Wow, it’s seriously been a month since we updated!? We are still here and did switch our clocks back for daylight savings, so we have no excuse for not sharing what’s going on. It’s incredibly difficult to believe it is already Thanksgiving week. In preparation for school and adjusting to the area, time didn’t carry as swiftly for the first month or two, but we are almost ready for December… Holidays, exams, a new year, that happened so quickly. So this will be a review of our November that seemed to take no time at all to get through.
Well, before we get ahead of ourselves, I will pay respect to the last week of October, lest we forget the last week of October. We finished our pumpkin, which didn’t quite measure up to the finely crafted designs from previous years in part because we lacked the touch of power tools.
After a lot of planning, failed attempts and illness we finally visited the nearest corn maze with a few couples from our small group. I had never ‘corn-mazed’ before and didn’t understand the magnitude of this vegetable labyrinth until we saw the map of what was to be conquered. What’s more is that we had the opportunity to fire off a pumpkin cannon prior to our adventure. If you have never blasted a small gourd through the air you must know that it is truly superb. There was much to do about the cattle standing directly behind the targets, but no animals were injured during this visit to Chelsea’s relief. The corn maze itself was terrific. I think we made pretty good time (in part because Chelsea and I fast walked the heck out of the second half) but made sacrifices in time in order to scare a few folks. It was great to spend a night out with friends and we really hope to make the corn maze a tradition.
We capped the night off by visiting ‘Merrit’s Restaurant’ in Eagle. This hole-in-the wall place is known for their scones and monster dishes. The small shop resembled the most elegant of truck stop diners, and has been featured on the food network. While we can only comment on the size and not taste of these dishes, we did try a traditional cinnamon sugar scone and went home satisfied.
My good friend Zak came to visit the first weekend of November and was able to stay for four days. It’s wild how the presence of a familiar face felt. We have been incredibly lucky with warm weather until the morning Zak flew in. Over night the temperature dropped 20 degrees and we saw our first Idaho snowfall. After telling everyone how nice it was to have had the great weather we sure looked like a bunch of liars. The weekend was quite enjoyable. We traveled back up into the mountains for the first time since we moved out here, this time taking more time to travel further. We were so thankful to have taken the trip. We traveled to the summit of Bogus Basin by car and were able to take advantage of the fresh snow fall by tossing a couple well made (and well packed) snowballs. Unfortunately Zak was a little sick upon arrival and consequently we were sick the following week, but it allowed us to relax and catch up. I don’t think three people have consumed more tea in one weekend than our sniffling trio. It was perfect timing for a visit and we all had a blast. It was strange how seeing a friend from home made us miss everyone all over, but made us feel like this is where we belong right now and made Idaho feel more like home. It was tough to say goodbye, but we are so grateful to have had our first guest.
This week we ventured up north to Banks, just outside Horseshoe Bend with our friends Randall and Alyssa to a place called Skinnydipper Hot Springs. Randall had mentioned the hot springs a few weeks back and it had taken that long to plan for a visit. Sunday night we took the hour drive over the mountains into snow filled Banks. Our previous visit to hot springs in Stanley didn’t prepare us for this adventure. When we pulled up alongside the Payette River we thought it was a short walk DOWN to the rivers edge, but au contraire. The hot springs are a set of pools on the top of a mountain; okay not the top as it felt like, but more so almost to the top. There was just a little info left out. The temperature up in the mountains was a bit chilly, but the hot springs were our destination and certainly sounded like a great end to our snowy hike. The trail up took about half an hour due to the terrain and our limited light. Thankfully we decided to bring the lantern…Chelsea decided to bring the lantern. Although the night didn’t offer a lot of light to see the surrounding slopes we were able to make out some of the view and it was easy to imagine how beautiful the pools would be in daylight. We were also able to enjoy the magnitude of stars and a few quality shooting stars. Oh, yes, I almost forgot the greatest of surprises from our trip. While ascending the hill we encountered a group of twenty somethings with instructions to visit the upper pool because, you guessed it, skinny dipper was not just a cute name. Naked guys. Naked OLD guys. All kinds of naked happening in nature. We were in ‘bare’ country and throwing the awkward turtle for sure. So we visited the upper pool, sure we would be more comfortable. More naked people? Really? Fortunately the gentleman here put his drawers back on for us. The hot springs were actually really nice. A group of people volunteer time to maintain the hot springs throughout the year for the past 20 years. The volunteers have arranged concrete seating in each of the pools and have engineered temperature controlled piping to regulate the pools temperatures. Each hot spring is fixed with a cooling valve that releases the cool water from the mountains, giving control to occupants. It was incredibly nice and an extraordinary night, far enough away from Boise to see every star. We spent about two hours at skinny dipper before coming down, and I think the extended stay was a bit too much. On the way home we all felt very drained and even sick because of the temperature changes and dehydration. Learning lesson definitely, but certainly a place we would love to go back to. We hope to visit again in the daylight this winter because it really seemed beautiful, at least what we could make out at night. I would look at pictures online to see what it looks like, but there is no telling what would come up!
Chelsea has been on break for the past week and a half now and enjoying her time away from school. Although she is inundated with homework for the end of the semester she has had time to relax and enjoy free time and extra sleep. There are only two more weeks after the holiday before the winter break and we will appreciate all prayers for her exams. Chelsea has done well this past month enduring one big project, a big test and so many assignments. Also, one of her clients decided to drop from the clinic for health reasons. It has allowed for more time to devote to her other more needy client, school work and reports, but I think Chelsea misses the opportunity to meet with him, which is really too bad. This semester flew by particularly this past month and soon she will have to develop a relationship with 3 new clients, which is great, but I know she will miss her current client very much. As difficult as the year has been and the adjustments she has had to make, I think being a part of the clinic has been a tremendous experience. I know that Chelsea is doing so well by the feedback she has received. I love knowing how God has blessed her to do this work and how he continues to see her through the challenges of her studies. It is natural the way she interacts and cares for her clients and I know that she is a blessing to them.
During Chelsea's break from school we were able to find a harness and leash for Payette so we could take evening walks and also entertain/ scare people who have never seen a walking cat before. Although she seemed more thrilled with tipping over, she quickly adapted to the leash.
The ducks were new and very exciting to watch, and I did think she would fall off the bridge because of the excitment.
Almost wrapped up. This week we are heading to a Christmas tree festival where we have no clue what to expect. Our next blog will begin with some photos from that event and is promised to be much shorter. Love you all and cannot wait for a trip home.
Derek & Chelsea
