February in North Idaho

February in Coeur d'Alene

The skies are gray and the daytime temperatures are hovering in the low 30's. This is typically weather and it results in a snow, melt, snow, melt cycle. The nice part of this weather is that it is cold enough to keep most people inside which left Tubbs Hill to only the intrepid hikers like us. We went for a hike yesterday and saw two other people on the hill. The beauty of the muted shades of blue, gray and green, the hypnotic power of the water in the lake plus the solitude made the hike surreal. Molly was ecstatic to be out walking with her favorite people and away from the black and white brat at home. Steve and I were toasty in our North Face Jackets. (Thanks North Face for giving my kid a job and the great employee discounts!) Remember- there is no such thing as bad weather- just bad clothing!

Tubbs Hill- still the Happiest Place on Earth even in the winter.

Cold in the North /Seeking Sun in the South

Come on, admit it- winter in North Idaho is long. I dream of being a snow bird (ah, someday). So, after the New Year, I went to California to the Mojave Desert with my Steves. While there, it was reported by Thomas (who stayed home with the dogs) that we had 10" of snow at home. We were so happy to have missed this little bit of winter. In celebration, we marveled at the residents of LA who wore coats and boats while we were in shirts sleeves and shorts. The sun felt great even though it was only in the 50's. We packed up our rented mid sized SUV with camping equipment (Thanks Cousin Bob!) and headed for the Joshua Tree National Park. This is a climbers' Mecca- 8,000 different routes and very popular in the middle of winter (not so much in the summer). At 3000 feet above sea level, this place was freezing at night and balmy during the day. About 3:30 in the afternoon, I started putting on the layers until I was  dressed for winter and snuggled into my 0 degree bag in the back of the SUV. Bedtime was soon after dark and up again at dawn. Around 9:30, the clothes started coming back off and it was summer clothes time again. The snow in the shade never went completely away and when the sun went behind a cloud, brrrrr.
The climbers were everywhere. Lots of tents, converted vans, a converted horse trailer and lots of Dirtbag climbers. These Dirtbags are the climbers' version of a ski bum. Adrenaline junkies- they travel all over looking for their next high (literally). The best thing about climbing (vs. skiing) is that there is always somewhere to climb- the Southern states in the winter and Northern rocks in the summer.
After experiencing the modern hippy culture of the Dirtbaggers, we headed south to Mexico to experience Mexicali- a little border town. Can't take in a rental car, so we parked and walked. Mexicali is not a border town like Tijuana- there were no panhandlers, no predatory merchants, few English speaking people and NO other tourists. We stuck out like sore thumbs. The people were very nice and the food was good. We only ordered what we knew- beans, cheese, fish- we knew few words and we made sure that we looked up bano (bathroom) before we crossed the border.
The rest of our trip was spent on the coast, driving back up to LA to enjoy the hospitality of Steve's cousin again (Shouldn't be so nice; we keep coming back ) before we climbed back into the big birds that took us back to the Frozen North.
One side note-  restaurant food in California is really good (or was I just really hungry?).

Hayden Kite Festival

The Kite Festival this year was a great success. Not only did the city staff do a great job of getting the word out but the weather was perfect! Broadmore Park is a great little park nestled in the middle of the Broadmore subdivision. As a member of the Hayden Park and Recreation Commission, I was asked to be a judge at this festival. It was a lot of fun to see all the kids and the kites and the winners were the parents that got to spend some great time with their kids.

Nieuwjaarsduik

In the Netherlands, they call it the Nieuwjaarsduik but  we lovingly refer to it as the Polar Bear Plunge- that refreshing, frigid, and exhilarating experience of jumping in the lake on the first day of the year.
 In Coeur d'Alene, there has been a loosely organized plunge at Sander's Beach since the late 70's. There are usually about 500 plungers with about the same spectators/supporters. Have you ever done it? I did in 1991. It was great. A friend of mine came up the idea and the costumes to dress up in old fashioned 1920's  swimsuits. We got our picture taken by the paper (new year resolution scored!) and I got a nice case of strep throat.
Going in the water is fun but the hard part is coming out, soaking wet in the cold, cold (did I mention cold?) air. Since Sanders Beach doesn't have much parking, the trek to your car is long and ....

