Remembering Mom

Three years ago today, my Mom died.   I have been thinking about her a lot today.  The rose that we planted in her memory is blooming beautifully.  We miss you Mom!

An Idaho Roadtrip and my Birthday

Last Friday, I celebrated #41.  Originally, we were supposed to fly to Mexico a vacation on my birthday :(.   But since that couldn't happen, we decide to take a road trip to the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho.  We chose Idaho because 1.It was open (most hotels are still not in California) and 2. we could drive there and 3. we haven't been there, and thought it would be a good hiking destination.

We celebrated my birthed a little bit early before leaving, with my dad.   We had a nice dinner, and of course, my favorite buttercream cake with sprinkles.

Early Friday morning, my dad headed back to Chicago and we got on the road to Boise.  Boise is a 10 hour drive from San Francisco, and we made it in one day.   We spent the first night along the greenbelt in Boise which is a lovely green space along the Boise River.   We had a meal in a restaurant (gasp!) which was a real treat.  Downtown Boise was super cute, with lots of boutiques and  restaurants.

Unfortunately the next am, we woke up to heavy rain and thunder.   Our plans to go whitewater rafting were out the door, and there was little to do inside, so we decided to leave a day early for the mountains.   Three hours later we were in Sun Valley, which as the name suggests was actually sunny (though a bit cold).   We spent three nights in Sun Valley, which is a cute town.   We had two nice days of hiking there, though one our our hikes (to Kane Lake) was truncated by a snowstorm.   The third day, the rain started again.   Sigh.

Our second destination was the small town of Stanley in the Sawtooth Mountains.   Stanley is about an hour north of Sun Valley and and absolutely beautiful small town.  Unfortunately the rain continued on our first day there, so we decided to go to some hot springs (there are tons of hot springs   in Idaho,  who knew!)

Luckily, on our last two days in Staley the bad weather cleared, and we enjoyed the spectacular mountains.  We took 2 great hikes.   We also had some surprisingly great food in Stanley, including the best fried chicken we have ever eaten at the Stanley Supper Club.  Ethan also did some fishing and kayaking.

 

On Friday, we headed back west, stopping briefly in Boise for a bite before heading to Winnemucca for the night.   We got back home on Saturday afternoon.

Overall a nice trip, at least we were able to salvage something for the week.   The weather could have been better, but so it goes.  At least we got away.

Dad braves the plane

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Dad bought a house out her that closed at the beginning of May.   However due to the CoVid-19 situation, he was reluctant to travel.   This past week, he decided that things had calmed down enough to make the trip.  

He got a cheap flight (that went though Seattle).  Luckily his flights were both pretty empty.  He did wear a mask the entire time.

Here's a pic from dinner on Friday--our restaurants are still not open so we did take-out pizza at the park!

Since he's been here he has been spending a lot of time at the new house, getting it ready for move in.   Obviously a bit of a daunting task--he has been in his house in Park Ridge for 33 years!  We are super excited about having him out here with us!