Business Trip

My boss arranged a trip for several of the software developers at the Boise office to meet our counterparts at corporate headquarters in Raleigh. As part of the group chosen to travel, I was able to go on my first ever business trip! We left Boise around mid-day Wednesday and got to Raleigh just after 8pm. On the flight out of Boise we were on the same flight as Olympic biathlete Sara Studebaker who was returning to Lake Placid for more training. I'm particularly glad I didn't check a bag - not only did I save $25 in fees but the two people who checked their bags both had them miss our connection in Chicago!

Thursday we spent most of the day at the Morrisville office in a meeting with the software developers and managers from Raleigh. It was actually a very interesting and beneficial meeting as we gained a much better understanding of what really goes on from a technical perspective and how us Boiseonians could benefit from all of the software investment being made at the corporate level. I was very impressed to find a fridge stocked with free pop, great people to work with, and a generally nice office environment. After being in a conference room all day, we adjourned around 4pm to get ready for dinner. We had a nice meal at Firebirds - I had the coconut shrimp which were very good and discovered my new favorite beer: Duck Rabbit Milk Stout. It's like a light stout but with extra creaminess that I've never experienced in a beer. That stuff was so good - I wish I could somehow take some home!

Friday morning we had more meetings which included some other Raleigh staff where they explained some of their technology at the hardware/firmware level and their testing strategies. Once again, all good stuff for us to better understand the company we now work for. We also got a tour of their facility which included some interesting equipment, such as electric meter calibration gear, electro-static discharge (ESD) test equipment, an x-ray machine for identifying component failures, and even an anechoic chamber (used for RF testing). Pretty darn cool stuff! Afterwards, we picked up lunch at a Chick-Fil-A which was actually the first time several of the group had eaten there. After lunch we took a brief tour of the headquarters in Raleigh where most of the my division's management is located. We then drove around town a little before heading toward the airport to catch our various flights.

However I did not go to the airport - I scheduled a late (7:45pm) flight to Nashville so I could spend some time with my family in Tennessee. I was dropped off at the hotel and John, a friend from college and resident of Cary, NC, picked me up from the hotel just after 4pm. I got to meet his girlfriend Crystal and catch up on everything. We had a small dinner at a nearby O'Charleys before I was dropped off at the airport. From there, it was on to Tennessee for a brief family visit!


Morrisville Office


Fridge full of free pop (refilled every day)


Sensus Office in Raleigh

Craters of the Moon Snowshoe

Matt and I decided to go snowshoeing on the 27th. Weather around the state wasn't looking good so we decided upon Craters of the Moon National Monument which seemed to have the most promising forecast. Craters of the Moon is a volcanic area in eastern Idaho with lots of interesting volcanic formations, open terrain, and groomed winter trails. The lava fields, normally black in summer, was instead bright white with snow!

I met Matt just after 6am and then suddenly realized I left my snowshoes at home. D'oh! After driving back to my house to get them we ended up leaving Boise 45 minutes later than we had planned. The drive across the state was a little bit snowy at first but once we got to the Camas Prairie the weather turned into high broken clouds - about the best we could hope for! We parked at the visitor's center and began snowshoeing the groomed road just before 10am. We made good progress and were quickly at the end of the groomed road and had to start breaking our own trail toward the formations we were planning on climbing.

Overall the snow conditions were decent... usually there was a supporting layer underneath a few inches of soft stuff. Some areas were total sugar which was frustrating... but in roughly two hours we attained the summit of Broken Top. After taking in the view, we headed down and over to Big Cinder Butte, the highest volcanic feature in the park. Big Cinder Butte is a neat spot with a commanding view of the surrounding area. The weather appeared to be deteriorating so we quickly descended through the beautiful limber pine forest and headed up Half Cone, a minor summit near Big Cinder Butte. After relaxing on Half Cone for a few minutes it was almost 3pm and with still worsening weather we had to start heading home. The snowshoe back to the car was long and somewhat tiring and we got back to the vehicle under a light snowfall at about 6pm.

When we were roughly a quarter mile from returning to the groomed road, Matt had one of his snowshoes totally fall apart. We were both lucky this happened where it did - if it had happened far from the road we would have had a serious problem likely requiring some Bear Grylls-style improvisation!

A final footnote is that I was stupid and neglected to apply sunscreen because it wasn't sunny... needless to say my red face was the source of comedy at work on Monday. Once again I'm reminded that the red man reaction is not satisfaction!

Trip statistics: 13 miles, 1600' elevation gain, 8 hours

Craters of the Moon Snowshoe Pictures!
Matt's Trip Report

In Memory of Grandpa Dow

Last week I learned that my grandfather had passed away at his home in Tennessee at the age of 86. Always of sound mind, his body gradually failed him as he battled Parkinson's Disease. I'm sad that I will no longer see my Grandpa but his passing does remind me of all of the great memories he left me with.

