Boise weekend!

This time last week, I was on my way to the airport to catch a flight to Boise.  I'd found a good promotion on Alaska Air a few months ago and decided to seize the opportunity to shore up my position as the Favorite Uncle and catch up with my awesome twin sister.

How did I do that?  

Well, to start with, I showed up on Heather's doorstep first thing on Saturday morning bearing donuts, Easter candy, and enough Nerf guns (and extra ammo!) for everyone.  There were hugs, then cheers, then all-out warfare . . .

Tiny and deadly!

Cease-fire long enough for a photo!

The fog of Nerf war!

It was all fun and games until someone lost an eye -- at which point we paused long enough to remind everyone that eyeballs really aren't all THAT important and that winning is really what really counts, whereupon fun and games resumed full force.

Once all the ammo was lost behind couch cushions and/or squirreled away into various stockpiles, we decided it was time to move on to a super nutritious breakfast of donuts and maple bars.  Yum!

Then the agenda shifted to what Heather had planned:  an excursion to Table Rock.  She'd hoped we could all hike up there, but the weather was cold and rainy so we just drove up the back of the mountain instead.  Visibility wasn't great, but we got a sense that on a clear day the view would be spectacular.

And of course we couldn't leave without exploring the caves!  (And deciding how we would decorate them and who would sleep where and where the books would go and what we thought of the graffiti.)

From mountain back to civilization for lunch.  We stopped at Smashburger, where I got a weirdly flattened chicken sandwich.

Is it a schnitzel or a chicken? Unclear.

By that time it was time for Adri to take a nap.  We dropped her off at home with Jordan (who wasn't feeling well) and Jaron (who wasn't up for watching a "girl" movie) and drove off with the girls to see Cinderella.  

Girls' night out!
(of course, in this case "girls" includes "uncle"
and "night" means "mid-afternoon")

It was an earnest, faithful retelling of the familiar story, without much additional insight or different perspectives to add interest.  But there was Cate Blanchett, who I'd definitely want for an evil stepmother if ever I had to have one, and all the gorgeous costumes, AND a few clever little nods to art.  For example, when the prince takes Cinderella out into the garden during the ball, they come upon a rose bush and a swing, and once Cinderella sat down it was basically impossible not to see a reference to Fragonard's famous painting:

How Cinderellian of her to so flirtatiously "lose" her shoe like that!

After we'd wished fond farewell to Cinderella and her Happily Ever After, Heather and I went back home long enough to drop off the kids before heading back out for dinner, just the two of us.  This is one of my favorite parts of any visit for us -- just having time for the two of us to talk without interruption for as long as we want (which usually means at least 4-5 hours in any given stretch).  Naturally we cover everything under the sun, and it's always fun and meaningful and reaffirms my gratitude for the blessing of being a twin and having her in my life.  I really can't say enough how much I love her.

Like Cinderella at her ball, my stay in Boise was short and sweet.  Next morning I came over long enough for breakfast, and then it was back on the plane to Seattle for normal life.  What a great weekend, and I can't wait to see them all again soon!

Christmas!

For the first time in, gosh, how many years? I didn't spend the month of December working around the clock to close a bunch of year-end deals. Instead, I had a great December full of sisterly visits, furniture shopping and -- to top it all off -- a white Christmas with my sibs and the grandkids in Boise.

I flew out from Seattle on the morning of Christmas Eve.  For being the day before Christmas, everything went super smoothly, and my fellow travelers were even happy and well behaved.  One guy, in particular, went out of his way to be positive, courteous and pleasant to everyone around him -- all of which had the effect of elevating the mood and standard of interaction for everyone else.  When it goes well, there's nothing quite like traveling on a holiday -- you've got the energy of the holidays, plus the excitement inherent in flying off to a new place; it's the best of both worlds!

Heather picked me up and we spent the rest of the day getting ready for Christmas dinner.  The tree stood brightly in the corner, and soon we had a lovely table laid for Christmas dinner.

