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

Boise Sightseeing & Other Happenings..

Happy Halloween everyone!

Last weekend the weather was nice so Katie and I took a little drive a did some sightseeing. Pictures below:
Boise Sightseeing Pictures!

Otherwise, things have been cruising along. My job has been busy with numerous projects, far more than our staff can reasonably tackle right now. The $3.4 billion smart grid stimulus package is expected to make things even more busy. At this point I'm a little worried whether we'll be able to keep up! Also, I've been having some ergonomic issues at work and decided to splurge on a fancy super adjustable office chair. Based on positive experience with the chair at Micron, I chose the Haworth Zody from a local purveyor of office furniture. It cost $600 but I'm confident it will be worth it! When you pay that much for a chair you get to choose the fabric pattern, color, and have a designer vet your choices. Sadly it won't be under my bum for another three weeks or so.

Katie's job has also been keeping her busy, but thankfully there haven't been any working Saturdays with her new position.

As I type we just got our first trick-or-treaters. Last year we only got 20 or so. Next weekend we're off to Texas for a mini-vacation to visit the Vickery family out there!

Turkey Day, eh?!

So, today is the official Canadian Thanksgiving, and we did it up right at the Vickery household! For all of our American readers, you may have always wondered why those crazy Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving at a different time than in the US...well, wonder no more! I've answered this question roughly 40 times in the past 5 days, so I'm basically a professional at this.
Canada doesn't have Plymouth Rock or the Mayflower to celebrate; our Thanksgiving is more of a celebration of the harvest, and since it gets colder earlier in Canada, the harvest is obviously earlier than it is south of the border. We eat the same food, and many of us watch football (both the American & Canadian versions!). It was really strange to me, when I first moved to the US, that Thanksgiving was only a month before Christmas...that's a lot of turkey in a month! So, there you have it...everything you've wanted to know about Canadian Thanksgiving.
Here in Boise, I cooked up a couple of turkey breast tenderloins with rosemary, and made some cranberry sauce from fresh berries (thanks for the recipe, Mom!). We also had Yukon Gold mashed potatoes. Of course I made sure to wish everyone at work a Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! Overall, it was a pretty low-key Thanksgiving - we didn't even get a day off, which is ridiculous in my opinion...I should be able to celebrate all Canadian AND American holidays!! (how great would that be?! I can dream)
This time last year, Mom, Dad, Dave & Greg were all here visiting for the long weekend, and we had a fabulous dinner with Bonnie & Gary. What a fun weekend that was - it was so great to have you all here - and what wonderful memories we have. Wish we could have been in Vancouver for this year's dinner, I'm sure it was excellent!

Other than the celebration of a Canadian holiday, it's been pretty laid-back around here. We got a Wii system last weekend, and have been busy learning all about that - we just got Wii Fit Plus this past weekend, which is really cool - each person has their own character (called a Mii...haha), and you play a whole bunch of different games & do workouts along with a trainer, it's like an interactive video game. Wii Fit has aerobics, strength training, and yoga, along with lots of other things, and it tracks your weight loss & BMI changes. So far we're both really enjoying it, and getting some exercise to boot!

I hope everyone is having a great Monday/Thanksgiving Holiday!
Love,
Katie & Zach

Manitoba!

Katie and I traveled to Manitoba on the 25th to attend her cousin Neil's wedding. For cost reasons we ended up flying into Fargo, ND, instead of Winnipeg, MB. Our flight was uneventful and Auntie Cathy was very gracious in driving down to pick us up at the airport - thank you Auntie Cathy! Dave rode down with Auntie Cathy and we all enjoyed lunch at BW3, did some shopping, then drove up to Miami, MB, where we would spend the night at Grandma's house.

On Saturday we had a nice leisurely morning in Miami and then headed up to Winnipeg for the wedding. The wedding itself was very well done and went off without a hitch. After the wedding, we headed to the hotel (the Winnipeg Radisson) for some pre-reception drinks and general partying. Since the hotel struggled to get our rooms ready, all of us had to crowd into one room - which made it all the more fun! The reception was great and included the standard activites: introduction of the married couple, good food, a few good stories, cake cutting, dancing, an open bar, and a midnight buffet. It also included a few non-standard features: injured breakdancing, a certain someone with ripped pants, chases around the ballroom, and lots of 90s music. In summary, it was a great time, right up there with any wedding I've attended!