I have a bounty of fond memories from summer vacations spent at my grandparents' house in Tennessee. Grandpa taught me how to fish which became a highlight of summer. Of course, he would proceed to gut whatever I caught (usually bream or catfish) as I recoiled in horror! I used to love to watch my Grandpa operate his ham radio station (call sign: K4VR) and to play with his radios, learning how they worked and listening to all kinds of interesting transmissions on the HF bands. Those experiences motivated me to eventually become a licensed ham at age 17 (call sign: KF4LAJ). Grandpa was also a famous backseat driver and I fondly remember learning to drive around Winchester while getting rather aggressive suggestions about what I could or should be doing! I would be remiss to not mention his love of seafood (OK, food in general) and his passion for cleaning his plate at every single meal. Every time I clean my plate (which actually seems like most of the time these days!) I can't help but think that he would be proud!

Besides my personal memories, I would also like to share some of many great pictures of Grandpa from my collection. Grandpa, we love you and miss you!

Pictures of Grandpa Dow!

Chimney Peak Snowshoe

Dan invited me on a snowshoeing trip to Chimney Peak in the Soldier Mountains. John also joined in and we left from Boise just after 6:30am. After driving through snow flurries outside of Mountain Home, we popped out into daylight on the Camas Prairie just before 8am. By 8:20am we were on our way.

Dan knew the route since he had been on the peak before. John is in great shape and was willing to lead most of the way and did a great job - I nominate him for an award for excellence in trail breaking! We made good progress and were on the summit just after noon. It was a tad bit windy and cold on the summit so we didn't stay on top too long.

The area is a mecca for snowmobilers but surprisingly we only saw two the whole day - both right near the summit. When we returned to the trailhead there were probably a dozen trailers in the parking lot. On the way back we encountered the Kite Soldiers Snow Kite event (hosted by Snowkite Soliders) which was pretty neat to check out.

Trip statistics: 9 miles, 2100' elevation gain, 5.75 hours

Chimney Peak Pictures!

John's Trip Report
Dan's Trip Report

Happy Birthday

Thursday was my 31st birthday. For various reasons, I opted to take the day off from work. I couldn't come up with an appealing snowshoe trip idea, so I opted to sleep in. Upon waking up, I chose to go up to Bogus Basin Ski Area for some cross-country skiing. It was my first time cross-country skiing and I was able to get a 1-on-1 hour-long lesson for the amazing price of $5. Actually the entire package of ticket, rental, and lesson was only $25 which seemed really cheap to me. The lesson went well and I was pretty quickly able to navigate the beginner and intermediate courses. I had a great time and would like to go back soon!

After spending roughly 3 hours on the snow, I returned home for dinner. Katie and I went to The Front Door for pizza and beer. The pizza was actually really good... we got a pizza that was half double-cut pepperoni (extra thick, in other words) and half pesto & veggie. I'm not sure which half was better - they were both amazing! They also had great beer - I had the Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, Rogue Chocolate Stout, and the Sockeye? ESB. My main peeve was they had the "beer snob" thing going on where they serve you beer in snifters. Totally unnecessary!

In summary, I had a great birthday - I'm sure I will remember my first day cross-country skiing as well as I remember my first day downhill skiing on Super Bowl Sunday in 2001!

To top it all off, on Friday I had a nice birthday dinner with Gary & Bonnie at Red Robin. Upon getting home, I had some tiramisu from the Boise Co-op that Katie picked up. All amazing food but I think I'll have to burn some calories this weekend!

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes and gifts!


View from the Nordic lodge at Bogus Basin


Gorgeous sunset on Bogus Basin Rd in the foothills above Boise

Mountain View Peak Snowshoe

On Sunday, Dan and I met in Boise to go snowshoeing. Because Dan had a Monday meeting in Hailey, we drove separately. In Twin Falls we drove together to Magic Mountain Ski Area, the start of the snowshoe. The goal: Mountain View Peak, a rather lame destination in the Goose Creek Mountains. If we felt interested, we would go over to Grand View Peak (adding 3 miles to the trip).

The snowshoe started off on a groomed road. After we reached some cabins, we followed a trail for a little ways before heading directly up the ridge. Once on the ridge, we followed snowmobile trails to the summit. The views were decent but we declined to go over to Grand View Peak so as to get home at a more reasonable hour.

Since I was driving home in actual daylight, I was able to stop at Malad Gorge just off of I-84. I'd always wanted to check it out and I didn't even realize there were so many waterfalls in the canyon.

Despite being an unexciting peak, it was great to get out for the first time since November and to bag my first peak of 2010!

Mountain View Peak Snowshoe Pictures!

