Weekend Round-Up: Idaho

Our trip to Idaho this weekend was a blast. As I mentioned, this is the furthest in from the US coast that I’ve ever been. It was an experience to say the least! You can see all my photos here.

On Friday, Rob and I had a nice breakfast at home and then called a cab to the airport. The flight was about an hour and we landed in Boise at 1:30. Picked up our rental PT Cruiser ($17 a day!), grabbed my parents from their hotel and headed to Glenns Ferry, population 1,300. At her house, we caught up with my nephews and brother for a bit before heading to our cabin. My sister is marrying a really nice guy named Kenny and they’ll move to Boise shortly.

We stayed the weekend at the River Ranch Retreat along the Snake River in Kings Hill. A cute little place with a tire swing, a love of Mexican art and a dock. At 5:30, it was time to drive to the rehearsal dinner at Carmella Winery. This little slice of Sonoma has a 9 hole golf course and RV park and is pretty much the only thing going for the tiny potato factory town.

The rehearsal dinner in the wine cellar included salads, wine, prime rib and cobbler for 50 relatives on both sides. My sister, Kate, arrived from Oregon just in time. Funnily, all six of the “California-folk” were assumed to want halibut instead of steak for dinner by the restaurant staff. It was delicious and a developed into new nickname for our family. We called each other “halibut-eaters” for the rest of the weekend!

Perhaps also proving that we didn’t quite blend in with the locals, we got pulled over by the sheriff on our way home from the dinner for looking suspicious. I haven’t been pulled over in 10 years. A genuine Idaho run-in with the law! After he ran my license, he decided to let us off the hook and we called it a night.

Up a little late the next morning for a breakfast we threw together of coffee, cantaloupe, cottage cheese and toast. With a couple hours to kill before we had to be at the winery again, mom, Rob and I decided to go on an adventure. We headed through Kings Hill and Bliss to the Hagerman Fossil Beds and National Monument. A long name for a small, but neat, ranger station. We dutifully looked at all the fossil exhibits and watched the 45 minute film about geology in Idaho.

After the museum, we drove along the river and spotted some of the waterfalls that run along the river. It’s nice in these green valleys. A tasty (but slow) lunch at Papa Kelsey’s Pizza and Subs in Hagerman before heading back to the cabin where we dressed up for the wedding.

We arrived at the winery at 2:00 to help make flower arrangements (blue delphinium, pink gerber daisies and regular daisies) and soak up the air conditioning while we could. The wedding started at 6:00 outside on the lawn. Luckily, big clouds appeared to shelter us from the 95 degree heat. A great ceremony followed by a great buffet (pasta salad, potato salad, fruit, cheeses, meats, veggies, thai spring rolls and stuffed mushrooms).

We were just finishing dinner when someone pointed out the ominous wall of brown clouds coming down the valley. I overhead someone else mention something about 80 mile an hour winds and a couple guests disappeared suddenly. A couple minutes later a HUGE dust storm blew in and we all scrambled to save the tablecloths, tent and presents from the lawn. It was straight out of Little House on the Prairie/Wizard of Oz and like nothing I had seen before! The halibut-eaters were spooked!

We all moved on the porch to watch the crazy wind until the dust drove us into the banquet hall. A fun band played 1960’s rock and they cut the rescued carrot cake around 9:30. The wind died down a bit and we hit the road back the cabin while we could. No run in with the sheriff this time.

Up at 7:00 the next morning to pack up and have another breakfast. Running a little late and getting mixed messages about our flight time, we dashed 60 miles back to Boise. Turns out that the airline itself wasn’t sure about flight. When we checked in, the computer said it was due late at 10:45, my parents ticket said 10:30, our ticket said 10:05, the hotline said 10:04 and the sign at the gate plaintively said just “10:__” We had a cup of tea and waited for it to be sorted out.

Finally, one of the clerks announced that the flight was late and would be arriving in about 10 minuets or so and taking off around 10:30 or 10:45…things are very relaxed at Boise airport 😉 We boarded the plane as planned and flew back to SF. My parents continued on from the airport and we took BART home. It was gloriously brisk and cold after our hot weekend.

Back at the apartment at 1:30, we talked to my cousin as she finished up the painting project, went grocery shopping (peonies and artichokes) and took long, hot baths to prepare for the week ahead.