Quakie Ridge

I finally got to skate ski Quakie Ridge and Rick's Basin today.  Maggie was skiing with her class and Nancy had that under control so I stole away.  Quakie Ridge means a lot to us.

You see, back in the summer of 2000 Nancy and I were camping on Pine Creek Pass in the Big Holes with new baby Brady.  We'd just spent a nice day with the Campbells in Lander and were on our way to Central Oregon.  That night after Brady fell asleep in the bed of the Tacoma Nancy and I sat around the campfire.  While the sun set in the west the alpine glow slowly crept up the Tetons in the east, and one by one the lights began to come on in the valley.  With Huck at my feet enjoying the warm glow of fire I said to Nancy, "Maybe someday we'll be one of those lights in the valley instead of up on the ridge."


The next morning we drove into Driggs for breakfast and coffee.  I think it was heuvos rancheros at the Bunkhouse Bistro.  After breakfast we went around the block to get back to Ski Hill Road so we could drive up to Targhee for some mountain biking.  As we drove through town Nancy said, "Stop."  She had seen a small sign with real estate flyers and jumped out of the truck to pick one up.  On the ride up to the mountain we talked, laughed and wondered.

Once at Targhee we piled out, I assembled my bike and set out for a ride through Ricks Basin and over Quakie Ridge.  That was my first ride in the Rocky Mountains since moving east in 1995.  I still remember how the wildflowers were as high as my handle bars and how the trail switches back through the aspen trees.   In the meantime, Nancy and Brady wandered around the base area.  As luck would have it, when they walked into the lodge there was an advertisement for the same real estate company whose flyer we had picked up earlier---and a phone with a direct line to the office!  Nancy picked up the reciever and a voice on the other end said, "May I help you?"

When I got back from my ride, Nancy met me at the truck.  She said, "Get cleaned up, we have an appointment with a real estate agent in 30 minutes and she's going to show us a few houses."

So, that's how it all started.