Trip statistics: 5 hours, 10 miles, 1000' elevation gain

New Years and Other Excitement

We never posted a New Years post so.... Happy 2010 to all 5 (10?) readers! Your devotion to my subpar prose and endless boring trip reports is remarkable and appreciated!

Nothing very exciting has been going on here. My job granted me a five day weekend for New Years and Katie got a "measly" four days. We spent New Years Eve at home and shared a bottle of wine that Katie got from one of her customers at work. That weekend was pretty snowy so we mostly stayed inside and I watched a bunch of college football bowl games. The Humanitarian Bowl was the most memorable as the Idaho Vandals achieved a last-second victory over the Bowling Green Falcons. Somewhere in there we watched the movie Up In The Air, which we both enjoyed. It has lots of corporate black humor which is a bountiful comedy gold mine these days. We also had a nice breakfast with Gary and Bonnie at Addie's on Sunday.

Last weekend we saw Avatar 3D. The visuals definitely lived up to the hype and it was easy to believe the computer-generated planet was real. However the story was pretty formulaic. Overall it was a good movie but I don't consider it the landmark of cinema that some perceive it to be.

Yesterday (Friday) we both attended my company's holiday party... it was held at a faux castle called Castle Gardens. The food (mystery fish, salad, potatoes, veggies, bread) was great and so was the open bar. The facility was modern and open and had a decor heavy on medieval themes - suits of armor, tapestries featuring knights, chalices used as water glasses, etc. Overall it was a great venue for a party with 50-100 people.

Today we ran some errands and had a nice lunch at the Boise Fry Company. I had Red Lady Fries for the first time... they were yummy and comparable in quality to the Yukon Golds which are my reigning favorite. My bison burger and Katie's vegan burger were both great too.

Right now I'm watching the NFL playoffs and the game is super boring. I can also see the Christmas tree staring at me wondering why it has been able to stay up so long. Perhaps that is the next project to undertake?

Christmas 2009

For the third consecutive year, Katie and I traveled to Vancouver for Christmas. After getting up at 5am MST on Christmas Eve, we arrived in Bellingham about 9am and met Megan and Dave at the airport. We proceeded to do some shopping before grabbing lunch at Jack in the Box. Sadly our quest for See's Chocolates was aborted... they had run out of chocolates! By the time we got to Vancouver it was mid-afternoon...which meant it was time for my nap! After Panago pizza for dinner, we attended the Christmas Eve service at Kerrisdale Presbyterian Church. After the service, we socialized at the Trant household for a couple of hours. It was good to meet more of the Trant family, puzzle over whatsits, and drink some nice scotch. Upon returning to the Shepherd house, we wrapped presents and performed other preparations for Christmas Day.

On Christmas Day we had the traditional brunch and present opening followed by the evening dinner. It was great getting to catch up with everyone and of course the food was amazing! Also, I opened several nice gifts and a well-stuffed stocking. Thank you everyone for your generosity!

Boxing Day (12/26) was pretty uneventful... about all we did was meet Greg and Carmina for lunch at Dave's restaurant, Cravings. My omelet was awesome - thanks Dave!

On Sunday we all attended a service at the church where the last of Ian's ashes were placed in the memorial garden which he established and maintained. It was the strongest of many reminders that it was the first Christmas since his passing. We all miss you Ian!

Monday we awoke at 4am to return to Boise. The idea was to get to Boise at 9am and then go to work that day. Sadly, we got to the airport less than 30 minutes before departure and the evil airline (Horizon) had given away our tickets to standby passengers. Katie was able to board standby but I had to wait in the Bellingham terminal for another flight five hours later. I spent a little bit of time with Dave and Greg (who had driven us to Bellingham) but sadly there is little to do in "The City of Subdued Excitement" at 5am. After stops in Seattle and Portland (and some beer), I arrived in Boise at 5:30pm. Katie worked all day and picked me up at the airport. Fortunately I only had to work one day that week - I got the 30th, 31st, and 1st off!

Christmas 2009 Pictures!

Christmas Tree

For the second time in three years, we set up our (fake) Christmas tree complete with my shockingly large ornament collection. I also set up the Lionel Pennsylvania train that my parents gave us a few years ago. Note the beautiful stockings made by Grandma Savage!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Goose Creek Mountains Snowshoe Trip

It was Black Friday and I had no desire to do any shopping. The weather looked OK for hiking and after waking up at 6:30am I decided to head for the Goose Creek Mountains south of Twin Falls. Unsure about the snow conditions in the area (Magic Mountain Ski Area reported 6" of snow) I was hoping I could get close enough to my destination. The road into the mountains was snow covered but fortunately with decent tread from other vehicles having packed down the snow somewhat. The Escape made it up until the road started to get steep roughly 2.5 miles from Monument Peak - close enough!

