The Other Side of the Mountain

We're not mountain folk. That has been shown to be abundantly clear. It's not our fault. We're from the Midwest. There are no mountains in Missouri. Not real ones, anyways. Those things down south are not real mountains. Real mountains have snow and ice. They have switchback roads. Temperatures change quickly. It's not our fault that we don't understand things like elevation change. No one in St. Louis knows how high up they live. We don't understand things like weather inversions. We have no concept of how grade % works. We've learned the hard way that driving through the mountains takes some extra preparation. Extra planning. And doing it, at night, in the winter, well that's just stupid.

Even though some of our encounters with the mountains had humbled us, we weren't going to let them beat us. The mountains are also a place of fun and adventure in the snowy winter months.

We were going to take full advantage of it.

800 feet of fun

First up, snow tubing at the nearby Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area. The five of us, plus the two oldest Driver kids headed out for a fun filled Christmas Eve morning on the mountain. The tube run was 800 feet long, and fast. Really fast. Too fast, apparently for the people working there. After the first few runs, they shut the hill down for awhile, and churned up the snow with a giant Sno-Cat in an attempt to decrease speeds. It was still pretty fast. The kids raced down in their covered inner tubes. They went down holding hands. On their stomachs. On their backs. A tow rope pulled us back up to the top, making the whole experience easy and fun. Everyone had a blast.
Well, almost everyone. Nadia refused to go down the hill. “I don't like fast things” she proclaimed. “But, we already bought you a ticket, dear” we pleaded with her. We begged. We coaxed. She remained undeterred. Off to the warming tent for some hot cocoa instead. Jenny and Clark took turns waiting with her, and occasionally drug her around in her tube.

She couldn't hold back her inner big girl.

Eventually our session time was coming to a close. Time for one last attempt at getting Nadia down the hill. One last ditch guilt trip. “Fine.” she utters reluctantly, yet with some certainty. Before she could change her mind, she's off, down the hill, holding her Poppa's hands tightly. She was right. She didn't like it, But, she went. So the day was a success.

The Tubers

Next up, was a trip to the Gold Fork Hot Springs up in the mountains north of Boise. The weather was icy and frigid, but the mineral water was toasty and perfect. All the kids really loved the sand covered bottom of one of the pools. The adults obviously loved the healing waters too. You couldn't get out of the water for more than a minute before parts of you started freezing over. Ice chunks in your hair. Your suit turned into a stiff board. So, since there was no reason to get out, we didn't.

Five hours later, we were all in heaven.

"I want to live here" stated Nadia.

"So do we, dear."
"So do we."

Our final weekend in Idaho was spent up in the mountain town of McCall. A travel destination, McCall is jam packed with outdoor winter sports activities. The Driver family all knows how to ski, so we opened it up to our family if anyone was interested in learning. Nina was the only taker. She has always been an adventurous one, so it shouldn't have been a surprise. So, Clark, Nina and some of the Drivers headed off to Brundage Mountain Resort for some downhill fun.

A natural.

We got there bright and early so Nina could get a private one hour lesson, and hopefully get her skiing. Her instructor was super nice, and apparently Nina is somewhat of a natural. She mastered the main hill on 'Easy Street' pretty quickly, and wanted to try her luck on a big 'Green' hill. Clark took the big lift high up the mountain with her, and attempted what they called a beginner hill. It was steep. Too steep for a novice like myself and a first timer like Nina. So, we walked. Down the mountain. There was no other way down. It sucked.

 Back to the easy hill for us, which was just fine. Nina worked on her speed. She prefers going fast, not back and forth. She also mastered one called 'The Roller Coaster' which involved some fast hills, embankments, and several places to wipe out. Clark did. A lot. Nina did not. In just one day on skis, she was already better than her old man. Not surprising.

