The Rocky Mountain Red Brick Inn

What a long day, flying into Salt Lake City, Utah after mid-night, driving to Dayton, Idaho to have lunch with my classmates from high school having had little sleep and then taking a tour through Weston.  By early evening, Jenn, Jessie and I were anxious to find the Rocky Mountain Red Brick Inn in Preston where we'd spend the night.

When you plan to travel, you just get on the Internet and make reservations, right?  Turns out, it is more of a challenge than that if you plan to stay in a small town.  And if that small town is Preston, Idaho, it is darn near impossible to make arrangements in the way you may be use to--no flights in, no rental car service, and as we found out, almost zero lodging options and fewer than that on the weekend of the famous Preston Rodeo.  Vicki Peacock's Rocky Mountain Red Brick Inn had one room left.  With the reservation made, Jenn sent me a message, saying, "She sounds nice on the phone and makes breakfast every morning."  We knew little else about the place.

Main street and most side roads leading into the center of town were blocked when we tried to find the Inn.  There were people everywhere, chairs and blankets lining the gutters and sidewalks and pavement.  Then we saw the banner saying, "Home of the Famous Preston Rodeo".  Most everything in town had come to a screeching halt while everybody, and I do mean everybody, took their place on the streets.  The parade was about to start!  As I remembered, this scenario would be repeated EVERY night of the rodeo.

When Jenn found a way around all of this and we pulled up in front of the Inn, it was love at first sight!  An elder in my ward once said, "You get what you get ready for."  I had been getting ready for this trip for months.  I hoped that after being significantly limited by RA in the six months previous that I was ready for the challenge awaiting me at the Inn--steps, lots of them.  Three easy steps up, then another to the threshold of the door, then up a few more.  Our host directed us to our room.  Uh-oh...it was on the second floor.  Steps, lots of steps and these were steep.  "Maybe I could sleep on  that couch," I thought.  I'd had a ramp at my own front door for several months not so long before.

I'm unsure why we thought that putting a person in front of me and another behind would keep me or them safe, as I stepped out on the tightrope, so-to-speak, to see if I could climb.  If I had stumbled or fallen in any direction, I'd have taken the other two right along with me in the fall!  It was slow going but I felt like planting a flag once I reached the top.  I needed a yellow jersey to pull over my head in triumph, or a tape stretched across the final step to break through.   A mountaineer could not have felt more accomplished!  Our room was charming with lots of little touches that created a real home-away-from-home feel.  It was perfect for the three of us.

In small towns, there isn't a McD's on every corner.  We did a drag down main and saw just two possibilities.  We were so hungry by now that we practically ran in the door of the Artic Circle.  The food?  Not a highlight of the trip.  Jessi entertained us by squeezing the hot grease out of her fries and the heavily breaded something she couldn't eat.  There were warm chocolate chip cookies waiting for us at the Inn when we returned.  We tried to be polite and take just one but after we were settled, I sent Jess back down the stairs for a second, for me!

Though the Inn was full to capacity, it was remarkably quiet as guests came and went.  A delicious breakfast was served to each party at prearranged times--made-from-scratch waffles and Huckleberry honey were just two of the stand-outs of our meal.  Vicki sat with us, telling the remarkable history of the building,  We learned that it was once an LDS church meeting house, sold to her family years ago.  While a young wife and mother of several small children, the family had lived there for a time, but for many years, the building sat unoccupied.  A teacher by trade, living in Arizona, Vicki had a vision for the property that included restoring and saving as much of its history as possible, including a part of the old chapel.  Her daughter, a licensed contractor, had been meeting with her mother each summer at the site for several years to work on the restoration.  The high domed ceiling had been repaired beautifully, salvaging most of the original fine craftsmanship evidenced in the detailing.  Hardwood floors had been sanded and refinished.  The special glass of the panes from arched, cathedral-type windows was no longer available so every effort had been made to salvage most of those still there, even some cracked ones.  The unique chapel theater seating was something I'd never seen used before in a church.  Original pews sat just as they had when congregations met there; The pulpit and tiny organ were original to the building, as well.    Beautiful, hand stitched quilts draped over the pews until a way to display and preserve them has been determined.  When the church was decommissioned,  the original corner stone was given to Vicki and has become a part of the decor.  Former classrooms have been re-purposed as bedrooms; There are eight in use with more to come.  Plans are in the works for the former choir loft, the basement kitchen, and a large open space that could become a place the community could use for gatherings--family reunions, small wedding receptions, for example.  

