Springtime Camping

We were able to get out a few times this spring for camping in between the rainy weather...

SWANHOLM

We made the annual trip to Swanholm Peak (our favorite) on the weekend just before the solstice. There was still so much snow, we couldn't get to the lookout or the lake.


I love the clouds in this photo of Rick and Brent.



We battled rain and snow all day long, but it sure made for some beautiful sights.

I've never seen a sunset quite like this one.


JARBIDGE

We made our second annual trip to Jarbidge, NV, for Memorial Weekend. The trail was too muddy, so we drove our 4-wheelers in on the road. We had a larger crowd this year - nearly occupying the entire downstairs of the barn hotel and dominating the "poorler." This isn't quite everyone!


I was well-prepared for a chilly, and wet, ride in.


We had a great day for a ride around the area on Sunday. These are our friends, Dan and Ellisea.


I think this sign has been rotated...


THE PIG/LIME CREEK

We spent a mid-May weekend with Michael and his puppy, Bryer, at The Pig and did some scouting for bears at Lime Creek.

JEEP RIDE

In April, we took the jeep for a drive on the Baja Road and had some excitement on a rocky part.





BRUNEAU CANYON

In late March we took advantage of some warm weather at Bruneau Canyon.


We had a great camp site on a bank above the river...

...and a nice warm fire that evening.



OWYHEES

In early March we got out for some hiking at Crane Falls and a quick over-nighter in the Owyhees.


The clouds set in, and it got a bit chilly. We started the fire early that afternoon!

85F and Sunny in February!

Our what-has-become-annual trip to Palm Springs to see my parents and escape into paradise for a few days during the winter was fantastic this year. We had the warmest, sunniest weather we have ever had in four years of going. 85F and sunny nearly every day!

This year Susie was there, and she dictated much of our daily activities. Instead of going out to eat, golfing, and shopping all the time, we instead went for walks and played fetch and chase. Having a year-old beagle and no fenced yard adds complexity to a vacation. It also reduces the amount of money you spend on eating out, golfing, and shopping. So it all evens out for the best. Besides, as I have mentioned before, Susie is irresistible and has stolen my heart.

Between my dad's tendency to favor routine and Susie's need for it, we quickly established one. Here's how it went:

7:30 Wake up to whimpering and pawing at the bedroom door. After all we are a pack, and the pack needs to be together. No one can be in a separate room behind a closed door, especially Mom.

7:30-9 Read the paper, watch TV, eat a freshly-picked (from our yard!) grapefruit.

9:00 Watch a 30 min lecture on economics. I brought a series of lectures on DVD, and everyone seemed to enjoy them.

9:30 Take a shower.

10:30 Take Susie for a walk. Smoke a cigar if you're my dad. Sit in the sun and read if you're Rick.

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11:30 Start fixing lunch. Have a bloody mary if today = Sunday.

12:00 Eat lunch.

1:00 Take a nap and smoke a cigar if you're my dad. Read a book or work on a jigsaw if you're Rick. (He read 3 books and did at least 5 puzzles.) Otherwise, go shopping.

4:30 Take Susie for a walk.

5:00 Happy hour, no matter who you are.

6:00 Start fixing dinner.

7:00 Eat dinner and then watch the Olympics and work on jigsaw puzzle.

11:00 Go to bed.

That's what we did pretty much every day. All in the setting of a very comfortable condo located in a beautiful oasis in the desert. This is a life I can easily enjoy!

One day we did deviate from the schedule to go visit the Salton Sea. It turned out to be a stinky stagnant place with lots of bird poop. But we got to see part of rural California desert and passed by many fields of palm trees where they were growing dates.

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Another day we went to the Riverside County Fair in Indio. The fair was quite large for a county fair. There were something like three ferris wheels!

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The Palm Springs area is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been - right up there with the mountains in New Zealand. Another great vacation is captured in the blog.

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Christmas, Finally!

Wow. January 2010 is almost over and I haven't even reported on Christmas!

I was once again fortunate to be able to spend two full weeks in Kansas with my parents AND my wonderful husband came with me. The time flew by. My parents live in a parallel universe where you're left wondering where the hours between meals have gone. Combine that with a few road trips to visit family and friends and it really becomes a whirlwind trip.

