4-Wheeling

After hunting a few times in the mountainous terrain, the fella and I decided to keep our eyes open for a 4-wheeler.  We knew we'd use them, and I didn't want to look back at our time in Idaho and say, "Wouldn't it have been cool if we would have had 4-wheelers?"  There's so many places here that you just can't get to with a truck.  We kept our eyes and ears open and one day the fella called me at work and said he heard about a few on the radio.  We were going to drive an hour to the next town to look at them, but then the seller said he was headed our way anyway and would bring them to us.  He was bringing two, but we just wanted one.

A few hours later, he drove away with an empty trailer, and we sat in our driveway with 2 new toys.

Up until yesterday, we had only used one for hunting.  We decided to take them out for their first trip :)

That's hard to do with a truck but a piece of cake for a 4-wheeler!

An old work site.

There were 5 or 6 cabins where the workers would stay.  It was waaay in the middle of nowhere!

After 7 miles and an hour and a half, we made it to the lake!

That's our town!

We had so much fun, but today my hand, shoulder, and butt are killing me!!! (Does that count as a workout???)

Oh, and just because, here's a picture of me from a few weeks ago before going grouse hunting. I got 2, the fella got 3!

Age?

Today, one of my favorite blogs Back East Blonde talked about how she still doesn't feel like a grown up despite living with her beau, having a house, getting a puppy, and having a grown up job.  I feel like this all.the.time!

I told my dad once that I couldn't believe that I was a grown up and I had my own apartment (this was years ago) and a job and all that.  I asked him if you ever really start to feel like an adult.  He chuckled and said, "Ha, no. And wait until you have kids!"  I ask the fella the same question sometimes, especially since he always seems so much better at adult stuff that me.  You know, like knowing what copay means for insurance.  He said he doesn't feel like a grown up either.

As I hang out with people my age and older, I realized we're exactly the same as we were when we were kids/teenagers.  We still make dirty jokes (like the kids I teach who don't realize I've already made all the jokes they're just learning), act inappropriately in public (we just make sure no one's looking), and giggle during meetings.

As a teacher, I still laugh to myself when I hang out with teachers who are just as childish as me outside of the classroom.  Remember when you thought teachers lived at school?  You'd see them in the grocery store and think, "There's Mrs. So-and-So. She eats food.  Just like the rest of us. That's weird."  The difference between us and kids is that we have to pretend.  Kids get to do all these things all of the time and it's acceptable.  We do all these things but have to pretend we don't.  Because we're grown up.  Responsible.  Reliable.

It's nice to know that as I get older I don't have to give any of that up...I just have to pretend to. :)

This Time of Year...

This time of year I get a little homesick.  I love midwest falls, I love the trees, the apple cider, the smells, and most of all, the football.  Buckeye Nation is a pretty cool place to be during football season.  In Virginia, I found an Ohio State bar that felt almost like home, and I got used to that.  We had our own little traditions in a home away form home.  If I couldn't be in a bar in Columbus, that was definitely the next best thing.  

Here in Idaho it's just not quite the same.  And this is the second year that the fella has been gone on the first game day (I realize this is the second, but we were in the mountains last week) which compounds the loneliness a little more though it doesn't occur to me until he's already left.  Not that he should stay home anyway just to watch me mope over my lack of football!

So, since I can't watch the game (and really I'm not that upset because watching here by myself just isn't the same), I'm going to put on my jersey, be sad for a few minutes, cheer up, and attempt to recreate Chipotle.  Though after my cooking adventure last night (imagine marinade exploding from the broken food processor) I don't know that I'm very optimistic at the moment.  And I'll wait until the day that I can be back in the midwest where Big Ten games are standard and the trees are golden.

A Day in the Life

I've live in Idaho for a year as of today (I'm writing this on the 18th).  One year ago today, the fella and I pulled into this little, random town in the middle of nowhere and for the first time lived on our own.  No roommates, no parents, just he and I and the deer in the yard.  We've loved every second of our life here and love the fact that it really is a random, off-the-beaten-path type of place. 