The kids were beside themselves with anticipation for Christmas morning.  They eyed the clock, lamenting how slowly time passes!  Meanwhile the adults watched the oven timer, mouths watering for a taste of Jordan's home-cured Christmas ham . . . delicious!

Eventually Mark and Erin came over, the hame was finished, and we all gathered around for a delicious Christmas dinner.

During dinner it started to snow (sending the kids into the next level of Christmas hysterics) and when Christmas morning finally arrived, it was a beautiful White Christmas.

Cheese stone!  With little dishes for olives and stuff!

We spent the rest of the day playing with princesses, tablets and an epic quantity of Legos (including several incarnations of Unikitty, my favorite creature ever).

Next morning, I headed out with Jordan, Mark and Erin for the annual distribution of beds built by Sleep in Heavenly Peace (a creepy name, I know, but they didn't ask me).  The organization was founded by a friend of Jordan's, and Heather and Jordan have been closely involved in the project for several years now.  The mission is to build bunk beds and deliver them to families with children who need beds.  I was lucky enough to be able to go along this year.

Initial organizational meeting -- all the volunteers converged on Jordan's trailer,
which was full of beds and bedding.

Mark and Jordan carrying a bed to our first stop.

The first attempt -- taking it through the front door in one piece.

We quickly discovered that no way would this thing fit through the internal doorways
into the kids' bedroom.  So we brought it back out on the lawn and took it apart.

Power tools!

Reassembling the bed in the bedroom, where space was at a premium.

The two little boys who were getting the bed were super cute and
so very excited.  The little one used to sleep in a broken crib
with his baby brother.  The bigger kid slept on the couch.

So excited for the new bed -- and look at that bedding!

Our next stop was pretty similar -- a small apartment with adorable kids who were super excited to finally have a place to sleep (they'd been sleeping on a mattress they'd gotten when the 90-year-old neighbor died, and which had springs poking through).

It was all they could do to hold still long enough for a photo.

Whenever I question whether I made the right decision to change jobs and move across the country, it's things like this -- spending holidays with family and serving others -- that make me think, yes, this is the direction I want to go.  Merry Christmas!

Stories to tell . . . later

Had a fantastic weekend, and I've got lots of photos and stories to share (spoiler: there are beaches and sequins and pecan cheesecake, among other things).  But it's late and I'm tired -- and, since I spent the weekend (mostly) playing instead of working (as much as I should have), I'm going to need to get an early start in the morning.  So, more to come. 

In the meantime, here are a couple of photos that I took last weekend as I was leaving Boise.  I love how our farewells involve hugs and kisses and family photo shoots.
 

 

Mudslides and peach cobbler

On Friday morning Mark and I drove up north to go hiking around Blue Lake and have lunch in McCall, Idaho.  He didn't have class or work, and the weather was perfect; I was looking forward to a fun day in Nature with my brother. 

Only we didn't get there.  Roughly half-way between Boise and McCall, we encountered an unfortunate "road closed" sign.
 

The reason?  Mud.  EVERYWHERE.  Apparently the torrential rains that had so persecuted me on my ride up the mountain the day before had triggered a mudslide a few miles up the canyon, shutting down both lanes of traffic.



Not much you can do against a mudslide.  The only alternate route to McCall would have been to backtrack to Boise and then swing out, far to the west (practically to Oregon) and then drop down into McCall from the north.  It would have turned a half-day excursion into a full-day adventure.  We had plans with the others later in the day, though, so we turned around and headed home. 

As a consolation prize, though, we stopped along the river and took a few pictures.  Mark assured me that this part of the canyon wasn't as spectacular as what we would have seen farther up, but I guess some nature is better than nothing!

 

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful.  We ran some errands and basically just hung out at the house.  I was tired and took a nap.  Then got on a conference call for work.

 

But in the evening things got fun again.  Heather and Jordan called a babysitter to watch their kids; Mark and Erin came by.  We all headed out for a "grown-ups only" dinner at The Stuffed Olive, a local favorite.  The food was hearty and delicious, and our waitress was cool.  It was a great time with the siblings and in-laws!

