Springtime in Reno and McCall

While up at work, Dave sent this lovely photo of a get together with our dear friends Colin, Emily, Delta and Sean and Emily's house. What a gorgeous photo to receive!

I left work early in late May to go fly to Reno and be with my parents after Mom received some bad medical news. Dad is wearing a new Eni hat I got at work and he looks amazing in all of them so he usually gets them all.

Mom and I walked around the pond.

Springtime in Reno has nice temperatures and beautiful views with snowy mountaintops.

A beautiful white orchid plant that Dave bought for Mom.

We went to Galena Park for a nice forest walk amidst the Ponderosa pine trees.

It's one of my favorite walks as it reminds me of McCall and our state park in town.

My parents are always happy to get out for an excursion.

Dave found this flowered pathway in their neighborhood just a couple minute drive away.

It was awesome to find a new spot to enjoy.

View of the mountains near the end of the trail.

End of trail photo.

We took them to Sand Harbor at Lake Tahoe, but first to a viewpoint right before the State Park.

A beautiful (and free) spot to park, use the facilities and enjoy the views.

Scenic view before Sand Harbor.

We have pictures here when Tibor and I were young near these rocks.

A lovely spring outing.

Dave always gets in.

At Sand Harbor State Park we sat on towels and enjoyed the views and peace.

Sand Harbor S.P., Lake Tahoe

Dave and my parents on the beach.

On the way home, we ate at B.J.'s Brewery & Restaurant in Reno (close to the road to/from Tahoe).

They have nice beers and pizza, and it had been years since we all went there.

We drove from Reno back to Idaho to be there to receive our new washer and dryer that we ordered online for our condo since our original washer totally failed. The old dryer still worked, so we gifted that to our townhome neighbor who wanted one for his garage for wet towels and camping gear. In Boise, we tried a long time vegan restaurant that was new to us called the High Note Cafe on 5th street. We stayed the night before at my ACS friend Grace's apartment on the Boise River so we had gorgeous views in the evening, with morning coffee and then a nice outdoor meal at High Note.

The fruit trees in Boise were draped in blossoms, which was nice to see after a work stint in Alaska.

Back in McCall, our evening walks were gorgeous and colorful.

Our condo trees were also gorgeous as were the other trees in downtown McCall.

We bought Impatiens flowers from our favorite local florist to plant in our new railing flower basket that Dave built this winter.

And our lupines that we planted from seeds blossomed for us for the first time this year! We chose to plant an entire drainage ditch that runs through our yard with lupine seeds from around McCall and downtown Anchorage. The landscaping company had mistook them for weeds previously until Dave posted some "Do not spray - pesticide free zone" signs around the area. This year that made the difference for us.

Our first paddle boarding trip up the meanders was filled with so many trout that we were appalled!

It was awesome to kick the season off with our favorite most relaxing activity at home.

We parked at the new bridge and went upstream to avoid the tourists who rent at the lake.

Dave basked in the sun.

Glacier Lillies are some of the first flowers to blossom after the snow melt.

We got foiled by snow on our first hiking attempt this spring on Brundage road, but it wasn't for naught as we found a new route at this very trailhead to a fire lookout we want to hike to.

The old forest service cabin near the trailhead. And below, our amazing lupines at our townhome. I picked seeds this summer from pink and red lupines to be able to have some variety next spring and we're hopeful that some of those live and blossom.

It's always scary when family members have medical emergencies or scary diagnoses. We went straight to Reno to provide joy and a distraction for my parents as they processed the news. It was nice to be able to talk them into going to Lake Tahoe and I think that Dave is a very supportive listener who naturally puts people at ease. It was wonderful that he met me there and we had a lovely start to springtime with all kinds of blossoms in the Boise and McCall area. Also fabulous was staying riverfront at my friend Grace's apartment, which we've done three times this year, with a soothing view at no cost. Very lucky for that!

Atlanta, McCall, Alaska

The 9 days off flew by and before we knew it I was back at work and we were planning our adventures for my next 9 day off stint.

I hauled a lot of freight on this month work hitch, and enjoyed being the one who got the weird shaped and sized cargo, such as trucks, forklifts and even workshops.

Beautiful sundog seen from Spy Island across the Beaufort Sea along my driving route. Saw lots of these in Antarctica at WAIS Divide deep field camp.

After a long month of 12.5 hour days, I was ready for some warm temps, cute animals and good food. This photo is on Brian and Julie's front porch with their newest puppy.

Dave and I flew to Atlanta the morning after I arrived from Alaska in Boise. I couldn't wait to eat some good food, and Atlanta always has the tastiest. This one was a Bangladeshi restaurant close to Brian's.

We had amazing sushi with his sons at a sushi place nearby.

I loved all the fresh, affordable vegan options.

Dave and I tried a Vegan Mexican cafe on our drive to Tonya's from Brian's home and loved it!

Lilly's along a sidewalk.

We stayed with Brian and Julie a couple nights then went to Tonya's to catsit Boo. We loved our walks along the greenbelt!

Boo is an amazingly friendly Manx filled with personality and friendliness. 

We met DJ & Karen (who photographed our wedding) for a walk along the greenbelt to this park, and at their home for a delicious dinner.

We tried King of Pops with DJ & Karen. Mine was a Mango margarita with a mango pop and Dave had a strawberry popsickle in champagne.

Delicious treat on a hot day!

Brian & Julie gave us their Atlanta United soccer match tickets, so we met the Rethingers for a game there while Brian was out of town. 

We also met up with Mike and Sara and their kids for a game of Kuub in their neighborhood park and some nice catch up time at their home.

We remembered how fun the game is (which we had at our wedding.)

Rhododendron in Atlanta.

Back in McCall, we checked out our property and the gorgeous mountain views from there.

And took a beautiful walk in Ponderosa State Park.

And another lovely walk along the river in town; where we spotted some wildflowers.

The big orchid from our friend Brian Allen was in full blossom; announcing the arrival of spring.

And the park and view from the lake was simply astounding.

View from the sheep''s bridge at the Payette River.

Orchid and flower bouquet from Dave.

Back at work for my last stint of the season; the assignment was to stay as long as the sea ice could hold us. For most of the time, it was just Zack and I. The photo below was our very last run to Spy island where I worked for 3 years with Alaska Clean Seas. Our last trip was well overdue since there was no snow or ice on the island and way too much water on top of the sea ice. Zack and I hauled 120,000 pounds of drilling pipe off the island, very last minute, all in one day (normally a week or two week long multi shift project). We were there at the same time as the hovercraft, grooming the snow ramps for them and working side by side.

I flew straight from work to Reno to visit my parents and Dave drove to meet me there. We had such a great time in Atlanta, as always, and were so glad to have gone and visited our dear friends. Although it was only a week and a half, the fun and beauty of each day stretched the time and the joy. Love you!