Sunday, August 31, 2014

Road Tripping Part 5

Thursday Morning: Departure from Sundance Campground
Destination: SamOwen Campground, Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho
Purpose: a couple days of doing nothing!!

We departed from Glacier National Park area on August 28th, with a full day of driving ahead of us. With the Labor Day weekend approaching and not having reservations anywhere, we didn't really know where we'd spend the night. We had plans to detour through Kalispell Mt to visit a friend there and other than that, we were intent on enjoying the scenery. Lee and Laura headed out about an hour before us and promised to keep us appraised of camping availability as they would undoubtedly arrive before us.

Under sunny skies and rising temperatures we didn't go far before we pulled over to investigate a tour attraction we'd spotted when we came in earlier in the week. Billed as "The house of Mystery & Montana Vortex" we'd been mildly curious. I was thinking about the mystery house of Knott's Berry Farm as we got out of the truck and came closer to check things out. It wasn't long however before some red flags were waving...

The first flag was a sign welcoming us, the cost of admission and some new-age/eastern religion language. This in and of itself wasn't bad, necessarily, just enough for me to say "hmm" and be alert. As we read the literature on the walls outside the storefront however a gnawing uncomfortable feeling began to  grow in the pit of my stomach. I shared my feelings with Bruce who listened with concern. While he appreciates my discerning nature and was not about to discount my apprehensions, he was still mighty curious. When I read more of the descriptions something struck a nerve and brought to mind a rather scary encounter I'd had several years ago. Without going into all those details, suffice it to say it was all the reminder I needed that this was not some place I was willing to plunk my money down on. Just as I finished murmuring this decision to Bruce, the third thing happened that literally made THE HAIR ON THE BACK OF MY NECK STAND ON END.

From out of seemingly nowhere, a man appeared. "Come in please" was all  he said but it made me jump. Honestly, we didn't hear or see a door open from the storefront-- he was just THERE. It was eerie but his voice was even more unnerving. "the next tour is about to begin folks."
I can't describe his voice but it was like something you'd expect from the bad guy in a Steven King novel. It was CREEPY. I tugged at Bruce's shirt and Bruce told the man we needed to get something from the truck first and we quickly scooted across the parking lot to the truck. We had no intention of returning and we climbed inside laughing a little nervously.

Let me clarify. We. as believers in Christ, need not be afraid of the supernatural. We have the Holy Spirit living inside of us and His Perfect Love casts out fear. But because of the Holy Spirit we have a realization of what we should or shouldn't wander into. This place, while on the surface sounded fun and family friendly, seemed to be capitalizing on something more and that was what we felt repelled by. While I don't think we would have been harmed by going in and exploring things, there was just enough of something 'off' in the presentation that warned us, that as Christians, we didn't need to go there.

Our next stop was to Lakeside and the Glacier Bible Camp where our friend is the director. We toured the grounds as we visited and while it was a short stop it was still good to connect.

Bruce chatting with friend Dave Saugen on the lake at the camp.

Glacier Camp, Lakeside MT

at Glacier Camp Lakeside MT

After this we had to make tracks if we were going to make it to our campsite by dark. We had communication with Lee and Laura and they were making camp just inside of Idaho and reported there were still available campsites. We decided we could make it and pushed on. As we came through the town of Libby MT, it was that time of day where the sun hangs in the western sky and blinds you. On a 4 lane highway in the middle of downtown Libby, that is when it happened.

With nothing in front of us, no one behind us, and scarce traffic in the east bound lane, we had a wide open view, except for that blinding sun. Suddenly BAM! from the driver's side The truck shook. "What the heck?" shouted Bruce. Just as he spoke I saw on my side a horrible sight. A deer.... tumbling through the air.... dear readers, it was awful! I cringe still as I recall this.... I cried out to Bruce "We hit a deer!" and he pulled over as soon as he could safely maneuver the truck and trailer off the road. We sat in the parking lot of an empty business center and caught our breath. I felt ill and got out of the truck, certain I was going to lose my lunch.

It was next to impossible to turn around given the lay of the highway and besides, there is nothing you can do for a deer that's just been hit by a one ton truck. Bruce hugged me as I moaned and shed a few tears, then with prayers of thanks that it had not resulted in injury to us, we got back in our vehicle.


With a keen alertness for the rest of our drive that day, we spotted probably 5 or 6 more deer as we pressed on. Thankfully they were seen with enough time to slow down and avoid any more accidents. We arrived at Samowen Campground just before dusk.

Lake Pend Oreille

sunset
to be continued...



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