Two of my best friends in Columbus had many questions about life in Idaho-what do you do? Where do you go? Who do you hang out with? What places are there for food? etc.  I told them that I would do a few "day-in-the-life" posts to give them a glimpse into my daily life.  Today is Saturday, so I thought I'd do a post about a typical weekend day.

We woke up this morning and went to some yard sales.  I found a pair of jean capris for $2 (plus a free basket), a sign for the Laundry Room that says "Laundry Room-Drop Drawers Here" for $1, and a set of jumper cables for $1.

After that we came home and set up the army wall tent that we bought yesterday for our hunting camp.

All laid out ready to go!

The stakes and posts.

The center pole takes both of us to set up.  The fella takes the top part and heaves it up while I attempt to step on the end to steady it while simultaneously pushing from the bottom while trying to not fall over and ruin the whole thing.

All set up!

The inside is huge, and it came with a wood burning stove for those cold winter nights.

 After we set up the tent, I cut up some carrots and cantelope.

I attempted a healthy snack before our seriously unhealthy lunch.

 This weekend the Sacajawea Cultural Center is having their Heritage Days.  There are old-timey vendors, music, and dutch oven cooks who sell their food for very reasonable prices.

Dutch oven lunch-potatoes, pasta, paella, enchiladas, and bacon. Delicious! Apparently there are dutch oven cooking clubs.  It's kind of a big deal.

Primitive living exhibit.

I think this is beef jerky.

The outdoor kitchen.

Apparently this is the archaeological dig site. I think that plastic bottle is an original.

A bridge.  The fella was kind enough to say I could go first. Then we walked in the opposite direction.

Did you know that the Indians drank Arizona lemonade and ate Lunchables?  Neither did I.

 After our rather large lunch and walking around in the heat, we decided it was time for some relaxation, so we came home and settled into watch a few episodes of Lost.  We started watching it from the beginning a few weeks ago and we're hooked!

Then, the fella went out elk watching and I've settled in to watch The Devil Wears Prada (which I could watch a million times for some reason), eat popcorn, feel guilty about the popcorn, and then decide whether or not I should eat a salad to balance it out or just not eat anything else.  Ahhh, decisions. I decided to make chicken tenders with hot sauce. When the fella gets home, we'll probably watch another episode of Lost and then head to bed.

And that, my friends, is a day in the life in Idaho.  Next weekend in the fair and Rodeo that I'm very excited about.  Fingers crossed for funnel cakes!!!

Scouting for Elk

Hunting season is quickly approaching and we are in full preparation mode.  Two weeks ago we went to Missoula for supplies.  Last week we went shooting and scouting for Elk. This week we bought an old army tent so we can leave camp set up and sleep on cots rather than the ground.

For those of you that don't hunt it's sometimes hard to understand the fascination.  I myself sometimes find my brow furrowed when the fella starts talking about the stuff he needs.  I ask, "why can't you just use what you have?" and then he explains it and it makes sense.  There is a lot of gear, a lot of cleaning, a lot of preparing, and a lot of time actually hunting.  But boy is it worth it!  When we have a freezer full of meat, we save huge amounts of money at the grocery story, and we have the peace of mind of knowing where it came from and how it was prepared.  I'm not what you would call a "clean eater" (though I am snacking on carrots right now. Is it "clean" if you douse them in ranch?), but I do like to know roughly where my food comes from.

Last week, we drove to the area where the fella plans on hunting so we could scout for elk. I took some pictures along the way.  I'm still deciding whether or not to get a fancy camera, so in the meantime, I'm using a little point and shoot....camera or no camera? That is the question.

Idaho traffic jam.

We're like a modern day Lewis and Clark....

No pictures, please.

It's really difficult to get a picture that truly captures the size of where we live.  I think this one does a pretty good job.  It's just unbelievably vast.

I read in between looking through my binoculars.  The Devil in the White City is a great book!

It's weird thinking that we're the only people for miles.  It's a little unsettling, but at the same time very cool.  Not to mention rare.

We didn't see any elk, but we did see a few of these guys.

We didn't see any elk that time, but we did get to see a little more of the area near us.  Plus, it's fun just to be outside walking around, taking pictures, and exploring.