Friday Quick Takes: 7 Surprises about Living in Idaho

We've lived in Idaho for a little over 3 years now.  So I've had a little bit of time to think over some of the ways life out here has surprised me with its differences from our previous life on the East Coast.  Here are seven things that have surprised me about living in Idaho:

Finishing a stroller run with a hike in the woods.

1.  It is not as rural as you might think.  Right now we are living in a regular, ole neighborhood with sidewalks and playgrounds and running water and trash pick up and all that stuff.  My childhood home in northeast Florida is more rural than where I live now!  5 minutes from Target and 30 minutes from Nordstrom (woohoo!).  On the other hand, it doesn't take long to be out in the mountains with no cell reception, surrounded by nature.  Best of both worlds?!

Suburban life!

2.  The seasons are amazing.  I know I talk about weather so much that I am starting to sound like an old person, but seriously, the weather is fantastic.  We get all four seasons, without a crazy hot summer or a crazy cold North Dakota-style winter.  (So far.)  Half way through October, I was still wearing flip flops.  It's February, and I'm back in flip flops.  Take that, Boston! 

The view from Lookout Pass

3.  Idahoans love their motor sports.  We live close to four different downhill skiing spots, so I expected that there would be a lot of downhill and cross country skiing enthusiasts.  But I did not expect sports like snowmobiling and motor cross (i.e., the noisier outdoorsy sports!) to be so popular here.  Seems like everyone has a couple of snowmobiles or dirt bikes stashed in their garage!

Hiking in the National Forest - we saw more ATVs than hikers!

4.  Nobody is actually an Idaho native.  Well, I am only slightly exaggerating.  =)  It seems like even our friends who went to grade school here, weren't actually born here.  Which makes it a lot like Florida.  I mean, I'm from Florida, but then again, I'm really not. ;)

 5.  Lilly Pulitzer, smocked baby clothing and little Stride Rite shoes do not exist here.  Dorothy, we are not in the South anymore! Fashion (for adults too, not just kids!) is completely different in the inland northwest.  I'd love to do some more posts about Idaho fashion, since I love fashion, but I'm not very fashionable myself, so I'd certainly not be an expert!

Smocked bubble suit!

6.  No air conditioning.  There are brand new homes built here without air conditioning.  That seems so strange to me.  But there are plenty of people who seem not to mind?  My university dorm did not have air conditioning, but it was built a hundred years ago or something!

I just had to post another of his cute outfits. =)

7.  People are *passionate*.  For a small town, there are a lot of people who feel very strongly (and make their opinions known!) about a lot of different things - just take a look at the letters to the editor of our local paper! ;) 

And a bonus: People are really nice here.  During my first week here, my car died in the Lowe's parking lot.  As I was trying to crank it up, a man walked over, simply popped the hood, worked some magic and got it going for me!  I was so amazed by this random act of kindness and have met many other kind people here.

I'm sure I'll discover more surprises and I know there are others that I can't recall right now.  We feel fortunate to live in such a beautiful spot, just hate that it is so far from family.  Thank God for Southwest Airlines!

Have you been to Idaho?  Are you an Idahoan?  Any surprises about life where you live?

Go here for more Friday Quick Takes! 

Hiking at English Point

There are some lovely hiking trails just 10 minutes north of our house, and we finally got out to explore them recently!

You know our little hiker had the best time. 

We only did the shortest section of trails since we were letting him walk. 

But we'll definitely go back with the hiking backpack and do more.

M was totally soaked from jumping in puddles, but he had a great time. 

We relaxed afterwards with drinks and garlic fries at the Marina on Hayden Lake.  Isn't summer awesome?!

Independence Day: Camping in a Grizzly Habitat

Hello!  I hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend!  Its my favorite non-religious holiday - I love celebrating this beautiful country that I am fortunate to live in.

This year we celebrated with a VERY rustic camping trip in northern Idaho - yes, even further north than we live now! ;)

We drove up to Priest Lake hoping to catch a first come, first-served campsite on the lake (i.e., "camping light" because you can get running water/restroom access, but really, my style of camping.). All the brochures promote Priest Lake as "the crown jewel of Idaho" so I figured it was time to see for ourselves.

Turns out, they were right - it IS beautiful!

Every campground that we passed on the lake was totally full!  I was shocked.  D remarked about how funny it is that we now live in a state where everyone camps.  Very different from the East Coast!