Sunday we struggled to recover in the morning but made it to Uncle Gord and Auntie Cheryl's house for a nice brunch. After spending a few hours there, we said our goodbyes and headed to Stony Mountain to visit the Lucas family. We had a great dinner there and also got a chance to catch up with the family and play on the Wii. After dinner we returned to Miami where we spent our final night in the 204.

On Monday, we left Miami around 1pm and Auntie Cathy once again drove to Fargo to safely deliver us to the airport. The trip and flight were uneventful and put us in Boise just before 11pm. Of course we both had to work the next day... but the weekend was well worth it!

Congratulations Neil and Tara!!

Manitoba Pictures!

MVP Camping Trip #2

In 2007, we met our friends Sam & Joey Pilon, Karen and Shaun Mouton (all of Olympia) at the Crow Butte Park in south-central Washington. This trip, appropriately dubbed the MVP camping trip, was a great way to reconnect with old friends and made for an excellent weekend. Sadly, there was no such trip in 2008 but thanks to Facebook a 2009 edition was planned for Labor Day weekend. This trip also featured a new participant, Sam and Joey's 8 month old daughter Cecilia!

Due to last-minute planning of the trip, our camping choices were limited but we were able to secure two adjacent campsites at Memaloose State Park in Oregon, just outside of The Dalles. We had concerns that this would be a lackluster place due to it being one of the few unreserved sites left on Labor Day weekend (as of July). Upon arrival, we were quite impressed that our two sites were together, somewhat spaced from other sites, and wooded. The sites also had water and pretty good restroom ("washroom" for any Canadians reading this) access. The park does have some noise issues with a nearby rail line and freeway, however neither was disturbing enough to consider a major negative.

We had a great time meeting Cecilia, catching up, eating lots of food, drinking beer, taking it easy by the fire... all the usual camping traditions. Joey, Sam, and I took a brief hike down through some of the other areas of the park to check out the scenery. The Columbia Gorge is a fascinating place and is a great locale in which to spend a few nights outdoors! Before leaving we resolved to put together a 2010 edition of the trip.. possibly at Ohanapekosh Campground?

MVP Camping Trip #2 Pictures!

McCleary Band @ The Idaho Botanical Garden

Uncle Gary's band The McCleary Band was playing at the Idaho Botanical Garden as part of the "Great Garden Escape" concert series. After leaving work and having a quick dinner at Subway, I got to the garden around 7:30pm. Katie was unable to attend as she was doing some baking in preparation for our upcoming camping trip.

Having never been to the garden before, I spent a little time checking out the various exhibits which turned out to be quite interesting. There is a large exhibit dedicated to the plants encountered by Lewis and Clark on their travels through various vegetation zones. Having seen many of the plants on hikes around Idaho, it was interesting to learn more about them. I think the Botanical Garden would be especially interesting to visit in the Spring and I definitely plan on going back when there is a little more daylight!

The McCleary Band was excellent as always and Gary was of course on fire. It was a good show that ended a little bit after 9pm in the darkness. The concert atmosphere was great and the entire event was very well put together by the Botanical Garden. They even had Highland Hollow beer on tap!

McCleary Band Pictures!

Diamond Peak Climb

Matt and I had a mutual interest in climbing Diamond Peak, Idaho's fourth highest peak. It is in eastern Idaho, meaning a long drive away. Thus we left Boise about 4:30pm on Friday the 28th. We ate dinner at Arco's Lost River Drive-In. The food was good and they were kind enough to serve fry sauce with the fries. After dinner we headed over to the Little Lost River Valley to find the trailhead and a camping site on the west side of the peak. By the time we turned off the highway it was already dark. After a navigational faux pas, we found the right road and made it up Badger Creek Canyon to a point where the road crosses an ATV bridge which is not suitable for larger vehicles. We were both tired and hit the hay not long after setting up camp.

In the morning we awoke at 6am and started heading up Badger Creek on a great ATV trail. Despite some high clouds the day was warm and pleasant. The canyon is beautiful and features a nice looking creek and many decaying cabins and adits from past mining activity. We were soon at the end of the ATV trail near the headwaters of Badger Creek. From here we hiked cross country up the canyon then up wooded slopes to a buttress leading to Diamond Peak's summit ridge. Gaining the summit ridge was a lot of work on some of the worst steep and loose talus I've ever experienced. Finally we crested the summit ridge, exhausted from slogging up nearly 2000' of terrible rock. The final push to the summit was tiring but uneventful and on much better terrain. It seems like my lungs don't work as well at 12000'+ as they used to!

