weekend in paradise

I love to travel. I especially love to travel to places I've never been. Richard says I have an "adventuresome spirit" but I like to reserve that descriptive phrase for skydivers and members of the peace corps.

This week we went on a little getaway to McCall. May is an awkward time to visit a place like McCall. It's too late in the year for skiing or snowmobiling and still too cold for things like hiking or swimming. The first day was snowy and cold so we spent it in the cabin doing puzzles.

Yep- snow on the back porch. In May.

But the next day I was determined to take a day trip to a place I'd never been.

Destination: Yellow Pine - Famous for its annual Harmonica Festival.

Not far from Yellow Pine is a ghost town from Idaho's mining days that I wanted to visit. I mapped it out and on Friday morning we packed our lunch and hit the road. The problem with visiting places you've never been before, especially places very seldom talked about, is that you are taking a few steps into the dark. A few miles into our trip we hit snow. I pushed Richard onward.

Blurry picture, but you get the idea.

By golly we don't have 4-wheel drive for nothin'!

After a few close calls where the truck literally sank in the snow Richard made a patriarchal decision to turn around. By that point I concurred. Ever heard of Jim and Jennifer Stolpa?

So instead we drove to Donnelly and had a picnic lunch on the property Richard's parents recently acquired.

The first three months of this year were pretty grueling for our little family due to an intense busy season for the accountant. The last couple months we have had the chance to spend some quality time together. This little vay-cay was the icing on the cake for us and we really had a great time.

**As a side note, I have since learned that there is a better way to get to Yellow Pine than the road we ventured on. We'll be taking that road on our next trip to Valley County.