We headed north up Plowboy Mountain towards a "dispersed camping" spot that D had stumbled upon while hunting last fall.

On the way up the mountain, D tells me that we should "manage our expectations" which really turned out to be code for "be prepared to live like a pioneer for the next few days." =)

After a 6 mile bumpy drive up a dirt Forest Service road, we arrived here:

There were a lot of good spots to set up our tent, and it also had a fire ring and a lot of wood already chopped and ready for our camp fire. 

He just loved playing in the tent!

 And it was about as quiet and peaceful as you can get!  It was a very nice spot and we all had a lot of fun there.  It was definitely off the grid, so my husband was thrilled, but I laid awake all night long trying to devise our escape plans in the event of an emergency (i.e., bear attack)!

Bear locker provided so the bear will only eat you, and not your food.

We toasted our nation's independence by exploring the mountain, roasting hot dogs over the fire for lunch and dining on a gourmet venison dinner. 

Grass-fed, lean, and all organic too!

We didn't see any big game, mostly because M & I did our best to scare them away with our normal noise level, much to D's disappointment.  Although two cars drove by our camp site and stopped to tell us that there was "fresh bear scat" just around the curve from us, and asked if we had seen any bears.  Yikes! #toocloseforcomfort

 M loved exploring and playing in the woods and we all got a chance to get some fresh mountain air.  It was a beautiful weekend, but we were thankful to get home to our showers, a/c and cozy beds. =) 

Icy cold stream won't bother this guy!

 After we came back down the mountain, we did one short hike along the lake shore.  It was really beautiful, M splashed in the water and we found another awesome beach camping spot.  Hope we can get back to claim that one next time!

Awesome little beach on the west side of Priest Lake

 It was definitely an adventure, we'll be back to do some more exploring of this pristine area!

Anyone ever been to Priest Lake?  Seen a bear?

One Day in Seattle (Is Just Not Enough!)

Hello and Happy June!

We drove to Seattle over the weekend to meet up with an old, dear college friend who was vacationing from Philly.  The trip was too short but we had a wonderful time.

The drive across Washington is beautiful -- there is not much commercial development but the terrain changes from high desert to beautiful green, striking mountains as we approached the Cascades.

The Columbia River in central Washington

We stayed at the Westin downtown (Priceline'd it!) which is just a short walk from the Pike Place Market, the Seattle Center and lots of shopping.

We met our friends for breakfast on Saturday at Bacco Cafe.  Then we walked around the Market, saw the fish-throwing guys and the most beautiful peonies I have ever seen in my life!  They were so big and full and gorgeous.  I'm still mad at myself for not buying any.

Pike Place Market

We took the monorail over to the Seattle Center to visit the Children's Museum.  Our friends have a daughter who is 2 weeks younger than M, so they were hilarious/adorable to watch.  M loved all the water features and completely soaked himself.  He also enjoyed driving a pretend taxi and playing with balls.  The Children's Museum was really nice and not terribly crowded for a Saturday.  It's a nice place to visit if you need to be inside and let the kids out of the stroller.

My happy little taxi driver

After lunch, we walked back to our hotels to get the cars and drive out to Carkeek Park.  It was packed!!  Whew.  The kids played on the playground and threw rocks into the water.  It was pretty neat to see all of the cruise ships going north to Alaska.  And the park had a bridge which goes over a train track, so the kids loved watching the trains pass by and waving to the conductor.

Toes in the Puget Sound

We had an awesome dinner at the Bick's Broadway Grill, close to the park, which is set in an old house and had a really nice atmosphere.  From there we had to say goodbye to our friends so they could catch their red-eye back to the East Coast. =(

On our drive home, we stopped by Kerry Park for some sunset photos of downtown.  The park has some epic views, and Saturday was perfect because the sky was nearly cloudless.  Plus, it was prom night (!) and the park was filled with highschoolers taking prom pictures - you know I love seeing some prom fashion! 

Seattle skyline from Kerry Park

We didn't do much on Sunday before hitting the road - we had breakfast at the Pike Place Grill and went to Ikea.  At breakfast, M looked over at me with a big smile on his face and said "Mommy big nose."  Well, gee thanks, lovey! =)  Haha.

