ABOUT THE HOST:  BILLIE JEAN 

I'm a backcountry horse woman, downhill skier and bicyclist who loves the outdoors and being active. I retired in 2016 from working professionally as an editor for a local publishing company for 25 years, editing Sandpoint Magazine, Schweitzer Magazine and books, such as trail guides and natural history titles. I have one dog, Beau, whom I call a North Idaho hound terrier, an Arabian/quarter horse mare named Bunny, a filly named Karat born June 1, 2019, and a mule named Buner Pie.

Originally from Wisconsin, I grew up in North Idaho riding horses, skiing, snowmobiling, dirt biking and voraciously reading books. While I was growing up in Sandpoint and Bayview in the 1970s-80s, I lived without electricity and running water three different times, so I'm not afraid of outhouses or roughing it.

After graduating from Sandpoint High School in 1985, I moved back to Madison, Wisconsin, and earned a degree in journalism at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. I returned to Sandpoint in 1990, bought property, married, built a house, raised a son and stepdaughter, got unmarried, and am now married to my present partner, Mike, whom I convinced to join me in offering vacation rentals. We formed Twin Cedars Camping and Vacation Rentals LLC in 2014 with the goal of semi-retiring together. Between the two of us and our properties, we have two homes, five RV sites, a camping cabin and two bell tents. We live in each of our homes for half the year, while the other home is open as a vacation rental.

I'm a home brewer who's passionate about good beer, cooking from scratch, and seemingly endless home improvement projects. Mike is a private pilot, and we enjoy flying around the area and airplane camping, as well as backcountry trail riding and horse camping.

I love having guests and sharing my knowledge of the area. We live in an outdoor paradise, and we like to share our pieces of paradise with others.