Summer is here and the traffic is crazy

Summer is here.

Is it just me, or do you think this rerouting traffic around Boyer is a last-ditch effort on the part of the pro-Sand Creek byway folks to remind us how much we hate traffic congestion in and around Sandpoint?

I have never seen traffic this bad and we have another month of it.

Please take it easy if you are driving in and around Sandpoint. I have had two close calls with kids on bikes and about added a motorcycle as a hood ornament on my car Monday morning.

It looks like the ITD has upped the ante in the fight to get Idaho's north-south highway out of downtown. There may be a countersuit in the works that would go after NICAN, its board of directors and donors to reimburse the state for the added expense of construction caused by delays due to litigation, etc. in the byway fray.

One estimate runs as high as several hundred thousand dollars. Stay tuned, as the summer temperature isn't the only thing heating up.

Clay Lyons, a physical therapist at Bonner General Hospital did a masterful job several weeks back explaining to local Rotarians the benefits of good back care as well as the many programs offered at our local hospital.

The Rotarians peppered him with questions. One was: "What's the healthiest, best kind of bed you can sleep in?" Before the good doctor could answer, another Rotarian piped up: "Your own!"

Jim Gullo, a freelance writer who is penning an article for Lake Life magazine, stopped by for a talk a few weeks back. His article on Lake Pend Oreille will hit the stands next May.

He asked me about my thoughts about our lake and I told him my concerns about the Rock Creek Mine, the lack of enforcement on setbacks and septic systems near the lake and the challenges to our fishery.

Gullo picked a good time to meet. The previous night I went on a full moon cruise with the awesome folks at Full Spectrum Tours. More on that later … but needless to say, I was still pretty high on the lake.

I told him that my son and father-in-law have had great fishing experiences on the lake. I also told him that everyone has a Long Bridge "ah ha, we are home!" story.

But enough about me, I steered the conversation back to the interviewer.

"What was special about the Sandpoint area?," I asked.

"You have the most aggressive drivers I have ever seen," he answered. He went on (or off?) on the fact that he has lived and survived in the traffic hells of New York and Los Angeles and hadn't seen anything like the past few days here.

Truckers yelled at him, a few locals flipped him off and vehicles were passing him on the left and the right.

I told him about the plans for a byway but he wasn't convinced.

On a more positive note, he commented that Panhandler Pies and the Pie Hut had the best pie he's ever tasted. He was also impressed with the Panhandler's cheddar cheese sauce on its Eggs Benedict. He also liked the Hoot Owl's habit of putting gravy on hashbrowns.

He loved the Hoot Owl, pure and simple. He observed that diners are disappearing faster than 25-cent cups of coffee.

Gullo asked me to point him in the direction of some local characters and I did. I called him yesterday at his home in Bainbridge Island, Wash. to see how the story was progressing. He's coming back and bringing the kids with him for a little vacation later this month.

I wonder who will do the driving?

Two weeks back I asked readers to submit proposed cutlines for a photo of two people crossing at the corner of Cedar and First in front of three, huge trucks. I had no idea I would have a theme to this column, but I guess I have one.

Most of the entries followed the same theme as the Bonnie Shields' T-shirt.

? Bypass? We don't need a stinkin' bypass!!! Submitted by Jason Meyer.

? Byway? We don't need no byway! Submitted by Peggy Sorenson.

There were the first two of the 22 suggestions I received.

The shirts are everywhere. There's only one medium-sized one left at Sand Creek Medical. You will see them next on eBay.

Had the great pleasure of going on a full-moon kayak trip recently with the fabulous folks at Full Spectrum Tours.

Thirteen kayaks took off from Hawkins Point and made our way to Fisherman Island. Along the way, a glorious full moon rose from the east and climbed into the sky.

By the time we left the water at about midnight, the entire group was awed by the sheer majesty of Mother Nature and how blessed we are to call here home.

The full-moon tours are the most popular for the FST folks. Manager Jason Wiley couldn't have been any more fun or knowledgeable during the trip.

Check out what this local company is up to online at kayaking.net. More on this trip after I scoot over to the Image Maker and pick up my prints.

We'll see you at The Festival at Sandpoint. Dyno and crew have put together an awesome lineup. The show begins Thursday. Ryan Adams still leads all acts in ticket sales.

I'm excited to see Sam Bush and the rest this Saturday and both symphony nights. I think Natalie McMasters will be the sleeper concert. Ronnie Milsap will also be great.

One great attraction at OUR Festival is that for seven nights there will be seven unique and live performances in OUR little corner of the world.

Frankly, it has been harder for the Festival the past few years to book headliners. It is not uncommon for those acts to easily top $180,000 plus expenses per concert. In our little venue, that doesn't pencil out.

Instead, Dyno and her booking committee start looking for up and coming stars — like Dierks Bently last year — or some standards that have name recognition who still put on a great show, like Ronnie Milsap. With every casino now in the live concert arena, mixed with more live acts in Spokane, Kellogg and The Gorge, the bidding gets pretty high pretty fast. For four years in a row, the FAS has implemented a matrix that forces each act to pay for itself. It's worked.

That, again is what makes the Festival At Sandpoint so special. When the Festival was in financial problems a few years back, the community rallied to save it.

What makes the Festival unique?

The Spokane Symphony. Our local, opening acts. Our community choir. The blankets and folding chairs on the lawn at Memorial Field. The osprey flying overhead and the many boats moored in the river, next to the concerts just enjoying the moment.

There are the volunteers. There's Rug and Dave. There are the hundreds of people who work behind the scenes to make the Festival what it is.

It's our Festival and now it is time for all of us to go out and enjoy it.

We'll see you at the Festival. We'll see you at OUR Festival.

David Keyes is publisher of the Bee. His column runs weekly.