5 Stars for the Pike Place Grill because they gave M a balloon, which we are still playing with today!

D kept remarking "wow, this really is a big city!" which made me laugh.  There was a lot of traffic and the houses seem to all be practically right on top of one another, but it is a beautiful area, and we really only saw a little bit of the downtown area.  I hope we'll have more trips to the area in our future because there's a lot over there that I want to explore!

The Cascades on our drive home

Thanks Seattle and thanks to the Q family for a wonderful weekend!

The picturesque Puget Sound

Family Hikes: Memorial Day at 4th of July Pass

We spent the morning of Memorial Day hiking up at 4th of July Pass.

It's a beautiful, lush green spot with a ton of trails for hiking.  It's a great spot - and only 20 minutes outside of town!  Our toddler was in HEAVEN.  He loved walking the trails, spotting snails, centipedes and moose droppings (and you should here him say "moose droppings" - hilarious!).  We probably covered about 2.5 miles in 2 hours because we were mostly walking at the speed of a 2 year old. =)  We don't have a hiking baby carrier (yet) so we let him walk or he would ride on Dad's shoulders. 

Talking about bugs.

I printed out the trail map from the Panhandle Nordic Club website and it was very clear and easy to follow.  The signs for the trails were well-marked.  The parking area is just off of the interstate exit and there are toilets at the parking area.  We didn't see anyone else out while we were hiking, but there were a couple other cars at the parking lot.

He loves to say: "Don't fall in da wadee!" [water]

It was a beautiful day and a great post-race recovery - we'll be back for sure!

With my favorite little hiker

CDA Half Marathon: I Survived! (Race Recap)

I ran/walked the CDA Half Marathon Sunday morning.

This was my second year running this race.  The course was entirely different this year: still some hills but very shady and beautiful.  I thought it was a great course.

The race benefits the Centennial Trail Foundation, so it makes sense to have the course feature some of the most beautiful stretches of the Centennial Trail.

I woke up at 5 for the 7:30 start.  Last weekend before my trail run, I felt like I didn't have enough to eat and had too much water before the race.  This time I got it right: I had 1/2 a bagel, banana and half a cup of coffee.  I also sipped some water occasionally up until about 15 minutes before the race started.  I drove downtown around 6 because I wasn't sure how tough it would be to park.  Needless to say, I got a spot 1 block away from the start, whoop whoop!  #winning  I walked down to try to exchange my shirt at late packet pick up in the resort, but they were only doing exchanges after the race.  I tried to use the bathroom in the resort across the hall from packet pick up and they had locked the doors!!  Boo on you, CDA Resort!  #notrunnerfriendly.

Marathoners started at 7 am and Halfers started at 7:30.  It was nice and cool, in the low 50s for the start.  There was an adorable kid playing his guitar and singing just around the corner from the start - he was rocking out! 

I planned to take walk breaks every 5 minutes so I wouldn't completely bonk.  I ran the first 2 miles and then started my 30 sec walk breaks.  I didn't end up doing this exactly every 5 minutes because I walked thru a few of the water stations and didn't walk any downhills.  I didn't take my gel until 1 hour in, which might have been a little too late because I started to feel pretty pooped around miles 7-8, and I think those may have been my slowest miles.

I chatted with a really nice woman around mile 10 - she was from Naples, FL!  She had the prettiest southern accent and we traded stories about the Sunshine State.  We parted ways at a water stop, but she totally zoomed by me shortly before the finish line.

My time was 15 minutes slower than last year.  Yikes!  That's a lot, but that is what I get for not getting the long runs and workouts in.  I have been running a couple of days a week, but just jogging along for 2-4 miles is not the path to improvement.  I am still glad that I did it and glad to have finished healthy.  Here's to a great start to summer. 

In Brief:
Expo: small, packet pick up is a breeze, shirts are good
Half Mary: About 900 runners/walkers, out & back course (marathoners do 2 laps, so you get to see them run by), some teeny hills, 1 moderate hill, shady with good crowd support, except for coming up out of Sanders beach - where was everyone??!!
Post-race: line for water (wish they had bottles, or some prepped!) was kind of long, bananas, bagels, oranges, cookies, beer garden (but we didn't stick around for it), cool medals (much better than last year)

Trail Maniacs State Park Series #1 - Farragut State Park 5 Miler

Last weekend I ran in the first annual State Park Series hosted by the Trail Maniacs.

What a blast!

