Fall & Heading South Again

The Sierras are always a sight. This is on I-80 on our trip to Cali.

Looks a lot like Idaho, but it's right by Lake Tahoe.

Gracie wandering in a Meadow near Lake Tahoe.

A fall day up at the lake.

Walking the dogs in Armstrong Redwoods. So awesome that Piroska neniek spent my last weekend in the States with us. We had two rounds of fresh fish & chips and two trips to the beach.

Even had a picnic lunch in the park.

Cookie is a natural!

This is still Bodega Bay, but nearer the bay itself than the beaches. A gorgeous sunset!

Fish & Chips round 1 of 2. :)

Our last meal in Christchurch with friends at Annie's Wine Bar, very delicious!

A fantastic last meal in New Zealand!!!

Springtime in the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch. Lots of apple & cherry trees in bloom, and daffodils all over.

Our first dinner in Christchurch was Thai at a new to us place, since Ironside was closed due to earthquake damage. Matt, a good friend and winter-over, joined us too.

Dave, back in a helicopter for a Marble Point fuel traverse (it was 3 days long).

One of our first nights back in town was so gorgeous and dark. Pretty sunsets.

Yay, Julie (college friend) and I at the Hut 10 party. So awesome she's down here.

The plane we came in on. Same one as the first plane I ever fueled, a week later.

In Christchurch boarding our plane.

Fall went by quickly! It was a wonderful trip to Reno to see family, and we even took some smaller trips, one to Lake Tahoe and a really awesome 3 day trip right before I left to the ocean with Piroska neniek. Mom & I caught an Engelbert Humperdinck concert, which was fun. And our trip south through New Zealand was wonderful as usual, albeit very brief this time due to flights. Amazing meals and strolls through the gardens made it phenomenal. And we've been back to McMurdo for 3 weeks already, which is hard to believe. I'm loving my new job. Trying to adjust to working outside all the time still, but in love with the view from everywhere I go. Currently I'm on the Pegasus project...unrolling 13 miles of flexible, 6-inch fuel hose to Pegasus airfield, where they will be landing planes in a few months. Dave is helping with supplies for field camps. Good times here, and we have a sweet couch in our room. Hope everyone is well. Love you. Thanks for the emails and pictures!!!

Laketime!

One of Dave's many amazing dives off the pontoon boat into Lake Apalachia.
Waterfalls near the house.

Great form indeed!

The only kind of mushroom that is everywhere in the Cherokee National Forest

Passion flower growing wild!

We're dogsitting Murphy, who lakes going out on the boat.

The forests everywhere are lush and there are tons of hiking trails nearby.

Yes, you know you're back in the south when you shop at a...

THE VIEW FROM THE PORCH!! (And almost all of the rooms.)

The house from the boat. Going fast in the boat.

Dave's parents visited for a few days, so we admired the lake together, played cards, grilled and even visited an apple orchard. Great times!

Dave is a great fisherman. The fish are plentiful large mouth and small mouth bass.

The view again, in case you missed it. :) We're having a great summer in North Carolina at our friend Brian's lake house on Lake Apalachia. It's close to the GA and TN border, look for the Hiwassee river if you're googling it. I swam across it yesterday, by the way. Cabinet pictures still on their way, I just want to get the finished product photographed. Dave has 2 more to install. In the meantime we've been oggling the lake, boating and hiking and mountain biking some too. Still warm. It's 91F today. Love and miss you all!

Idaho to North Carolina

Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota was a great break from driving. Lots of scenery to take in and tons of bison to watch.

We drove 800+ miles one day to spend a day in Fort Wayne with family. We went to Grandma Koehlinger's house and took her out to the Acme bar for lunch. It was great!

The truck drove well and the Uhaul towed well. Those are some well traveled cabinets!

Another scenic overlook at the NP.

This bison was almost close enough to touch! The males looked like beasts!

