The Rest of 2011

Seems like life slowed down a bit in the Fall of 2011.

September

Sarah attended the national conference for the Financial Planning Association in San Diego.

We took a trip to Kansas to visit Mom and Susie, Grandma, and Uncle Jim



October

Rick and Dan took a motorcycle trip through the Magruder Corridor into Montana.

We scouted around Orofino for Rick's white tail.

December

Remember that FPA conference I attended in San Diego in September?  Well that's when it all started...when I met Caleb.  Caleb recruits for financial planning firms all around the country.  Turns out, real financial planning jobs really do exist, if one is willing to move away from Boise.  Caleb was recruiting for a position with Rick Kahler in Rapid City, South Dakota.  South Dakota?  NO WAY, we thought.  But after some research into the position and Rapid City, we realized what a great opportunity this was.  Just before Christmas, we flew to Rapid for the interview and did a little sightseeing in the Black Hills as well.

After five days in Rapid, we flew on to Kansas for Christmas.

Backpacking near McCall

In early August we made two backpacking trips out of McCall, ID. It was our first time backpacking in this area. We'll probably go there more often now that we realize a few things: McCall is only about a 2 hour drive from Boise, there are good places to eat in McCall before/after the trip, there are lots of lakes to hike to, and surprisingly there aren't too many people.

Hike #1

Our first trip was about 2.5 miles to a no name lake. The first part was on the trail to Duck Lake. Then we headed cross country, and up a steep hillside, to this no name lake our friend Mike told us about. I'm not a huge fan of cross country hikes, especially when we don't have a GPS or even a map with us! But Rick is a pretty good navigator, and he took us right to the lake. My belly-aching, as usual, was unnecessary as Idaho mountain lakes never cease to disappoint. It's almost always worth a grueling hike in exchange for the serene beauty to be found at the top.





Hike #2

Our second hike was to a group of four lakes. The one we chose to camp at was called South Lake. After the previous weekend's cross country hike, I happily agreed to a 4 mile hike on-trail into these lakes. Well.....it turned out to be more like 6 miles, and the elevation gain was a killer! For the first time in Idaho, the pain really wasn't worth the gain. The area had recently been burned, and it just wasn't that pretty. We both agreed we would not be doing this hike again. On the positive side, we did have a completely clear and still night and were able to sleep in our new mesh tent with no rain fly. AND there was a full moon.

Backpacking with Jennifer

My best friend all the way back from third grade, Jennifer, came to visit in late July. We took her backpacking to our favorite little destination, Lost Lake.

ALL kinds of things went wrong - a flat tire on the way IN, disintegrating hiking boots, fishing poles left behind, and a minor auto accident.

BUT we had fun together. AND Jennifer said she would go again!

Swanholm

We made our annual four-wheeler camping trip on Swanholm Peak in mid July. The road to the lookout at the top was snowed-in still, so we settled for building an inuk shuk.



The next morning, our friends Gabe and Tanya arrived. We left our 4-wheeler's behind, braved the snow, made a hike to the top.





Then we tried something new - a ride into the little town of Atlanta for dinner. The views along the ride were very beautiful.



We were quite impressed with our dinner at The Hub.

Backpacking-Summer-FINALLY!

Summer finally got here, and although it hasn't been warm long enough to melt the snow in the prime backpacking areas, we did make it out last weekend for an over-nighter.

We walked about 10 miles before we figured out we must have passed our destination. No matter. Our packs are significantly lighter this year thanks to some new super-light gear. Plus, we needed the exercise.

Here we are at the trailhead on Saturday morning - super happy to be out in the warm sunshine. You'll see more of the orange article around my neck. A new favorite item; it has many uses.



Wildflowers and butterflies everywhere.






We turned into pirates.




The sun set beautifully, and we woke to a crisp, sunny morning.

Northern Idaho & Couer D'Alene.

In early June we made a road trip to Northern Idaho with the ultimate destination of Coeur D'Alene. The landscape drastically changes at Whitebird pass.





Had Susie been with us, we would have stayed here.



We arrived in Coeur D'Alene on Saturday afternoon. It was graduation day, and the lake front was packed with people having a good time. We found a shady spot to hang out and enjoy the view. We loved it.

Spring Camping

Back in March and April we actually had some nice spring weather in Boise. Rick and I were able to get out and go camping three times before Boise forgot it was spring and decided to get rainy and cold again.

Our first trip was in March. We rode our 4-wheelers to our new favorite camp site in Bruneau Canyon. I remember thinking to myself "it's hot!" Looking back at the photos now, it obviously wasn't that hot.






April still seemed like great weather. I couldn't resist capturing Rick's shadow on the tent.