Celebrating the 4th of July - All Day Long

After a very long, cool, wet, spring, summer arrived in time to celebrate the 4th of July - and none too soon. Sam and Arney slipped over from Spokane to commemorate our nation's birth and to join us for some serious lake time.

Hayden Lake was alive with boating activity of all kinds, and we enjoyed drop-in visits from the Stanleys by motor and the Gates by sail. Tom paddled his kayak for the first time of the season while Sam fished and I tackled logic puzzles on the dock.

Sadly, the high cost of fuel was the likely reason for no boat parade. However, fly-overs by a pair of Bald Eagles more than made up for the absent water-skiing gorilla.

Busted!

Hound dog Arney and I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday's Honeysuckle Beach outing and our encounter with the beachcombing-treasure hunter. Beautiful day, good exercise, and a happy dog doing what he loves best - retrieving anything thrown into the water. After hearing about our adventure, Tom immediately commented, "You know it's illegal to take dogs to Honeysuckle Beach, and it's posted."

What? Are you kidding me? This is a public place that should be enjoyed by everyone, so naturally I didn't believe Tom until Arney and I returned the next day.

Looks like we'll be heading to the Dike Road from this point - where all critters are welcome.

Buried Treasure

While Sam attended his law firm's planning retreat at Priest Lake, our houseguest (make that backyard guest) Arney and I leashed up and headed to Honeysuckle Beach for some early morning exercise. It's nearly impossible to tire out Sam's Chesapeake Bay Retriever, but I gave it a shot.

While Arney was busy retrieving sticks thrown into Hayden Lake, I encountered a treasure hunter retrieving goodies on the beach. Armed with a metal detector, this fellow was looking for coins and jewelry left by sunbathers. With his $1500 tool, I watched him discover and unearth a penny and a soda can pull tab. Quite the return on his investment!


He explained that his more successful finds have included rings and watches, and his most profitable hunting grounds are beaches and playgrounds. Last summer he figured he found over $500 in coins alone. Hmm. On second thought, I just started my Christmas list.

The Hills Were Alive

On Day 3, the hills and mountains around Sun Mountain Lodge were alive with hikers, bikers and wildflower enthusiasts. The Gourmands were on their own to divide and conquer the beautiful environment around us. Armed with sunglasses and my camera, I headed out Kraule Trail with the trailhead just steps away from our Mt. Robinson suite.
























The undulating trail gave me terrific views of the Methow Valley and North Cascade Mountains. Wildflowers were spectacular, and the trail was well marked with signs telling about the geology, flora and fauna of the area. I discovered an old homestead settlement at the end of the trail - now used for dishing up barbecues for horseback riders.












The only wildlife I encountered were Tom on his mountain bike and several black-tailed deer awaiting my return outside my door.

The Chef to Ourselves

After a rigorous day that included spa treatments, significant beer tasting, and shopping in Winthrop, we returned to the Lodge to freshen up, bundle up and meet up in the wine cellar for dinner.


Susan and Duane had arranged a private dinner prepared exclusively for us by Chef Russell, and we were ready for more.




The rigor of the day continued as we worked our way through a fabulous 5-course dinner.









We were greeted with a sampler plate of hors d'oeuvres before sitting down to our first course of house-made charcuteries (special meats) and local cheeses.





After the second course of foraged mushrooms, slow-poached free range egg and grilled baguette, I was pretty much "fed up"!











But the courses continued, and along the way we were served charred antelope and apple wood smoked wild Pacific Northwest salmon.








I couldn't finish each beautifully presented course but somehow found room for dessert (rich chocolate cake with a raspberry pates de fruits and roasted banana ice cream).







As to be expected, every course was paired with regional wines, and we weren't disappointed.

Goin' Into Town

Heidi, Anna, Susan, and I, started the day with back-to-back messages and facials at the resort before heading into town. Naturally, it was important for us to be as beautiful and relaxed as possible before gracing the town of Winthrop with our presence. Speaking of presence, Anna surprised all of us with a fun and generous assortment of colorfully wrapped goodies. Since I love presents, I knew the day was off to a good start!

From the spa, we drove down the mountain into the quaint town of Winthrop in order to rendezvous with the guys for lunch. Our destination: The Old Schoolhouse Brewery. This popular spot is renown for handcrafting an impressive variety of stout beers with high alcohol content. I chose "Double D Blonde" - engineered for the domestic beer drinker and named after the owner's daughter. She must really be something. In any case, it paired well with "Casey's Masterpiece Burger" and his especially good potato fries.

Thanks to Susan, our Monetessori School fund-raising coupon book gave each of us a dollar off one beer. Needless to say, we needed more coupons.

Let's Get Cookin'

We hit the ground cooking on our first night at Sun Mountain Lodge! Trip organizer and fellow Gourmand Susan Jacklin arranged for all of us to participate in an interactive cooking class with Executive Chef J. Russell Bradshaw.

With four cooking stations and three courses to prepare, all twelve in the class had an opportunity to take a crack at the meal. Fortunately, the evening was started with glass of Proseco - just to take the edge off.




The meal was Italian, and the ingredients were simple, fresh and quick to prepare.



We found Chef Russell to be an engaging and very patient instructor! To keep things simple, he and his staff had done all the cutting and measuring before we arrived on site - all we really had to do was turn on the burners, pour, stir, and eat. Every course was paired with a regional wine, assuring that the edge was kept off the entire evening.



The first course, "Pasta with Tomatoes, Basil, Garlic & Parmesan Cheese" was fast, fresh and fabulous!



Tom and I prepared "Garlic Shrimp" for the second course. And thanks to some mighty vigorous stirring by chefs Susan, Ann, and Heidi, the menu was complete with "Fruit with Sabayon" for dessert.




Bon Appetit!