My trip consisted of snowshoeing from the vehicle up to Monument Peak (both summits), then over to Trapper Peak, thence to Flatiron Mountain. Conditions were decent - temperatures in the 40s, overcast, with a light wind. Other than worrying about a lack of daylight, it was a pleasant day for snowshoeing on roads, ATV trails, and a little bit of cross-country terrain. Of course, most of the ridge tops were free of snow so I had to take the snowshoes off on several occasions. The area, normally known for being overrun with ATVs and snowmobiles, was actually pretty quiet. The only people I saw were woodcutters looking for Christmas trees!

Summiting all three peaks enabled me to reach my goal of climbing 25 peaks in 2009. Now I can be lazy for all of December :-)

Goose Creek Snowshoeing Pictures!

Trip statistics: 14 miles, 2600' elevation gain, 5.5 hours

(American) Thanksgiving in Boise

For the fifth year in a row, our Thanksgiving dinner was at Gary and Bonnie's house. As always, Bonnie and her mother Frona did a great job with the dinner - turkey, stuffing, potatoes, sweet potatoes, asparagus, cranberries, and corn were all made and they were all quite delicious. Katie made dinner rolls which were also great for sating my craving for carbs. After dinner, we relaxed around the TV and watched Casino Royale which was airing on the Syfy Channel.

Thanksgiving is always a great time to reflect and focus on what we have. We're thankful for having each other in our lives, our awesome family, our good health, and our stable jobs in these rocky times. We are truly blessed!!


Dinner!

Squaw Butte Hike

I passed up the opportunity to climb The Box in the Pioneers due to weather concerns and lack of interest in a big climb. Since the weather looked good in the Owyhees, I chose Squaw Butte (not to be confused with another Squaw Butte), a reasonably short hike just an hour from home.

After one wrong turn, I made it to the trailhead at about 10:15am. Soon I was on my way up the peak... however I didn't check the map closely enough and started climbing the wrong ridge. Fortunately in this area it is very open and mistakes are easily corrected! The weather down low was very nice...sunny and with just enough breeze to keep me from feeling warm in my winter gear. Up on the summit it was quite windy and colder... I should've brought the balaclava! Needless to say, I didn't spend much time up there despite the great views of the surrounding area. I took a more direct route on the descent, making for a nice loop hike featuring both ridge walks and canyon terrain.

In summary, this was a perfect short Fall hike... I was home by 3:30pm and in time to watch prime time college football!

Squaw Butte Pictures!

Trip statistics: 9 miles, 2700' elevation gain, 3.75 hours

Sinker Butte Hike

For some needed exercise, I opted for a quick Sunday hike to Sinker Butte just south of Boise. It is a pleasant desert hike that starts at the Swan Falls Dam, and climbs out of the Snake River Canyon onto a small prominence on the expansive Snake River Plain. The hike is located within the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area (what a mouthful!) and as expected, raptors are plentiful in the area. This is a very short but enjoyable hike for the late Fall!

Sinker Butte Hike Pictures!

Trip statistics: 5 miles, 1250' elevation gain, 2 hours

Texas Vacation

My parents planned a trip to Texas to visit the family there. Katie and I decided to join the trip since we don't get over there very often. We coordinated our flights so that we both arrived in Dallas at the same time on Saturday the 7th. This worked better than expected as we arrived at our designated meeting spot within a minute of each other!

While in town, we visited with all of our Texas family, some of whom I had not seen in 15+ years (and of course Katie had never met). Everyone was present for the family dinner at Spring Creek Barbeque to both catch up and enjoy the wonderful food! We also made time to tour the new $1.3 billion Cowboys Stadium which is certainly an impressive facility. We also enjoyed several fine meals at area restaurants such as Beto's, Chuy's, and BJ's.

While in Texas, we also visited my Mom's friend Kathy, who was formerly a teacher in the Clay County School District alongside Mom. Kathy had made the decision to retire in Texas to be close to her daughter so our trip provided an opportunity for them to catch up and for us to see her new house.

Sadly, the trip was not as long as it could have been due to limited vacation days. But it was great to see everyone and spend some time in the beautiful Fall weather in Texas!

Texas Pictures!
Mom's Texas Pictures!

Cervidae Peak Hike

Since I hadn't climbed a peak since August, it was high time to get back into the mountains. Being out of shape, I opted for Cervidae Peak, a short hike just outside of Boise which is popular with locals when the bigger peaks are snowbound. I had climbed the peak two previous times, in 2001 and 2008, each time by a different route. This time I chose yet another route since this peak offers countless variations with its open terrain. Also, this was the first time I climbed the peak when it was not under snow.

The hike was uneventful but the route I chose was quite steep, perhaps a little too steep given that I chose to wear trail running shoes. After some morning clouds, the day turned gorgeous with reasonably warm temperatures for November.

Cervidae Peak Pictures!

Trip statistics: 2.5 miles, 1.75 hours, 1800' elevation gain