@Steve Troxel at Honeysuckle Beach 1/1/13

Here is Steve at  Honeysuckle Beach in Hayden. He is the lonely Troxel because I have a cold and the boys stayed up too late last night to get moving by noon. Steve decided that Hayden needs its own traditional plunge and he wasn't the only one. When we got there at noon, there were 4 other polar bears. The oldest known Polar Bear Plunge started in 1920 with 10 swimmers. Hayden had 5 this year so I say that is a fine beginning to a new tradition.

But it is not this day!

It is Saturday!
 December 1st - 9 am to 9 pm Lord of the Rings Extended Trilogy  at the Kroc Center theatre.  $5 donation gets you into an all day nerd fest of Middle Earth awesomeness. Come dressed as a LOTR character and you will be entered into a drawing for the upcoming Hobbit movie tickets.

I am going as a hobbit. I bought some clothes at the Celtic fair last summer but realized I looked more like a hobbit than a Scott. The only problem I have is the feet- I am not going barefoot on December 1st.

I tried to talk the Kroc Center into bringing some exercise equipment into the theatre but I guess it will be too dark. How cool would it be to work out while watching the show!?

 Aragorn: Hold your ground, hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of woes and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you *stand, Men of the West!*

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I am so thankful for all my blessings- my husband, my kids, my grandkids and living in North Idaho. That is just the tip of the iceberg of all my blessings. Yadda, yadda. you've heard it so many times that it gets boring. I just had to say it because 1) it's true and 2) what if some of it disappeared tomorrow- I would regret not being thankful when I did have everything.

I started out Thanksgiving this year by running the 2nd Annual "Gobble Gobble Git Along" 5K race that my friend Jason Ball put together. The entry fee is food for the food bank and the finisher's prize is hot chocolate and less guilt when pigging out at the dinner table. There were two such races in Coeur d'Alene this year- the other one was held at the Lake City Community Church. Both races were collecting money or food for hungry people. The Thanksgiving (or close to the date) races are traditionally called "Turkey Trots." The Buffalo (New York) Turkey Trot celebrated their 117th race this year and claims the title to the oldest continually held public footrace. It is hard to believe that a race can be that old but it is only 5 months older than the Boston Marathon.

After the race, I headed home and threw the turkey in the oven, mashed the yams and then headed out for a  3 mile hike up Canfield Mountain. Here is the motley crew on our hike:

L to R Sarah, Alex, Tom, Steve, Bethany, Sue

The dogs had a fabulous time- Steve would run up a head and the dogs ran back and forth and back and...you get the picture. It was a great way to celebrate being alive. By the end of this hike, I was tired but I courageously toiled on and ate more than my fair share of turkey dinner and pie. I was comatose by 8 o'clock.  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Tubbs Hill at Night

I have loved running in the dark since I was a kid. There was something about the stillness; almost a silkiness in the blackness. It was a risky activity because potholes unseen twist ankles and sometimes cause sudden ground/body contact.. The other risks were creepy people who liked to follow me when they saw that I was running alone, so other memories involve hiding in a convenient yard with lots of lovely bushes while the car with the bad muffler can be heard circling the block. In spite of these elements of danger, running in the dark was always a joyful experience until I became a mom and suddenly the possibility of my disappearing in the night didn't affect only me. Running after dark ended.

I have had an opportunity to gain back some of my youthful joy by running around Tubbs Hill  in the dark. Unlike my teenage years, I had a body guard (my hubby), two dogs,pepper spray in my pocket and a headlamp. The light was a necessity- I tried hiking around Tubbs in the dark once and found it doesn't work too well- too easy to step off the path into oblivion. We weren't the only intrepid night trekkers- we ran into two other groups of hikers out there in the dark 

Because of  darkness of the night (only a sliver of a moon), we could not see much of anything beyond the light of the headlamps. It gave me an weird feeling of never knowing exactly where I was on the path. In the two mile trail that circumvents the hill, there is a swinging bridge which would have given me a clue, but the dogs must have led us around the bridge (not the biggest fans) and I never saw it. Funny thing was that the  hills on this undulating trail didn't seem as steep as usual and I was surprised when we crossed the access road and realized the toughest part of the trail was behind us. I understand now why I always loved running in the dark- it feels effortless because I have no idea how fast I am going and as a result I am able to fully enjoy living in the moment. This is important because the next moment may be when I trip.