Homeward Bound

Here are a lot of pictures from my trip to my parents, with more to come. After our breakneck pace through Utah, we slid into Nampa, Idaho with no problems and collapsed in my brother Nick’s house (not pictured). We spent two nights there visiting, and Ben loved my brother’s huge fishtanks (Nemo) and I spent the evenings staying up late and watching movies with my brother, the first time in a long time I have had such a chance. We went on to my parents’ house for 9 more days, and my dad took the week off in honor of the occasion. We spent one entire day working on my truck, and here is a list of things fixed: window, door handle, tailgate, all four brakes, bearing seals, right rear axle seal, starter. Thanks, dad. I have to take some credit — he did precisely half of the brake work, and I did the other half (after he showed me how) so that I would learn the skill. Then, to the pictures: the first set is of a torturous fishing trip (I despise fishing) at Swan Falls, a hydro-electric dam with a reservoir. It is a bird refuge, so I thought I might see an eagle or something, but mostly I was hot, hungry and irritated that all I could see were seagulls. Ben had fun, though, as did everyone else (I think). The second set of water pictures are of Payette Lake in McCall, Idaho, which is where Marti and I spent our honeymoon (it was much, much colder in January, and the lake was frozen over then). The lake was still very, very cold though, I might add, but it is still so pure that homeowners pump their drinking water from its center (they try not to think of tourists dipping their feet in it, I’m sure). It was a nice trip, and ended with a dinner at my aunt Theresa’s house. I also enjoyed running St. Luke’s Women’s Fitness 5K race, and I finished in good time despite dire predictions from certain family members (”You don’t look like you can run, but I guess the pipes are clean”) . I enjoyed my stay, and seeing old friends. “Make new friends, but keep the old — for one is silver, and the other gold.”