McCall, Idaho

Geoff's sister Ingrid recently got a place in McCall Idaho and they invited us up for a week.  When I thought about Idaho growing up I thought about childhood trips to Rexburg to visit my grandparents, and potatoes.  That is it.  But Idaho has been surprising me the past years with unbelievable beauty and simplicity.  It isn't over-run by tourists, or over-developed.  The growing season is short but the local food is as pure and wholesome as a hundred years ago.  And the pace is relaxed.


McCall is perfect.  It is a relatively quiet, small town where the only thing to do is get outside on the lake or on a trail.  We took our bikes and rode to the beach (about a mile away), to the store for Popsicles, to the bakery for quiche, and to the state park for a hike.  The girls felt so free.  They dream about riding their bikes around a town, but we haven't ever lived somewhere where that was feasible.

I was voted "Most Likely To Get Skin Cancer" in my senior year high-school yearbook.  Adele is aspiring to follow after my very noble accomplishments... and at such a young age!

We got to spend time with a great family, and the girls and cousins had a blast discovering the nooks and crannies of the neighborhood and town.  Best of all, though, was that Geoff took over.  He did our share of cooking and cleaning, he loaded and unloaded the car/bikes, he readied our gear every day, and I slept and read and did a little organizing of old files.  I desperately needed down time and he allowed me to take it.  What a gift.

 

Moving to an apartment here in Salt Lake works for us in many ways.  But it has required some sacrifices, the biggest one is that we had to give away our dog, Kipper.  The guinea pigs are deeply missed too.  Two of them died while in foster care, and Adele's is with family friends who are willing to keep it or give it back.  It is a nice set-up.  But we had to make the very hard decision to give Kipper away.  Some dear friends have kept him these past seven months while we figured out the direction our lives would take once we got settled, but they were not interested in having him long-term, and even if they were, people get attached to dogs - it would be hard to ask for him back.  In the end Ingrid's family decided to take him.  But he is theirs, for good.  They changed his name to "Trooper".



We saw Kipper in McCall, for the first time since we've moved.  The girls valiantly called him Trooper, but deep down we all felt the loss.  So we're pretending Kipper grew up and went to college.  He has a new nickname.  We raised him, we love him, and we'll get to see him on occasion.  That idea seems to help us all.  We're so grateful his new college roommates love him as much as we do.  He has a good set-up.