Rory’s House, 219 mile jump 2,189 miles: Grand Rapids to Spokane
The trip from Missoula to Spokane was spectacular; low clouds hung on the higher peaks filtering the sunlight on the bright yellow tamarack and aspen lighting up the evergreen forest as we descended along the Clark Fork River, which empties into the exquisitely beautiful Coeur d’Alene (CDA) Lake as we leave the Bitterroot mountains and enter the Columbia River Basin. The basin is an arid flat plateau between the Bitterroots and the Cascade Mountains, 200 miles west. Spokane is just across the Idaho border from CDA; we were headed north through Spokane to the Chattaroy, Washington area; a wooded rural area where people live on 5 acre parcels, and larger, to commute to work in Spokane.
Rory worked with me at Spokane Fireplace and Patio; he was my first hire and was willing to do any and all of the crazy stunts I asked him to do. He’s an avid fisherman, hunter and outdoorsman. After working for me at SF&P for 15 years, he was one of our best servicemen. When the bosses decided to pull the plug on SF&P, he wanted to start his own service business. I warned him that it was hard and demanding, but he has done very well because of his diligence. He has a beautiful triple wide mobile home with a large shop. Scattered around the property are his toys: ATV, 2 boats, 2 utility trailers, Toyota FJ, 4WD diesel powered Dodge pickup, a cabover pickup camper, log splitter, et al. He is doing quite well.