The old Red Mill Hill Bridge

When I was a youngster, this bridge, tore down a few years ago, was my shortcut into town. The road going up the hill was a dirt road then and connected onto West Hill Rd. where I lived. It was also a favorite swimming hole except for broken beer bottles people would throw off bridge. Yes, we all got cuts at one time or another.

i had a speedometer on my bike and it was a challenge to see if I could break my speed record. It was a very steep hill and I would go at a breakneck speed.

One day I hit a stone just at the corner you can see in the picture and lost the bike from under me. Needless to say, a case of road rash is putting it mildly. Plus, I almost totaled my bike which hurt more than my rash.

Lesson learned....After many repairs on bike and lots of scabs later...I did slow down...and then I got my drivers license. But that's another story........
 

Pappy, we used to have almost the same old bridge near where I grew up in North Idaho. We used to ride across it on horseback, but the kids with bikes used to do the " race down the hill " thing, and it was also a good place for swimming.

The well-known author, Patrick McManus, also grew up near Sandpoint, and his wonderful rendition of flying down the Sand Creek hill, had me rolling and laughing, as I visualized him on his bike.
If you have never read Pat McManus, you have missed one of the great joys of life !

Years ago, I had a broken leg from a horse-accident, and was in the hospital, thoroughly medicated, but I wanted something to read badly, so my friend Joy brought me her 10 Translation Version of the Bible.
Now, I could barely look at pictures and understand what I was seeing, so this was way out of the ballpark for reading material.
Fortunately, my friend Norma, brought me one of her husbands Pat McManus books. I laughed so much, I was often in serious danger of falling out of that hospital bed ! After that, I was a McManus convert...
 


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