Libby Top Ten List

It's our last day in Libby and with Erik at work finishing up, I am sitting here with espresso in hand to complete our top ten all-time favorite things of this pretty little City of Eagles.

So, without further ado, here we go...our Libby Top Ten!

10) Libby Cafe - C'mon, that Apple Cream Crumble pie will go down in history!

9) Kootenai Falls and the Suspension Bridge - Ok, yes, technically these are two different things but since they share a parking lot and trailhead, I figured I could get away with it.

8) Riding the STOKR - Ok, people, don't get carried away, this is Erik's pick. For those non-cyclists out there, it is a 2 day bike ride and stands for Scenic Tour of the Kootenai River. 100+ miles later, Erik came riding home hungry and tired with a big grin and lots of stories to tell. I, on the other hand, elected to sit by the creek and read a book. You decide who the crazy person is!

7) Old US Hwy 2 Interpretive Trail - We stumbled upon this trail on our second day in Libby. It is the old highway from Libby to Troy that some hardy folks carved into the mountains in the late 1800's so they had a place to drive their Model T's. Geez, I'd have a hard time riding my mountain bike on portions of it so how they got those old cars up and around some of those corners is beyond me. The sense of history and being able to see pictures of the road in its heyday and to see how little sections have changed today is really neat. There are still wheel ruts in the granite roadbed and the old handcarved granite curbs and metal guardrails meant to keep the speeding hooligans on the road. Surrounded by cedar forests with glimpses of the Kootenai River below it truly is a beautiful trail.

6) The donuts at Rosauers - Ok, I'm blaming this one all on Erik! (Lori, do you see what I'm up against?!)

5) The Panoramic Cabinet Mountains - Libby is surrounded by one of the most beautiful mountain ranges I've ever seen. Ok, the Missions and, of course, Glacier still capture my heart and, yea, the Alps around Brienz, Switzerland can make you pause but, wow, those Cabinets are a sight to behold. I can't count how many times I've been out hiking, looked up and stopped dead in my tracks. Absolutely breathtaking!

4) Sitting by the creek at the end of the day - I think the picture says it all.

3) The miles and miles of endless wilderness and hiking trails - What an amazing feeling it is to know that I could start down a trail and keep walking for weeks and never see another person. While poor Erik was working, the dogs and I did our best to check out as many trails as we possibly could. And for a budding trail runner, it was the ultimate joy to be able to get out and huff and puff, sweat and curse, fall down, roll around, stumble to my feet and keep up the asthmatic wheeze and know that no one had to witness my humiliation. In all seriousness, the twists and turns through this mountain paradise actually made me a better runner as I just had to keep going to see what was around the next bend in the trail.

2) Red Dog Pizza - So, you make the turn where you see the sign saying "Yaak" with an arrow pointing the way, wind up through the forest past some old homesteads and you'll come upon this nondescript wooden building on the right at the bend in the road. No sign out front just a neon "Open" in the window. If you can figure out where it is, you will be able to experience pizza nirvana! Thank you, thank you Sara and Marci for sharing the secret!

Sara, Marci, Bob, Erik and me preparing to dive in

And, now, for our NUMBER ONE pick.....drumroll please......

1) Site #13 at Woodland RV Park - I know, I know that doesn't seem very exciting but you really had to be there. We fell asleep to a gurgling creek every night, played drunk frisbee on the grass after having our famous homemade margaritas, hosted dog parties almost every day, watched deer, pileated woodpeckers and various other wildlife stroll right by our windows, and enjoyed our morning coffee under towering pine trees. It really was a little slice of heaven!

Now our time in Libby is drawing to a close and I have to say I am a bit melancholy about leaving. I do want to send out a warm hug and big thank you to our new found Libby friends: Sara and Jay, Marci and Bob, Jeff, Leslie, Jim and, of course, Bodie and Diesel (Woodland Park's resident canines). We do hope we'll cross paths again!

Now, I'd better go and finish packing......next stop, KETCHIKAN!