Sunday, December 21, 2008

Guffey Butte Hike

On Saturday, Dan and I went on a short hike to a little known butte near the Snake River, just outside of Boise. It was a little bit cold and snowy but still made for an enjoyable 2+ hour hike. Since I haven't been getting out much lately due to the snow, it was very nice to spend some time outdoors!

Guffey Butte Pictures!
Dan's Trip Report

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Goings on...

Nothing too eventful has been going on at the Vickery abode. Last weekend, I went hiking on Saturday and on Sunday we watched the movie Australia. We both liked the movie, which is a very watchable (if a little overly dramatic) historical epic. The Hollywood elements are a little overdone... but that's the movies I suppose!

This weekend we have mostly been doing Christmas shopping and getting cards and packages ready to mail. Yes, we do wait until the last minute! Hopefully once we get things mailed in the next day or two we'll have most of our work completed.

For those that haven't heard, we will be spending Christmas in Vancouver with the Shepherd clan. We will likely drive all night (cue the Celine Dion song) from Boise after I get off from work on the 23rd. Since I have a new job, I have little time off to use and thus we are forced into a compressed trip. Of course, if I had stayed at Micron, I'd be forced to take 2 or 3 weeks off for Christmas. Choices choices!

Boise did finally get some real winter weather this weekend. So far the winter has been mild but it looks like it will be snowy and icy for the next several days at least. Hopefully things warm up before our upcoming trip!

Our house on Sunday:


View down the street:

South Mountain Hike

Last weekend, Dan and I decided to take a hike up to South Mountain in the Owyhee Mountains south of Boise. Despite it being December, little snow had fallen in the mountains and this remote area was still accessible. Dan and I had an easy hike in surprisingly warm weather with very little snow. After visiting the lookout atop South Mountain, we made a quick ascent of nearby Peak 7757.

After our trip, we returned home and had a late lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant while watching the SEC Championship Game. Go Gators!

South Mountain Pictures!
Dan's Trip Report

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

American Thanksgiving Weekend

Katie and I both enjoyed our four-day weekend! Of course we wish they were more common!

On Thursday we went to Gary and Bonnie's for a most excellent turkey dinner. Bonnie's mother Frona was in town from Colorado, and we all enjoyed the fine meal prepared by the two of them. I think the biscuits were my favorite dish, but that's just the "carb addict" in me!

On Friday we did some "Black Friday" shopping. We were hoping to get pedestals for our front-loading washer and dryer, however we were informed that Sears discontinued the color used for our set. No dice! Disappointed, we either wisely or foolishly we went to the Verizon Wireless store to look at phones; we ended up walking out with each of us owning a fancy new phone: the LG Voyager. So far they've proven to be very nice despite some initial usability difficulties with the touchscreens. These phones allow web surfing which I'm still trying to figure out.

The rest of the weekend was generally uneventful. I watched some football and Tivo recordings. We talked about putting up Christmas decorations but decided to wait until next weekend. Katie has been doing some Christmas baking (an amazing variety of treats) so its definitely starting to feel like Christmas!