The SPS is a series of trail runs held at gorgeous state parks in Idaho and Washington all summer long.  There was a 5 mile race and a half marathon race, I opted for the 5 miler because I have my half marathon this weekend (gulp).

I did not have a fast race, but it was a ton of fun!  The scenery is incredible and the atmosphere was really nice too.

We drove up as a family, and D & M were able to explore and play while I ran.  The course had some ups and downs, with one steep hill that I had to walk up.  It was very shaded and picturesque as we ran along the shoreline of Lake Pen d'Oreille.  I was amazed at how sore my feet and lower legs were on Sunday and Monday - mostly from the rockiness and unevenness of the trail - but that is trail running in north Idaho!

It took me about an hour and three minutes to complete the run.  Whew, it was tough - trail running is so different from road running.  They had a great set up of grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, chips, cookies, beer, water and soda available as some post-race goodies.  I ate more than I should have - doesn't everything taste better after a nice, hard run?  There was also a raffle for some cool running gear - sadly, I didn't win anything - next time!

After the race, we hiked around and checked out some of the views.  The park was a Naval Training Station in WWII (yes, I said Navy in land-locked Idaho), so there are some old remnants from those days.  Then we got on our bikes and biked over to one of the campgrounds where our friends were camping.  We will definitely be back to camp this summer.  We've heard the park gets pretty busy as it warms up, but there is so much more there that we want to explore.

The race and the day spent at the park was a lot of fun and I am hoping to participate in some of the other races in the series this summer.  M was in heaven just getting to wander around, play in the woods/grass, throw rocks, etc.  When I picked him up after the race, I noticed that his shoes and pants were wet.  D said he had looked away for .02 seconds and of course, he was already in the water.  Haha!  He is definitely an outdoorsy kid, isn't he?!  It was a long day with all of the running, biking and hiking, but being outside was good for all of us.  We are so lucky to have such beautiful resources so close to home. 

I highly recommend a day (or more) at Farragut State Park and a run with the Trail Maniacs!

Have you done a trail run?  Tell me about it!

Big Sky, Montana

We spent New Years in Big Sky, Montana with my extended family.  When they say "the biggest skiing in America" they aren't kidding!

We stayed in a wonderful home ("Twin Lift Lodge") that was across the street from the White Otter chair lift.  We could actually put our skis on by the front door and ski down the driveway to the chairlift, which whisked us over towards the main base area.

The house was great for our family because it had a couple different sitting areas, so the kids could be playing in front of the fire while my brother and dad vegged in front of the bowl games.  It had tons of windows with great views of the mountains, including Lone Peak (the highest peak in the area).  One down side was that there weren't enough dining chairs for everyone to eat together.  We had 13 people but there were only 6 chairs at the table and 4 seats at the bar.  Not a big deal, just something to note.

Points to Note:

• the driveway to our house was steep, but not too steep.  we didn't know what to expect, but I think in the future, I would always call to find out what the driveway was like, considering we aren't super experienced winter drivers.  there was some other homes on our street that had REALLY steep driveways!
• Big Sky resort has a great parking set up - we could pull right up to the main base area and park for 15 minutes for free to drop off folks for ski lessons and daycare.  they also had a quick shuttle system between the free lots and the main base area - the little kids thought it was pretty fun to ride this open air shuttle (essentially a trailer with benches on it towed by a truck) and it was smooth and efficient
• that said, I couldn't imagine doing Big Sky without a car - there are a lot of different housing options but most of them seem like they are too far away to just walk to the lifts
• take the first day to acclimate!  for the second year in a row, we spend the first day visiting in the cabin, not skiing.  this has really helped me to acclimate to the altitude, and makes the rest of the week more enjoyable
• there's only one road up the mountain to the base of the ski area!  we went down to the Meadow Village to shop on our last day and we got stuck for 20 minutes because a truck was blocking traffic up the mountain.  We needed to get back up the mountain to pick up the babies from daycare, and thankfully my mom was able to pick them up because we weren't moving.  I started to panic about not getting back in time to pick up M, so in the future, I need to plan better so that I can avoid this type of thing! 

All in all, it was a fantastic trip.  The skiing was unforgettable, even the last day where I nearly got blown off and then stuck on the lift (yes, both!), and then nearly panicked trying to ski back to the base due to the crazy high gusty winds - future post to come on that! 

Trail of Terror 5k Race Report

Saturday I did the Trail of Terror 5k with M in the stroller -- our first stroller race!