My brother, Marion and his wife, Evelyn, live just two blocks from the Inn.  We spent a good part of a day with them.  I hadn't seen them in 20 years.  Ill health had dogged Marion for a number of years, and was now further complicated by the issues of advancing age.  Evelyn, though herself in her 80's and having health problems of her own, shoulders the load for his day-to-day care.  Her kids and grandkids help but she said herself that she was very tired.  It was good to see them.  Evelyn, Jenn and I re-told old stories, laughed, and giggled like we use to do.  Her garden was growing like crazy, the biggest squash leaves and vines I've ever seen!

The girls and I planned to meet one of my classmates, Ruth Ann and her husband for dinner at BIG J's/TacoMaker, the only other fast food joint we had seen.  We thought we had planned our meeting time to miss the parade line-up but instead, we got caught right in the middle of it!  My friends were running late anyway so Jenn parked the car and we joined the crowd in the middle of a side street to watch the parade.  As entries passed by and generous amounts of candy were thrown to the waiting crowd, we noticed an adult woman fighting off little kids all around us, grabbing up all the candy, sometimes taking it right out of their hands.  Jess, who was taller than the greedy candy snatcher, began catching candy and dropping it into the kid's containers.  That evened up the competition quite a bit, to the kids' delight.  During a lull in the candy drama, I spotted a classmate, Lorraine, driving a vintage tractor along the parade route.  Horses and riders passed by and lots of farm equipment.  Then Jenn pointed to two fellas, each one driving their own personal Model A's or T's, Michael in a snappy, stand-out, tomato red and Clint in a Johnny-Cash, black, both classmates Jenn had met at the reunion.  We cheered and called out to all three but the noise of the crowd and the parade entries drowned us out.  My girls were still all amazed that such a huge crowd showed up each night for the parade.  Some folks left their chairs in place knowing they would return for yet another night.  Others packed up and headed for the rodeo.  We could hear the announcer as preparations for presenting the colors got underway at the fair grounds.

BIG J's/TacoMaker was packed!  Weren't all those people suppose to be at the rodeo?  Jenn knew how to get in line.  The rest of us secured a table as soon as we could do so without using force and before too long, we were trying to talk over the din while enjoying our eats.  It was so good to see Ruth Ann and Ray and have a little time with them back at the Inn, too.  She and I were good friends through High School and roomed together in SLC.  We lost touch for a number of years but thanks to e-mail, we had reconnected in these past few years.

Cinnamon rolls?  There's really no mistaking that tantalizing fragrance.  I did taste some other offerings on the table but those rolls held my attention like nothing else!  I LOVE a good cinnamon roll!  The pecans on top were an added bonus of those homemade-from-scratch beauties.  They may have even been a wee bit better than my own and that's saying something if I do say so myself.

By the time Jenn and Jess loaded up the car and we'd had our breakfast visit with Vicki and her helpers, we felt a bit like we were saying goodbye to family.  We spent the morning with Marion and Evelyn, again before Jenn had to take off for SLC to catch her flight back to Sparks.  My brother, Sylvan and his wife, Carma, arrived bringing lunch just as Jenn was leaving.  By late afternoon, Jess and I were packed into their car.  Next stop, Chubbuck, Idaho.  Never heard of Chubbuck?  Well stay tuned and I'll tell you about some of the great people who live there.

To be continued...