We spent one night just outside of Bend, Oregon and then ventured up the road to visit Mattie's friends Annie and Phil in northern Idaho. Coeur D'Alene, and northern Idaho in general, is renowned for it's beauty so of course the weather dipped to a chilly 40˚ with an icy rain as soon as we showed up. Previously it had been 70˚ and sunny and the day we left the sun reappeared and graced the little town with hot summer weather.
While I had packed some warm clothes in anticipation of a Northwestern summer, Mattie had nothing but a pair of dirty jeans and a flannel shirt. While Annie and Phil planned adventures for us, we cowered from the outdoors like the soft southerners we are. "We can stay here.", Mattie volunteered upon learning about a potential hike through the woods. "A movie would be lovely!" I added.
Despite the grey, I can see that Coeur D'Alene is a very pretty, quaint little town. It's up near some mountains on a lake and it's small enough that everywhere we went, Annie and Phil ran into friends every half hour or so. In our short stay in Idaho, Mattie managed to win over the town heartthrob and caused quite a stir in the local gossip. I swear, Mattie has this way. Fellas fall in love with her after just watching her eat a sandwich. She just sits there and they come a runnin'. I found it all sensationally amusing while people texted Annie asking who this new girl was and Mattie stood giggly and nervous.
Annie and Phil are an unlikely couple. She is from Florida. Phil is from Idaho. Annie is a tough, level headed, graduate student while Phil enjoys watching Gilmore Girls and making his own lip balm. To top it all off, Annie is 4'10 and Phil is 6'4. I'm in love with this couple. They've been married just two years and are still giggly and enthralled with each other. Phil spent our time scolding the heartthrob. "Mattie's going to be in our lives forever. Don't mess it up!"
Meanwhile Annie felt overwhelmed. "This is what he does Mattie. Make him work for it!"
I sat back as the fifth wheel, hideously entertained and very, very cold.
No comments:
Post a Comment