There was a 1/2 marathon option too.  Considering he was yelling "All done" when we still had a quarter mile left to go in the 5k, I think we made the right choice by not running the longer distance. =)

This was a fun race.  The weather was perfect - cool and crisp and the race is out on country roads that back up to the mountains so it can't be beat.  People dress up in costumes, so M wore his Leopard costume.  He was a fan favorite of course, and it kept him warm too!

Staying warm in the car before the race

We finished under 30 minutes (barely) which I was glad to see, but my mile #2 was pretty slow.  There was another lady pushing a jogging stroller too and she and I kept passing each other on the long uphill during the second mile.  I'm sure we were quite a sight, and she had a dog with her too!  I was impressed.  I was dragging on the uphill and even walked for a minute or two so I tried to let it loose on the downhill.  Happy with my 8:35 mile #3!

Pre-race snuggles!

 We got a fun key chain and a growler at the finish line, along with a bunch of Halloween candy.  You can tell I don't drink beer much because I didn't even know what a growler was.  1/2 marathon finishers also got a medal.

Post-race, trying to catch my breath!

A fun race with a nice and chill post race party.  M and I shared some pizza, watched the awards and listened to the music at the after party.  He also enjoyed running around after the race, hopefully he'll want to do his own 5k some day!  I  really liked this race - we'll be back next year!

Gorgeous North Idaho!

Catholics Craving More

I attended an inspiring gathering last week.

It was the first gathering of our new Pray and Play group for Catholic Moms.  It was a small group, we were surrounded by our chaotic children (childcare not finalized yet), and we didn't even have coffee!  But I was so thrilled to meet other women raising young kids who want to nurture a faith-filled and Christ-centered household, and ALSO want to actively serve our parish(es) and our local community!

 I was really encouraged to meet some other women in this area, in the same stage of life who are eager to grow in our faith and to implement it more in our daily lives - this is what I mean by "Catholics craving more!".  I am thankful for this group, hopeful that it will be able to continue, and looking forward to participating and growing in faith with these women.

Hayden Lake Marathon, Half Marathon and 10K

Last weekend I ran the first annual Hayden Lake 10k with my runner girlfriends!  What fun!

This was the first year for the Marathon, Half Marathon and 10k.  The full marathon goes all the way around the lake!  I'd like to do it one day, but for this year we settled for the 10k distance.

It was a ton of fun - a gorgeous course that climbs up gently in the first half, has a steep downhill around the halfway point and then rolls gently along the lake shore back to the start line.  The 10k started at 9 (the longer distances at 7 am) so it was still a little chilly at the start, but we warmed up pretty quickly as we climbed the hills.  We started out slowly, chatting along the way and admiring the views.  There wasn't much traffic along the roads and there were plenty of volunteers holding traffic at a few spots.  I know some folks had written in to the local paper to complain about the race, but at least for the 10k, we didn't see much car traffic, so I don't think we impeded the folks driving along the road all that much.

About halfway through the race, we turned down a sharp downhill and at this point I lost my friends because I just let the hill take me down.  This probably wasn't the most responsible way to run, but all I could say was "whee!" and be glad that I didn't trip and fall and roll right into the lake!  Then it was flat to gently rolling back to the starting line down at Honeysuckle Beach.  I finished in a hour, so I was pleased considering that I hadn't done any specific training and didn't study the course beforehand.  I set out to have a fun experience, and that is what it was.

The 10k was super scenic, so I know the other distances were too.  The half marathon runs through some very pretty neighborhoods on the northwestern side of the lake, and we all agreed that we wanted to train for that distance next year.

The finisher shirts were awesome, and the half and full marathon finishers got some cool medals.  They had plenty of food at the finish, including three different kinds of delicious soup and free Qdoba!  (Yeah, I kind of stuffed myself after the race!)  And yes, we waited an hour after we finished for our free food, haha!  But we got to watch the half marathoners and full marathoners finishing and that was super inspiring!

Modeling my finisher t-shirt!  Half marathoners and full marathoners got long sleeve shirts.

I also have to mention that this race is a bargain - we paid $25 as the late registration for the 10k.  I think the longer distances were good prices too.  I only heard one half marathon finisher mention that the first aid station was at mile 6 and she wished it had been earlier.

This was a wonderful way to spend a beautiful Saturday morning!  I hope to make this an annual event!