Susie was glad to see us. Mom and Dad won't play chase with her. It's a bad game Rick and I have established, but she is so cute when we chase her around the living room and she stops to do her beagle howl.

On Christmas Eve, Mother Nature stepped in and changed our plans for us. Sleet and then drifting snow kept us from driving to Topeka for the traditional Christmas Eve get together at Grandma's and Christmas Day dinner at Uncle Jim's. Instead, we waited until the 26th to go. The worst part was that Aunt Anne got stuck at her farm near Lawrence for WEEKS! Fortunately we had made a day trip to Topeka about a week before Christmas. Rick went shooting with Uncle Jim while Mom and I visited with Grandma and Aunt Anne. So all was not lost.

Mom made Rick his favorite: cherry pie.

We spent most of our evenings by the fireplace. Here we are on Christmas Eve.

On Dec 27, Rick and I set off on a grand road trip straight through the great state of Oklahoma and into Fort Worth, TX. Our first stop: my cousins', Paul and Jaime Kuhn, house to eat pizza, drink beer, and most importantly meet their new baby girl, Stella Avery.

Our second stop: Carolyn and Rick Carlson's house to eat a second Christmas dinner, watch kids open presents, drink, sleep, and most importantly to see my friend Smitty. Jennifer and I go way back to 9th grade. She lives in Baltimore now, and we don't get to see each other often. When I found out she, her husband Nate, and their daughter Emma would be in Fort Worth, I decided to make a reunion happen. We had a really enjoyable visit. Visits with old friends do wonders for the soul.

Go Pokes!

Rick and I flew to Kansas to go see an Oklahoma State football game with my parents. We had tried to do this last year, but the kick-off time was changed without our knowing and we missed it! This year, we had success. What fun it was! After the all-you-can-eat pregame...

...we headed out into the enormous, packed, and constantly cheering stadium to watch the Cowboys beat the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

You know, it wasn't that cold outside, but we were bundled up anyway.

I think Dad wins the award for most team spirit.

The other highlight of the trip was playing with Susie. I was surprised by how much she has grown. She is such a great little dog. Still a puppy, she has very good manners and is so much fun to play with. It turns out this beagle likes to fetch!

Our House - The Puzzle

Last year my mom gave us a puzzle of a map of the land surrounding our house. We decided to put it together last weekend when both of us were fighting some kind of the flu. "Oh this will be easy!" I thought. I was wrong. Here is a photo of the finished puzzle. In the center is a house-shaped piece where our house is located. If you look closely, you can see there is absolutely nothing there.

We checked just north of our house where HP should be - nothing. So this map is at least 30 years old and way outdated by now. Boise has grown so much recently, especially around our house. Having nothing but 1-mile grid roads, irrigation canals, the Boise River, and white space farmland in between made for quite a tough puzzle. But it was fun building the land around our home.

Inukshuk

With all the hype and preparations for Rick's sheep hunt, I didn't think we'd make it to our favorite camping spot this year, but we managed to squeak it in right before the road closed for the year.

We made our usual hike down to one of the lakes. Rick caught a few fish.

On our way out of the lake, we came to a spot where the trail disappears and it becomes unclear as to which way is the best way to get down to the lake. (We had taken the hard way down that morning but found the easy way on the way out.) To make our lives easier for future hikes in, we decided to build an inukshuk - a stone figure built by the Inuit people of the Canadian Arctic to help guide people seeking their way through the wilderness. Ours turned out pretty pathetic. I wonder if it will survive the winter.

Even though the wildflower season had passed, the land was still quite colorful.

Saturday night we rode to the top to watch the sunset and drink a beer - another fine tradition.

Labor Day Weekend

Ok, so I am way behind on my blogging.... We had a great Labor Day weekend. We visited our friend Michael at his mountain property "The Pig" on Saturday morning to wish him a happy birthday. We spent several hours there but only took one picture - this one of the flags at the driveway entrance.

Saturday evening we headed over to Dan and Lisea's traditional camp spot - the mountain goat viewing area along highway 75 between Ketchum and Stanley. The view is fantastic; it's no wonder they camp there every year. Here is the view from our tailgate tent.

Sunday morning we went on a hike into Titus Lake. It's a short and fairly easy hike. I love being in the mountains.