At the beginning of October, I had an extended break from school. It couldn't have come at a better time, either! On Thursday the 3rd, we had a statewide teachers inservice day. On Friday & Saturday, our family went camping to Challis Hot Springs and watched Ammon run a XC race. On Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, I travelled with Josh to McCall as he had golf meetings to attend there. 6 days off in a row! It was like heaven! I got to get caught up on projects at home on Thursday, spend 2 days camping with my family, and 3 days alone with Josh!
I haven't been to McCall since 2007--when I also accompanied Josh there for golf meetings, and Kanyon was a baby and came with us, too. Josh has golf meetings around the state of Idaho twice a year: each spring in Boise, and each fall in different locations. I haven't gone with him for a few years, but I've always said that once Kanyon was in school all day beginning in 1st grade, that I would start going to Josh's fall golf meetings with him. I was so happy when I discovered that the meeting would be in McCall this year, because I knew I'd be able to go with him now that Kanyon is in 1st grade!
It's an almost 6-hour drive to get there. We had a very peaceful drive on Sunday, and when we arrived that evening, we checked into the hotel, and Josh left to go to a presidency meeting. He has served this past year as President of the Idaho Superintendent's Association. I stayed at the hotel and watched TV for a while, then I decided to walk down the road about a mile to the Payette Lake. It was beautiful to see the sun beginning to set over the lake.
I took off my shoes and let my bare feet walk in the sand on the beach surrounding the lake for a bit. It was cool on my feet, but it made me feel so alive!
I was worried that I'd made a wrong choice to walk to the lake, though, as I didn't bring a jacket with me, and as the sun was going down it was beginning to get cold, and since I'd been walking in the cold sand and water, I was starting to feel shivers. I didn't want to walk all the way back to the hotel--and thankfully, I didn't have to. Josh's meetings got done, and he came and picked me up at the beach. Then I went with him to a presidency dinner at a nice restaurant down the road.
The next morning, he left early to go to meetings all day (which he got to conduct)!
I stayed at the hotel in my PJ's for the longest time. I worked on my computer for a while that morning, and around lunch time I decided to leave. I got dressed and walked down the road to Subway. I got a sandwich, then walked to the beach again and I ate my lunch there. I brought along a book, and for over an hour, I just sat next to the beach on a section of grass and read. It was so relaxing and peaceful and quiet.
Then I started to get antsy (and a little cold), so I decided I would be brave and try to find the golf course where Josh was at. I had no idea where it was, but he had told me it was down a road we'd passed the previous night. So I just started walking in that general direction...
I loved looking at all the quaint and delightful houses as I walked, and seeing all the changing colors of the leaves on the trees. It was a wonderful, soul-filling walk!
I walked for about 45 minutes, and I actually found the place! I was so impressed with myself! Josh's meetings were done for the day, but the superintendents were having snacks and talking. So I went into the clubhouse, and grabbed the car keys from him (and some of the delicious items on the snack buffet), and went back out to the car in the parking lot and continued reading my book some more until Josh was done.
He told me that during the meetings, he'd received his much-anticipated clock for his service as President the last year. He'd had a good day at the meetings, and I'd had a good day by myself, and we were looking forward to spending the evening together.
We wanted to be adventurous and explore the area (in a relaxing way of course), so we drove for a half hour in the north/east direction until we got to the area of New Meadows and we turned around and went back. We passed a house with this cute display, and I was so inspired that I made him stop so I could take a photo:
When we got back to McCall, we stopped to eat at the Blue Moose Restaurant. It turned out to be the perfect choice!
I was in love with all their decorations, and their food was SOOOO good! I especially loved the painting with its bold & vivid colors on the wall behind Josh's head:
We ordered some breadstick knots and a gourmet pizza. I'm salivating just looking at this...their food was uber delicious!
After dinner, we returned to the hotel, and went to bed early. The last morning, Tuesday, Josh got up early again and left for meetings. This time, though, I went with him and dropped him off so I could have the car all day. When we arrived at the Clubhouse, it was dark outside and I didn't pay too much attention to the roads we took to get there because I'd found it the previous day when I was walking and didn't think it would be too hard to find my way back. I was very wrong. I made some bad turns and got so lost and was driving down roads with no houses and I was getting really nervous. I drove around for about 20 minutes before discovering a road that took me back to the road I needed to be on. What a relief! I felt like such an idiot!
When I got back to the hotel, I got myself all ready and packed up everything, and checked out of the hotel. I went to a cute candy store in downtown McCall that I'd seen on the previous day's walk, and got some yummy souvenirs for the boys. Then I drove to Boise to do some shopping. The highway follows the Payette River and mountains for most of the 2+ hour drive, and it was again so beautiful to behold with all the autumn colors!
I went to a few stores in Boise, and ate lunch, and headed back to McCall. It began to rain on the drive back. I took advantage of being alone, and stopped to take photos of my surroundings several times.
I got back to McCall just in time--Josh was done with his meetings and was ready to go. I picked him up and we began the long drive back home to Salmon. I begged him to stop after Stanley, to go to the Sunbeam hot springs. We hadn't soaked in the hot tubs at all while we were at the hotel, and we'd brought along our swim suits, and I've wanted to stop there every time we pass it. So, he obliged and we stopped. But it wasn't anything like we thought it would be. The hot springs flows directly into the river, and there's a few pools made of rock formations that integrate the cold river water with the hot springs water. But since the river was low this time of year, the pools were either too hot, or too cold. It was dark outside, too, and we had difficulty walking around in our bare feet at the pools without seeing clearly. We didn't really enjoy it, but it was very adventuresome of us to try it!!! And I was proud of ourselves for that! We got home after 10:00 that night.
I was sad to have to go back to school again the next day, even though I'd had a week off. I truly enjoyed my prolonged break this year! Spending a few days alone was so rejuvenating for my soul and I really needed it!
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