 

Chicken parmigiana with penne and marinara sauce

Fresh peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream

 

Our waitress got a little creative with the photo process...
(it was hilarous)

Shae turns five

Thanks to a felicitous coincidence in the timing of my vacation, I was in Boise for Shae's fifth birthday party.  We were both delighted that I could be part of the special occasion.
 

Legos featured prominently among the gifts

An outdoor Lego pool that Barbie would have loved.
I hadn't realized the company had made such strides in marketing to little girls. 
Way to move beyond spaceships and castles, Legos!

Look at that face!
The object of such excitement:  an iPad-like device called a
LeapPad, which has cute educational games geared for
five-year-old girls.

The princess candles sparkled. They were a little scary, at first.

They also took a few puffs to blow out.

Shae's cake of choice was a vanilla and chocolate "Oreo" ice cream cake.
Naturally, I covered mine in chocolate syrup.

 

Legos, ice cream cake, princess candles.  The only thing missing?  A gun.  Oh, wait, no!  We had one of those, too:



Jordan's newest toy



Because apparently it's totally normal to show off your new handgun at your daughter's birthday party.  But then, in a world where the wedding party goes shooting before the ceremony, I guess this should not come as a surprise. 

What was really awkward is that, right as Jordan was showing me the gun, the doorbell rang.  Instead of answering the door with a fire-arm in hand, he handed the weapon to me and left me to stand my ground in the kitchen -- which I did by putting the gun in my pocket and pretending like it wasn't there. 

The Ride: Bogus Basin

Boise claims to be a cycling town.  in the interest of getting in shape for the big ride at the end of the month, I decided to put it to the test. 

Last week I hunted around for a bike shop that would rent me a good road bike.  Idaho Mountain Touring was the only shop that responded to my inquiries, so I decided to go with them.  (This despite their illogical pricing:  Their original price quote was $50 for a day, $65 for overnight, with multi-day rates available on request.  I asked for a multi-day rate and was told that it would be $85 for each of the first two days, with $35 for each additional day.  I told them I'd stick with the overnight rate.)
 

I rented a car for this very purpose. Fortunately Heather had a compatible bike rack.

I asked the guys in the shop for some route recommendations.  One guy chuckled wickedly, "You like hills?"  I told him that I lived in the flatlands at sea-level, so of course I like hills.

 

Which is how I wound up riding to the Bogus Basin ski resort this morning.  Sixteen miles of nearly uninterrupted climbing, with almost 4,000 vertical feet between the starting point and the summit.  Seemed like an exciting little challenge when I kitted up this morning; an hour later, when I'd been riding uphill for ten straight miles in the cold, pouring rain and wind, it seemed like the worst idea in the history of creation. 

 

The valley floor is a little over 2,000 feet;
the summit is a little over 6,000 feet. This sign meant I was almost there!

By the time I got to the ski resort at the top of the mountain, I was wet and shivering and my butt wanted to die.  The resort was as cold and uninviting as what I always imagined Wuthering Heights would be like.  Only without Laurence Olivier to heat things up.

 

 

Since it seemed a shame to start the descent without taking in the allegedly beautiful views, I risked flat tires by cruising around the gravel parking lots and tracks of the ski resort.  I found one promising view and took a picture of myself.  When I looked at the photo, I was startled to see a rainbow.  At the very moment I took the photo, the sun had burst through the clouds, creating that hopeful band of color.

 

 

 

The sun came out and dried up all the rain, and the itsy bitsy spider sped back down the mountainside, riding the brakes to avoid sliding into the ditch and stopping frequently to soak up the newly gorgeous views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the stats for the ride.  One stat that doesn't show up here is the average speed for each five-mile segment.  On the ascent I averaged between 8 and 10 miles per hour; on the descent I averaged 28 miles per hour.  The overall average speed of 10.5 miles per hour reflects all the photo-stops I made without pausing the clock.

 

The full stats for the ride are available through the Garmin link in the lower right-hand column.