Anniversary Road Trip, Winter Is Here!

Anniversary Road Trip-
Last year we went to the mountain resort of McCall, Idaho for an overnight trip for anniversary. We enjoyed it so much that we decided to go back this year for our 25th! We drove up Saturday morning and spent the night, came back Sunday afternoon. We stayed a nice little hotel that's right near the lake, which has a nice 5 Star restaurant next door. Weather was great, it was clear and sunny but cold. The room was nice and spacious and had a very deep bathtub which I loved, able to soak up to my neck. McCall is an interesting dichotomy with very wealthy people that live there part time or have mega cabins there. There's also more people like Dave and I who just go up for a day or the weekend. Then you have a lot of service workers, many of whom are seasonal. The ski season hasn't quite started yet, since there's really no snow to speak of. We drove up to Brundage Mountain to see what the ski slopes look like and not for sure-

After we drove back towards town, we drove part way around the lake, but sadly part of the road was closed for construction. We didn't make the normal loop all the way around, but stopped here right after breakfast. Sunday morning. It's a short walk from the hotel-

Payette Lake 

Boats out for the winter

Didn't find anything at the usual thrift store I usually go to. We tried a couple new food places- one for breakfast and one for coffee in the afternoon. We're probably like a lot of people who don't go up there very often, we tend to stay at the restaurants on the main drag. We had lunch at a local brewery place, great burgers, fun decor!

We had a really nice dinner at Rupert's restaurant next door to the hotel. They have some really unique decor!

Big wooden airplane props

I asked her waitress since it was our 25th anniversary if she could take a photo of us. She obliged and also brought out a brownie with a sparkler sticking out of it! Was kind of like a short round sparkler with a spike on the end that they stuck in the brownie. That got every body's attention in the room for sure. Is it cool idea and I couldn't get my camera phone out fast enough since I didn't know if it was going to start a fire! Magnesium flaring up 2 feet, wow! It was really nice and festive and someone else was celebrating a birthday. We watched the sun go down over the lake.

Lots of windows facing the lake

It was definitely colder up there than in Boise. It was 14 degrees yesterday with morning lots of frost! But this sky was beautiful and we had a nice leisurely drive back. We decided to go there again next year and already looking at booking another stay.

Anya is ready for winter

Winter Is Here!
There are few leaves still falling down, but the cold weather is definitely here. We've had some weather in the teens and twenties already.  We're hopefully going to have some serious rain in a few days, as it's been really really dry. There's no snow in the foothills yet, a little unusual but it's early in the winter still. The coop is all prepped for winter except for the sun room. I'm hoping for eggs soon! Someone has been in the nesting box, so that's a good sign. *** UPDATE- we got our first egg today from one of the new hens! Yeah!

The winter bird bath is out, great in the really cold weather-

Gnome is tucked in too

Girls had some free range time today, loved it!

Sarah is getting big!

Our maple tree still has a lot of leaves on it, as well as our apple tree. We just really need some wind or to take care of that. The comforter is on the bed along with flannel sheets, and the new Ikea cover Dave and I got in Salt Lake City. Anya likes to burrow when it colder-

furry paws sticking out

We swapped out our more mild weather clothing for polar fleece, sweatshirts, flannel blouses. Hats and gloves are out and we are getting ready for Thanksgiving. We hosting this year with everyone else bringing some side dishes. With two toddlers here I'm sure it will be busy!