I parked my automobile at the parking in the City Beach, oops, I only had a memory during summer but too cold now. It was really reasonable because it was late October, but I expected not so cold but really cold. Only few people enjoyed walking around the beach, I walked toward the fine and beautiful sand in the beach and really enjoyed the scned here.
I spent almost an hour for taking photos, videos and walking around though the park is not so wide.
At the southern are of the park, where I could see Long Bridge which was built as a longest wood railroad bridg long ago, I saw the long long freight train pulled by 4 diesel locomotives was coming across the bride slowly and stopped. I recognized that the train was stopping at the Sandpoint station. At the north, I saw seagulls were playing around the shore and city volunteer came to feed the foods for them. The birds were really cute so I took a lot of pictures with the beautiful view of Lake Pend Oreille.
The arrival time was a bit earlier, though I planned to enjoy shopping or meal, 9 in the morning was too early to let the shops open. So, I changed my plan just to walk around this small down town area. The 1st Avenue would be my favorite road in Sandpoint where I enjoyed shopping almost everyday in 1977, but I missed the favorite shop called Rexall located at the corner of 1st and Cedar. This indicated a time duration for a quarter century.
Book store at 1st Ave
I watched around the main street, but only the post office was standing there at the same place, all others, boxing gym where my host family had been training, mexican restaurant are lost. A brick-built book store at 1st and main were standing as same as in 1977. Even I lost almost my memorial stores, but the atmosphere of the street made me feel so happy and I felt I was so luck to have a chance to re-visit this old fashioned town. The main street, called "main" but not so prosper, the most prosper road is exactly 1st Avenue and Cedar street. If I could have more time, I would like to visit more stores and also Coldwater Creek, where is a unique shopping mall on the bridge.
McDonalds'
I gave up to have a meal in the down town and started toward northern Sandpoint and tried to go to the market where I bought something with my host family. The 1st avenue is 95 HWY upper way (one way) and also the Cedar, then turned right toward the north. Soon passed under the overcross of Burlington Northern railroad and curved right and stopped at
the crossing of 95 HWY and ID200. I took 95 HWY toward north, the road is connected with Canadian border, and soon found the billboard of "Bonner Mall" and also the sign of McDonald's. Quickly I decided to get in there to take a lunch. I need to be more aggressive to take unfamiliar meal in the foreign country, I think, but at this time, I took a familiar humberger.
The upper (northern) are was the place where I had stayed for a month when I was a junior high student. On the left side of 95 HWY, Sand Creek is flowing into Lake Pend Oreille and also Schweitzer creek flow into Sand Creek. So gentle slopes (up and down) are the sign for the home to my host familys' home. In 1977, I went up and down this slope by bike
I rent, and went toward the mid town by 15 minutes bike ride. But, I lost, tried 3 times to find the entrance road from 95 but was so difficult because my remembrance was fragmental and everything changed a lot. After struggling with finding entrance, I picked up one of the road without confidence, slowly moved on the unpaved road and got it ! Yes it was ! I remember the house ! It was Mike's (who was a friend of host daddy) ! Oh, no fields for cow but wasteland ! But, eventually I could be confident I finally reached my host family's home after a quarter century's absent.
It past 25 years since I visited the home in 1977, though I sent some mails for a while, but after I graduated from the university, conversation had been broken down for a long time. I got off from the vehicle and walk around. The cow field where the host family and myself running around was covered with weeds, empty hen house... Oh, everything changed but only the house itself never changed.
Still silent, I was not sure whether someone was living in the house or not, nor the resident was still person of Fields', so carefully (not to be suspected as a kind of a robber) walk around the house first. The small garden where we enjoyed BBQ and the clothes pole was exactly there. When I went close to the door, the door opened. Yes it was Donna, herself. Perhaps she could not recognized me as Satoshi who had stayed in 1977 so I introduced myself to her and then her face turned with surprise and she smiled.
"What a surprise !", she said. "I was sorry that I could not tell you this visit in advance but...". "It's ok, come in, Satoshi".... I really enjoyed talking with her. She showed me a lot of photos and told me all childs are married and moved to everywhere in U.S. I only knew Maria, who was my main host daughter of my exchange program, entered the university in Spokane but I had been never known she was married in Spokane and had been living there.
The photos are all exciting for me becuase my host brothers and sisters who were just junior high students had been mature ladies or gentlmen with their kids and looked fine in the photos. The only sad news was the dead of Dale Fields in 1995, who was a host daddy for me and who loved LA Dogers, Olympia beer, Datsun Truck and hunting. I could not see him forever but in my memory, he alwasy talked to me to introduce everything happened in this place, Sandpoint.
Dale Fields
I will show you the old photograph that was sent to me when the Fields' was decided as my host family for my exchange program, called "Labo - 4H International Exchange".
Maria who is one year younger than me had an experience to come to Japan for a month exchanging program but at that time, I had no sister and could not offer to be as a host familiy.
I offered for a week to let her come to my home in Nagano and enjoyed sea, mountain and river. When I heard about Maria, I got a strong mind to meet her during this trip because her home was in Spokane where I had been staying ! Donna called Maria and unfortunately she was abscent at that time. Donna left her voice message and told me how could I go there with detail explanation. I immediately changed my plan of the day to go back to Spokane to meet with Maria. I promised to come back again with Donna and left this beloved place.
