4 - 14 - 12: Thrift Store Mania and Park Exploration

We spent today driving through Bonners Ferry to the local thrift stores, grocery store, and another neat shop called Under the Sun, and purchased a plethora of essential farming gear. I am now decked out with jeans, shirts, sweatshirts, flannel shirts, boots, and gloves, which can get drenched in as much cow manure as I or anyone else pleases with nary a worry. Also, I found some nifty shirts (even one with a badger, the emblem of my birthplace)! and jeans which I liked so much, I decided to get them as regular clothes. The thrift stores were quite nice and decidedly clean, and my mom and I had fun exploring them. I also visited the grocery store, where I learned about a special cult pact we have going with Safeway called a "Safeway club card membership," whereby a food-procuring customer, such as myself, types a phone number (preferably one which belongs to said customer) into a machine and swipes a credit or debit card in a series of sophisticated maneuvers which magically enable him or her to save money. It was a fascinating spectacle. I feel much more knowledgeable about the world of high finance.

After reveling in the thrift stores, we drove the car through the automobile loop of the Kooteanai National Wildlife Refuge, and witnesses some spectacular scenery (although up here, I am discovering spectacular scenery is the norm.) After the drive, my mom parked the car to catch up on some Words with Friends while Isabel and I went for a twenty minute hike in the Refuge. We even found a neat secret trail to a bench with a view of the river. And, from reading the park information board, we learned that the ranger station is handing out activity backpacks with bird bingo cards. So, when the family makes a trip into town (half an hour away), I will have to go get my activity backpack so I can start participating in some delightful bird bingo!