Our Idaho Snow Vacation
We are back from one of the most memorable vacations we've had in a long time. We flew to Honolulu to meet up with Rich (our son) and Emily, Bryan (12) and Bradley (8) last Thursday evening, January 11. When we left Honolulu to head toward snow country, the temperatures were in the high 70s. When we landed in Boise, Idaho the next morning, it was 23 degrees. Snow was everywhere and these thin-blooded Hawaiians felt the cold to our bones. The first thing we did was drive to a friend's store outside Boise to borrow warm snowsuits for the boys and to Walmart and Target stores to buy warm coats, boots, etc. for the rest of us. Then off to McCall, Idaho, which is two hours away up in the mountains to our final destination. It never got warmer than 9 degrees the whole time we were there.
We arrived at our beautiful lodging, a three-bedroom condo with all the amenities, including a gorgeous stone fireplace that we loved to hover around to stay warm. We arrived after dark on Friday evening, but the boys were so excited to see snow that they begged to go outside and play in it. So we dressed them from head to toe in their snowsuits and sent them outside. It was such a great experience to hear their laughter and giggles as they threw snowballs at each other and lay down in it to make snow angels, etc. for at least an hour.
The first day (Saturday) we took them to a wonderful place to go snow tubing, called The Activity Barn. A farmer who has a very large ranch in the summer months turns his big grazing fields into a wonderful long snow tubing run. He rigged up a cable that automatically pulls you up a long hill in your inner tube and then lets you loose at the top to fly down the hill at fast speeds. The kids loved it and spent two hours up and down the hill---in minus 2 degree weather!!!! Nana and Papa stayed inside around a pot-bellied stove talking to the owners most of the time!
The second day (Sunday) we took them to Brundage Ski Resort and signed them up for two ski lessons---one in the morning and one in the afternoon. By the end of the second lesson, Rich, Bry and Brad were skiing on their own and loving it! They consider this activity their most enjoyable of the trip!
The third day (Monday) Rich, Em, Bry and Brad, and Dick got up very early to meet at the snowmobile rental place with Dick's good friend, Gordon who lives in Boise and joined them for the day. They had 3 snowmobiles between the six of them, suited up in very warm clothes, as it was minus 9 degrees that morning!!! As for me, I stayed behind in the condo, and enjoyed about six hours of luxurious time reading and relaxing in front of a warm fireplace (saying lots of prayers for my crew that braved the bitter cold weather that morning)! They came in about 3:00 in the afternoon, excited about the day and had lots to tell me. I love the fact that Rich is so good at taking lots of pictures on his digital camera, so I was able to experience a lot of what they did through the pictures and tales they had to tell. If you would like to experience all the vacation through Rich's pictures, please check out his blog---just click on Rich's Blog at the top of my blog page.
Tuesday morning we rose out of our warm beds at 5:00 am to make the two hour trip to Boise to catch our plane back to the Islands. Upon arriving at the airport, we learned that it was a bad day for flying with lots of bad weather occurring in the Northwest. We had to reroute all of our flights to go through Seattle instead of Portland, but at the end of it, we got back to Maui at almost the same time as originally planned and the kids arrived in Oahu about 4 hours later than originally planned, but I praise God that the trip was very successful with tons of memories, all of us safe and sound back in our homes, and only a sniffle or two that we caught on our way back on the plane yesterday. God kept us safe, warm and healthy! What an answer to my prayers! We went to the snow in the coldest week of the year, but God saw us through it by His grace and mercy!
It's good to be back home---and hopefully things will fall back into a normal routine for us, but we will recall so many wonderful aspects of our trip to Idaho! Mostly I will remember the giggles and laughter from the boys as they saw snow for the first time in their lives and enjoyed each activity with such glee and expectation! Again, check out Rich's blogs for pictures---they are great!
Glad to be back home in warm Hawaii!
Sandy
We arrived at our beautiful lodging, a three-bedroom condo with all the amenities, including a gorgeous stone fireplace that we loved to hover around to stay warm. We arrived after dark on Friday evening, but the boys were so excited to see snow that they begged to go outside and play in it. So we dressed them from head to toe in their snowsuits and sent them outside. It was such a great experience to hear their laughter and giggles as they threw snowballs at each other and lay down in it to make snow angels, etc. for at least an hour.
The first day (Saturday) we took them to a wonderful place to go snow tubing, called The Activity Barn. A farmer who has a very large ranch in the summer months turns his big grazing fields into a wonderful long snow tubing run. He rigged up a cable that automatically pulls you up a long hill in your inner tube and then lets you loose at the top to fly down the hill at fast speeds. The kids loved it and spent two hours up and down the hill---in minus 2 degree weather!!!! Nana and Papa stayed inside around a pot-bellied stove talking to the owners most of the time!
The second day (Sunday) we took them to Brundage Ski Resort and signed them up for two ski lessons---one in the morning and one in the afternoon. By the end of the second lesson, Rich, Bry and Brad were skiing on their own and loving it! They consider this activity their most enjoyable of the trip!
The third day (Monday) Rich, Em, Bry and Brad, and Dick got up very early to meet at the snowmobile rental place with Dick's good friend, Gordon who lives in Boise and joined them for the day. They had 3 snowmobiles between the six of them, suited up in very warm clothes, as it was minus 9 degrees that morning!!! As for me, I stayed behind in the condo, and enjoyed about six hours of luxurious time reading and relaxing in front of a warm fireplace (saying lots of prayers for my crew that braved the bitter cold weather that morning)! They came in about 3:00 in the afternoon, excited about the day and had lots to tell me. I love the fact that Rich is so good at taking lots of pictures on his digital camera, so I was able to experience a lot of what they did through the pictures and tales they had to tell. If you would like to experience all the vacation through Rich's pictures, please check out his blog---just click on Rich's Blog at the top of my blog page.
Tuesday morning we rose out of our warm beds at 5:00 am to make the two hour trip to Boise to catch our plane back to the Islands. Upon arriving at the airport, we learned that it was a bad day for flying with lots of bad weather occurring in the Northwest. We had to reroute all of our flights to go through Seattle instead of Portland, but at the end of it, we got back to Maui at almost the same time as originally planned and the kids arrived in Oahu about 4 hours later than originally planned, but I praise God that the trip was very successful with tons of memories, all of us safe and sound back in our homes, and only a sniffle or two that we caught on our way back on the plane yesterday. God kept us safe, warm and healthy! What an answer to my prayers! We went to the snow in the coldest week of the year, but God saw us through it by His grace and mercy!
It's good to be back home---and hopefully things will fall back into a normal routine for us, but we will recall so many wonderful aspects of our trip to Idaho! Mostly I will remember the giggles and laughter from the boys as they saw snow for the first time in their lives and enjoyed each activity with such glee and expectation! Again, check out Rich's blogs for pictures---they are great!
Glad to be back home in warm Hawaii!
Sandy
posted by Sandy Fewell at 8:34 AM
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