This was the day of our departure, in McCall Idaho in front of our lunch spot at My Father's Place. We had a great roadtrip! It took 5 long days of driving and we had a day of rest and family in Indiana to break it up. Our path was the northern route across I-90/94 to Chicago, then south to Fort Wayne, and from there a straight shot south on I75. What gorgeous scenery along the way. We just had Roger and Bette visit for a few days, and are back to installing cabinets. Next week will be more hiking, mountain biking and of course coffee on the porch while staring for hours at the lake. Love and hugs to you all!!!

Raft Trip & Leaving ID

Huckleberries are ripening on our property; this was right before we left.

We took a long bike ride before leaving Idaho on Farm to Market road.

My raft was the best! Jennifer (whom we traveled with in Australia), Garth (who we worked with in Antarctica in 2003) and myself. We took the roughest line each rapid and flipped our raft! What a blast!!!

Can you spot the other rafts in this photo? We had 5 boats, 2 kayakers & a paddle board.

Dave's boat was a cataraft and had The Todd (who's not in this photo but is our friend from Antarctica and lives in McCall) and Marshell (another friend we're lucky to work with this summer in Antarctica, also lives in Idaho).

The Todd on the paddleboard. He paddled through all the whitewater!

A typical lunch/dinner/camp spot.

So lucky to have all the ladies on the trip. 14 people total, 1 dog. This was dress night. Below is Dave jumping off a log up really high.

Dave after breakfast, ready to hit the river. We had such a blast! It was 5 days and 72 miles of the Lower Salmon river. We put in at White Bird and floated to a takeout close to a Lewiston. We both cannot wait until next year as we unanimously decided that this will be an annual event. It was a lot like backpacking but in sheer luxury with 3 course meals (I was the appetizer chef), camp chairs, music and other luxuries we're not used to in the backcountry. We even slept outside one night to watch the stars. After the awesomeness of the trip, Dave worked long hours to finish up the bathroom cabinets (5 of them, knotty alder, really pretty) and I volunteered some more, packed us up and baked some more goodies for the smokejumpers. We had a goodbye dinner at the Sushi place with our friend Thaona and Emily & Brian before hitting the road. I'm writing this from Murphy, North Carolina, so we've arrived safely after 5 long hot days of scenic driving. I'll put travel pictures up next, since we got to visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, have a cheese stop in Wisconsin, and a day to visit Dave's family (including his cousins!) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was a wonderful stop!

Idaho & Birthdays

A stunning Ponderosa Tree in Ponderosa State Park in McCall

Grandpa's 83rd Birthday was on July 7, and we toasted it in Reno

Dave's Birthday celebration in Reno with a toast and lots of delicious food, chocolate cake, & gifts...Thanks Mom & Dad! And thanks Tibor & Dora for the doovdez that he loves.

Sweeping views on my hike to Hard Butte lake, well worth the hour and fifteen on a dirt road to get to the Clayburn trailhead.

Hard Butte Lake's cliffs still draped in snow, but lots of wildflowers nearby.

Our July 4th weekend backpacking/camping trip on the twentymile trail up to Long lake. A fire took the chill away. Sunset at 10pm!

Shooting stars cover all the trails we've been on, and they're spectacular!

Our frequent walks and bike rides in Ponderosa State Park are always picturesque.

One of many flowers on our property. I did some yardwork out there.

Our first hike was to Hum Lake and as you can see, the trail was a bit covered.

The new beach park on Lake Payette in McCall is really great.

So wonderful to be back in Idaho and seeing and doing all the things we missed while we lived here. Even got to go rafting the Cabarton stretch of the Payette river. Dave gets to mountain and road bike regularly and I get to mark hikes off my to do list. It's been awesome and the weather has been perfect, with a high of 80F! Dave's still working hard on cabinet building and wants to finish by the time our 4 day raft trip comes up at the the end of the month. We had an awesome weekend in Reno, where we celebrated Dave and Grandpa's birthdays, took a long walk on the marsh near Mom & Dad's home and watched the world cup finale. Also got to skype with Tibor & Dora and see our beautiful nieces. We're back in McCall now and feeling very lucky to have had such a wonderful summer this year. Miss and LOVE you all!!!