And another reason...Cherries!

Who knew they grow cherries in Idaho?

It seems that potatoes aren't the only cash crop in Idaho. We went up the road to Emmett the weekend before last, to pick cherries for $1.18 per pound, and came home with a whopping 26.5 pounds of beautifully ripe, juicy cherries!

We each had a picking bucket and went climbing ladders into heavily laden trees. There were bings, raniers and I believe some sour cherries as well. The sweet smell of the ripening fruit was amazing.

Now, some might be asking, "what does one DO with 26.5 pounds of cherries?" Well, I've made a cherry apricot crisp, pate brisee rustic pies, a cherry vanilla cordial (still fermenting), stewed cherries with wine (amazing on ice cream or in my morning oatmeal), fizzy cherry lemonade, and a mint cherry sauce for grilled meats.

Oh, and I'd say we've eaten a handful or forty :-)

I still have a few pounds to freeze whole; but never fear, the cherry festival in Hood River is just a few weeks away. Soon I'll have more cherries to make into jam!

Yummm.

Another Reason why Idaho is Great

I've been putting off getting my oil changed for 2 months so after spending 4 hours washing cars yesterday I decided it was time. I stopped at a local place called Lube Jockey. I got the oil changed in 15 minutes and they even pulled the service engine light code off the car for free!! I paid $85 in December for this 'service' at the place I have been frequenting since 1996.

When I went to pay, I realized that I forgot my wallet. Rather than making a big deal out all I had to do was call Joanie and she read me the credit card number which they accepted with no attitude.

Try that in Maryland!!

World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame

Last night we attended the 2007 induction ceremony to the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame. The ceremony was located on the campus at BSU. The reason we were there is because the Hall was honoring Eunice Shriver and Loretta Claiborne with its Founders Award. Joanie and I spent most of the previous evening with Loretta at a photoshot before taking her to dinner. We had a great time, Loretta is an amazing person.


There were three major inductees:

Kyle Petty

Kyle was inducted for his work with the Victory Junction Gang Camp which was created to honor his late son. Kyle was an amazing speaker and you could really see his passion for the camp.

(My co-worker Steve, me and Kyle)

Edgar Martinez

Edgar was inducted for his work with the Children's Hospital in Seattle. He was very humbled for the recognition.

(me, Edgar, Loretta, and Steve)

Dikembe Mutombo

Dikembe was inducted for his work in Africa. He has donated $15 million of his own money to build the first new hospital in Kinshasa, Congo in over 40 years. He is also really, really tall as you can see in the photos.

(me, Joanie, Dikembe, and Steve)

Doesn't Joanie look nice with her eyes closed? she must have been blinded by seeing Steve in a shirt and tie!

It was a great evening and something that I never expected could happen in Boise.

**Thanks to Laura for taking the photos. Check out the height difference between the two of them!!!**

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

I didn't actually scream, but that's exactly what I was thinking for roughly six hours last Saturday, when I took a whitewater kayaking lesson on the Boise River. That's me in the red kayak with the blue helmet and white shirt.

The event was for women only, taught by Anna Levesque, a world champion in freestyle kayaking and professional whitewater guide. She was VERY mellow and wonderfully patient with everyone.

This is me in the water with Anna.


This was a one-day, introductory course, so I thought I'd be safe and never have to face my fear of flipping over while skirted into a kayak. Intro -- you know, we tool around and practice a couple of strokes, break for lunch, get a sales pitch for classes and go home.

But NOOOO. We started the day by gearing up and heading to the pond to practice wet exits.

For anyone who hasn't kayaked, this is where you purposefully flip your kayak upside down, calm yourself from shear panic, pull the skirt and somersault out of the boat while under water. I whimpered and had to have Anna flip my boat for me on the first try. I just couldn't flip the boat myself. Every inch of my body was saying NO! You must stay upright! Do whatever you have to do NOT to flip this boat! I did manage to flip it by myself on my second practice exit.

After that, we practiced five strokes and skimmed around the pond for a while before lunch. I was so jacked up with fear I couldn't really eat. After lunch, we scouted the river and picked our paths through the whitewater. I chickened out when I saw the whitewater and wasn't going to go. But then I watched the first group go through and mustered the courage to do it.

I made it down the river and never flipped the kayak. YAY! I overshot the landing for our exit and got stuck near some trees, but I didn't flip the kayak.

Afterward, all the ladies were congratulating me for facing my fears and they asked, "Now wasn't that great?!" My answer? "No. It was terrifying."

I am proud of myself for doing it, but I am obviously NOT an adrenaline junky. I just felt sick, not euphoric. I hope to stick with inflatable kayaks and/or still water from now on.

Bad Campsite

We met Eileen in Oregon a few weeks ago to go camping for the weekend. I picked out Emigrant Springs State Park because it was about halfway to Portland and convenient to the highway. When you can see tractor trailers (and triples) from your campsite you know that you are in for a long weekend.


Eileen was joined by her Canadian friend Joann and Joanie's former co-worker Ian drove down from Seattle. As you can see he sleeps 'Finnegan Style' but without the snoring



Friday night Joann got a fire going for smores (Joanie made homemade Marshmellows, yum!)


Saturday morning, I was in charge of the fire.

By Saturday afternoon it started raining and it kept raining until Monday.

It wasn't really my weekend, next time someone else can be in charge.

Josh Meets Grill

We finally bought a grill. It's really Chris's fault. When we were talking the other day he worked me over on the benefits of charcoal over gas. I did some online research and unfortunately the majority of food snobs really prefer and recommend against gas. I figured with all the spare time we have now, getting home from work 10 minutes after leaving instead of hour and a half later, we had time to try charcoal instead.

I went with the Weber Preformer. The grill itself is very nice, it has a side table, the grates open to refuel, and it has a lid holder. However the real selling point was the 'gas assisted start' no need for chimney starters or charcoal pyramids. All I have to do is dump the charcoal in the bins and hit the start button. After that runs for five minutes, you turn it off and let charcoal burn down for 10 minutes and you are ready to cook.

So far I have made steaks, and a Beer Can Chicken.


Last night for dinner we had grilled lamb chops and portabella mushrooms. I learned its a good idea to trim the fat off the chops before cooking to avoid flare ups.

I'm having lots of fun cooking this way. I read a good quote from Chris Schlesinger on Slate "Remember, part of the thrill of grilling is its unpredictability—a good sense of humor is key." If you have 15 minutes I recommend reading the conversation.

Friday's appointment

Get this -- Boise has an active community of mural painters, so I've been driving around trying to find as many as I can (more photos to come) and came across this particularly fun mural for The Beehive salon. I've got a pedicure scheduled for Friday :-)

WAY overdue

We went camping in Oregon this weekend but before we tell that story, I realized that photos from another trip were overlooked! So without further a-do, I present McCall, Idaho.


McCall is a resort town on the southern shores of the Payette Lake in the Payette National Forest. It's 100 miles north of Boise, but takes about 2 hours to drive along the scenic byway that follows the river.


There are hundreds of lake houses and cabins, but overall the town is small and quite charming. Just a handful of restaurants, shops and one grocer in the "downtown" proper.