A week in the wild west

I guess you can kind of qualify Idaho as the Wild West. I'm pretty sure people passed through here on some manifest destiny quest. Anyhow, just thought it might be nice to do a little pictorial view of this past week running around with the family. I haven't had a whole lot of time to just sit and mellow out, except two short runs to Starbucks where I attempted to catch up on journaling, a task I just can't ever seem to get ahead in somehow...But having had to wait a bit too long to eat after taking the antibiotics for the mysterious possibly Lyme's Disease rash I'm feeling a bit queasy, so I thought I'd fill this in.
Julie's had us pretty set up for activities since we've been here. Knowing that both Cheryl's and her own kids enjoy horses, we went to a place called Orphan Acres where we got to see over 60 horses, and the kids had a chance to pet them and do some chores and even sit atop them for a moment or two.


While the girls got a big kick out of the horses, Rowan was most impressed by the equipment ;)



On the 4th of July Brian had a chance to ride his scooter in a parade in a small town called Johnsontown, not far from Moscow. What the town lacked for in size, it made up for in the long line of cars parked along the narrow road. They definitely know how to pull in a crowd. Of course, for us the most exciting part was the once in a lifetime opportunity to see Brian in a Hawaiian shirt! I think Adelia enjoyed the bit where she got to ride on the scooter with him too. And of course all the kids were pretty excited about the chance to scoop up candy off the street. Amazing the things that we would generally be horrified by that suddenly become the norm on a national holiday.



After the parade we went home and whipped up some homemade ice cream. Have I mentioned just how much food I've been eating here? It seems like every time I turn around it's time to start working on another meal. It's insanity. But with this many people around it's kind of how it works. I was pretty excited about this Toffee Coffee ice cream though.

The next day Julie and I made some sushi. For those curious if I've given up my fish hating ways, let me say that there was nothing raw, and the fish in the ones I ate was only tuna. As much as Tekla always likes to remind me that tuna is fish too, the way I make it, it really doesn't taste like fish at all.



For dessert that night we had this exciting American Flag cheese cake that Mom made. We would have had it on the 4th, but between the large number of desserts we already had, and the fact that it took a horrifyingly long time to make, it just worked out better to have it the next day.
Yesterday, which was actually Julie's birthday, we all went for a hike in the mountains a little over an hour from Moscow. It was the perfect day for it. Sunny and lovely, but not too hot. As always, I enjoyed snapping a few photos.


The fact that all my family is so photogenic just makes me want to take photos even more. The one thing I don't have any photographic evidence of is me in a helmet and leather jacket on the back of Brian's scooter. It did, however happen. I managed to swallow my excessive fear, and rode on the scooter for half the trip back to Moscow. I even survived the nasty yellow bug splat on my leg! Will wonders never cease. I guess it's true that if you face your fears at times you end up having a lot of fun after all.
I've got a couple more days here before heading to part two of my trip home. Cheryl and the girls fly back to Alaska on Thursday, so I'm heading south west that day too. I'm excited for the next portion of my trip, but want to take advantage of every moment here as well.
Hmmm...will I ever be stable? A question I just keep asking myself.