Biking out East Fork

Oh yes, we not only raft down the river we bike around it as well.  Zach has been anticipating the annual bike trip to the East Fork of the Salmon for a few months now.  15 or so friends gathered together for some fun in the sun, rain, and mud for a weekend of mountain biking around the White Cloud mountains.  I'm relieved to say I hung in there and even managed to earn the honors of "Queen of the Mountain" for making it up the summit first.  Going down the mountain, on the other hand, seems to be where I always perform my best acrobatics over my handle bars.  Needless to say I'm proud when I make it back from a ride with all my teeth :)  Zach managed to bike every day probably clocking over 50 miles!

At the campground some feral chickens seemed to have taken residence.  This provided us with hours of distress while we did our best to distract Lucy from chasing them down for dinner.  Her leash got shorter and shorter over the weekend.  I'm sorry to saw there were some casualties in the end luckily by some friends dogs and not our girl...we think.

The Stevensons made new parenting look easy with the twins for three days of camping and biking.  The babies seemed to love camping as much as their parents. 

Overall it was a gorgeous place to be for the past three days and there was a lot to see and do.  Goodness Idaho is a pretty state!

Not So Bad

I have to admit I wasn't looking forward to turning 31.  Thanks to my husband though it became a great day!  Zach, Lucy, and I headed North for the day behind Redfish Lake in the Sawtooth Mountains.  We took the boat shuttle across the lake at 9am and then had the mountains to ourselves.  We climbed about 2000 ft. to a series of lakes called, Saddleback.  Save for a few climbers on the "Elephant's Perch" (a well known climbing destination in our area) it was just us and the lake.  We had a nice lunch, some swimming, and a nap before casually heading down the mountain.  It's obvious why locals call this area "Shangri-la".  

I guess I learned being 31 is not so bad after all.  I know I wouldn't trade anything to go back in years just to save on some grey hairs.  Thanks to all my family and friends for making this birthday wonderful!

New Table

What do you do when you have a tight budget, small space, and big aspirations for a new dining table?  Build it yourself...

After months of planning, crafting, salvaging, and hard work we have finally completed our new dining table!  We had a local welder build-up our steel frame from 1 1/2" tube.  I contacted some friends in the flooring business, Stromberg Moore, who kindly gave us left over alder flooring planks in different widths.  Zach, Nick, and I cut, screwed, and glued the pieces together to make a solid surface for the dining top.  Then another friend at Fresh Air Finishes, Tom Walcher, generously sealed the top with a water based finish that is stronger then any standard oil finish and arguably more beautiful (not to mention good for the environment).  We have two extensions that can be added on either end so we can seat 10 if needed.

Wallah!  We couldn't be happier :)  

Thanks to everyone for all your help and making our table vision a reality!

On to the next project...

Salmon River 2010

Another great adventure rafting with the Latham, Nickum, and Ziegler families on the Main Salmon River.  We had a group of 16 ranging in age from 6-60yr.  There were three river "newbies" including Marc from France, Margo from L.A., and Maddox from kindergarten.  We had a blast!  We saw herds of big horn sheep, and bald eagles.  We revisited all the historic cabins and stories of the river while rafting through some wild rapids.  Seven days and six nights in complete wilderness with only a rubber boat as your transportation.  Pictures can only explain our experience better.

Just Back

...from the Salmon River.  

Stories and photos to come :)

4th Festivities

We celebrated in traditional Hailey, Idaho fashion by attending the rodeo for the last time in the arena on Saturday.  Sunday Nick, Jean, Zach, and I biked to Main Street to watch the town parade.  Later we watched the bike criterium (a bike race held on a short course run on closed-off city streets) around the main square.  And finally it was BBQ's and fireworks with friends that evening.

I even had a hot dog...well veggie dog.  Happy Birthday America!

PS- We've been packing for our river trip on the Main Salmon.  It's going to be hot and wet and looking forward to it!

Summer Time Rolls...

Is it July already!  Wow, how time flies in the summer time.  My garden is making progress and we have already been harvesting radishes and mesclune lettuce every night.  If Zach didn't like radishes before he does now.  They are huge and scrumptious!  If your interested let me know because we've got much to spare.

And this is the best time for our berms in the front yard.  A majority of the year they sit dormant or looking haggard but they are in full bloom right now with red poppies and purple lavender.  The Shasta daisies are on their way!  It will be a red, white, and purple front yard just in time for the 4th.

*All photos taken by Zach except for the Shasta daisies that are just about to bloom :)