. The views were spectacular. The snow covered mountains hugged the lakes and provided a backdrop worthy of admiration. Our trek didn't stray from dysfunctional, but at the end of the day we had a great time. As we walked to the car, we had a good laugh at a message someone scribed in the dirty back window of a Subaru, "I wish my girlfriend was this dirty." Slightly inappropriate, but you can't tell me a grin and chuckle snuck out. With Dad aching and the fresh air inducing a sleeping pill effect on our energy level, we ordered take-out from Greek Street and decided to call it an early night. Tomorrow brings a new day and more adventures, and hopefully, more updates on whats been going on in Pomeroy!