The rest of the gang, (Jenny, Norah, Nadia, the rest of the Drivers, and Boots the dog) tromped around McCall on snowshoes looking for places to go sledding. Nadia, of course, would not be excited about this, so she got the royal princess treatment. Sitting in her sled, she was drug around on the snow all day. The group trudged along, stopping occasionally and checking out sled hills. The snow was thick. There were no good runs established anywhere.

Norah decided to switch to cross-country skis, and loved it. She spent the day swishing along snow covered roads. After many failed attempts at sledding, they headed back to the car, to call it quits. Right down the road, they saw a group of sledders. A perfect spot. Fast. Long. And ending on a frozen lake. Great sledding soon followed. Even Nadia got in on the fun, laughing and giggling the whole way down. They even hooked their sleds up to Boots, and he pulled them down the hill.

 While we may never be mountain folks, at least we can play like them.

Boots earning his keep

The Zion in Winter

Zion National Park in southern Utah was another stunning example of Mother Nature at her finest. Instead of views from above, at this stop, we got to experience the bottom of this narrow slot canyon. It's massive sandstone cliffs of cream, pink, and red soared up into a brilliant blue sky. With snow and ice covering much of the park, hiking any of it's numerous trails was not an option. Instead, we took a scenic drive through the canyon, stopping often to soak in this magnificent place.
















The snow did, however, turn this already sublime place even more beautiful. We are already discussing our plans to return (when it's warm) and experience more of this awesome place.

Where's Nadia? ... In the car, of course.

Something about black and white photos of National Parks just elicits one's inner Ansel Adams

The One Great Sight Which Every American Should See

The Grand Canyon. If you've been there, you get it. You know. If you haven't, nothing I can say or write can even come close to describing it. So I won't even try. Pictures do not do it justice. It is, quite simply, the most amazing spectacle I've ever seen. If you haven't witnessed it for yourself, you need to. Jenny and the girls had never been, so cold weather or not, we headed off the one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World.

The cold weather only put a slight damper on our plans. The already treacherous hike down into the canyon was now covered with snow and ice. We weren't even going to attempt it. They sell a book at all the gift shops titled 'Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon'. It chronicled all the people that have died in the canyon over the years. It was a thick book. We didn't feel like making them update it on account of us. So, instead, we walked around the rim, and took shuttles to several of the best overlooks.

Canyon-schooling

The Grand Canyon is 'only' 6 millions years old, which in relationship to the Earth, is not that old at all. In that time, the Colorado River has carved out layers and layers of sedimentary rock to form the canyon. The layers were formed when the area was covered by ocean water, millions of years earlier. Then tectonic plate upheaval formed mountains, and the river did the rest. To this day, the canyon is ever changing, as the waters continue to carve it deeper and deeper.

"It's tiny." proclaimed Norah. Yes, tiny indeed...

Adios Arizona, Hello Winter

We were thankful for good friends.

Thanksgivin' groovin'

This is how vegetarians do Thanksgiving turkey

Our stay in Phoenix ended all too soon. The sunny, warm days were truly a blessing for us. Being able to run around outside, in shorts and t-shirts in November was awesome for everyone. But, alas, we couldn't stay there forever. The road was beckoning us. So, after a busy Thanksgiving weekend, that included tons and tons of delicious food, we packed it up, and sadly said goodbye to our friends the Murphy's. Goodbye warm desert days. Goodbye casita. Goodbye Murphy family.

Amanda, John, Clark & Jenny

Literally parked on the interstate for 4 hrs due to icy conditions

Almost immediately once we left the valley of the sun, the weather changed. It wasn't just due to our geographical change, however. Coincidentally, the day we left Phoenix, was the day that a major winter storm blanketed most of the western United States. And it hit us with full force. Cold, windy, icy conditions were everywhere. We had to alter some of our stops, due to the arctic conditions. Morning temps sunk below zero in some places. Roads were closed. Hiking trails covered in ice. It was frigid. Winter was here, and here with a vengeance. Sigh... Why can't it be like Phoenix everywhere?