The peak has a great 360 degree view, most of which was new to my eyes. The mostly uninhabited Little Lost River and Birch Creek Valleys sprawl beneath the peak along with the many summits flanking the said valleys. After spending roughly 45 minutes on top, we began our descent. This was highlighted by skiing roughly 2000' down the loose talus pile, by far the longest talus ski in which I've partaken. From there the hike out was long and punctuated only by us stopping to filter some delicious water from Badger Creek right below its spring source. Yum!

The day was much longer than we had expected and we were very happy to get back to the vehicle and begin the drive home. From the western edge of the Camas Prairie all the way home (90 minutes or so) we got a spectacular lightning show as we drove through the darkness!

Trip statistics: 11 miles, 5150' elevation gain, 11 hours

Diamond Peak Pictures!

Summer Vacation!

We are pleased to report that we had a most excellent summer vacation to Canada! We left our respective jobs around lunchtime on the 14th and began the drive to Bonners Ferry. This drive was uneventful except for us listening to some Spanish language CDs in a futile attempt to learn a new tongue. I think "embajada Americana" is about all either of us remember! After a quick dinner at Subway in the outskirts of Spokane, we arrived about 10pm at the Kootenai River Inn and after briefly surveying the casino we decided to retire for the night. I think our expectations were set too high in Las Vegas!

After a nice sleep at the hotel, we were intrigued to discover a farmer's market going on just across the highway near downtown. We checked it out and ended up with some delicious bagels, doughnuts, and kettle corn! It was a small farmer's market, but very well done. We didn't buy any of the excellent-looking produce since we couldn't take it across the border.

Our drive from Bonners Ferry to McDonald Creek Park was uneventful. The border lineup (Porthill, ID) consisted of about 2 cars and the questioning was similarly brief. We did get some rain along the way, which is always discouraging on a camping trip. Fortunately it had moved through the campground by the time we got there. We must've brought some good weather since we didn't get rained on once during our stay! The first night at the campground was pretty crazy as we had approximately 19 people at the site for dinner that night. From there, things slowly quieted down over the course of our stay.

Monday featured a memorial service for Ian, in which some of Ian's ashes were placed at the park and balloons were cast to the sky. It was of course a very sad ceremony but also one I found to be very appropriate given his love for camping at McDonald Creek. You are missed Ian!

On Tuesday, Auntie Margaret, Megan, Dave, and I went on a hike to Idaho Peak. The drive over to Sandon was a little bit long and the final stretch of Forest Service road was kind of wild on the steep, one lane road that leads to the trailhead. However once we were hiking we were rewarded with epic views and easily the best wildflower display I've seen anywhere. I was actually astonished with how many people were up on the peak... probably 25 other people at least, maybe more. The register had names from all over BC, the US, and especially Europe. I must say I do understand the appeal!

The rest of the trip was defined by relaxation, swimming, kayaking, checking out places in Nakusp, and my reading of one of Bill's favorite books, Expert F#. We also had two meals at the Mushroom Addition in Fauquier, which is the only restaurant I've encountered which serves a wild mushroom mix with their burgers. Highly recommended!

On Thursday (the 20th) we returned to Vancouver and on the way stopped at Helmut's in Vernon for some excellent bison pepperoni. I think I need to find a supply for that stuff closer to home because it's really good!

In Vancouver Katie visited with her friends and I went hiking to Mount Seymour, a popular local hiking destination. The hike was enjoyable but the views were sadly marred by clouds. At least I got to experience the views while snowshoeing up there in February 2006! Our dining experiences in town were pretty limited, consisting only of Panago Pizza (yum) and wings (not so great; the URL is false advertising).

The evening before we left, I noticed a tire on the Escape was looking pretty low. Sure enough, it was down to 15psi. I hit some kind of debris on the way up to Mt Seymour and that apparently damaged the tire. Fortunately with more air it was good to drive home. After getting back home, it turned out we needed to replace the tire (and thus the other three too). Annoying, but at least it didn't mar our otherwise excellent vacation!

Summer Vacation Pictures!
Idaho Peak Pictures!
Mount Seymour Pictures!

Anniversary Dinner

For our anniversary dinner we went for sushi at Fujiyama. We got an appetizer of Beef Negimaki and the Linda, Fuji Mountain, and Red Dragon sushi rolls.

The Fuji Mountain was the best tasting (ah, the magic of tempura):


Although the fire dragon was the most artfully presented:


Yay for five years of marriage!