Back to Boise

We left Swan Valley and our friends Bill and Marei this morning and drove back to Boise. We hadn't originally planned to stop in Boise, but Mike left an expensive rain parka and a fleece jacket in the backseat of the rental car when we turned it in. After several hours of gnashing our teeth about what became of it, he remembered the rental car and gave them a call. Sure enough...they had both. As of this writing, his jackets are safely back in his possession. Also, we'll be home tomorrow. Usually we would make a two-day trip from Boise to home, but we couldn't find any open RV spots along the way. When our attempts got closer and closer to home, we decided to just grit our teeth and make a day of it. It'll be nice for Mike to have a day to recuperate before returning to work on Monday.

Backing up to our visit to Swan Valley, it was rather chilly and rainy the day we arrived. It was fairly late in the afternoon, and so we enjoyed a delicious soup that Marei had prepared. It really hit the spot, given the weather. After spending several hours gabbing, we hit the hay.

The next day, Marei and I drove into Thayne, Wyoming, to the quilt shop called "Beyond Bolts" which is located in the corner of an Ace Hardware Store! What a hoot! And it was a good one. I bought some stuff, and so did Marei. I'll tell you more about that in a separate post. 

Mike and Bill (Marei's husband) had a fly fishing float trip planned. It was all catch and release, and it was the first time Mike had been fly fishing in decades. Nevertheless, it was a successful day, and a nice return to the sport for Mike. It was only our first time meeting Bill in person, and we enjoyed him very much. A very nice guy and something of an expert at fly fishing. Mike learned a lot from Bill and their float guides on the South Fork of the Snake River. Also, they had beautiful weather for their trip. Here's Mike with a cutthroat trout he caught.

Mike explained that the fishing is catch and release, except for the rainbow trout, and anglers are encouraged to catch and take them. In fact, the rainbow trout are "chipped" in a lottery fashion. Catch a rainbow, bring in the chip, and some of them are worth up to $1,000! Wouldn't that be a nice catch? The reason for this is that the rainbow trout and the cutthroat trout are breeding into a hybrid fish. Since the only place cutthroat can be found is on the South Fork of the Snake River, Idaho fish and wildlife is invested in keeping the species pure. 

The guys were back late that night, and Marei and I went to her guild meeting. That was kind of fun. I've never been a guest at anyone else's guild...always a "visitor" considering joining. In addition to their usual show and tell, they were having a UFO reveal. A couple of the quilts caught my eye. This one, for example, had some interesting quilting in this flying geese section. 

I like that little fleur de lis in the triangular section. (I'm always interested in how people quilt their flying geese sections.) 

Also, this mini portrait of Ellen Degeneres. The quilter explained that she found a picture of Ellen online and then digitally manipulated it to bring out the color value. Then, she "forced" herself to focus only on value, and this portrait was the end result. Cute, huh? This is similar to the way I do the pet pawtraits, but I'm usually thinking about matching patterns in the fur, rather than solely on value. I like what she came up with here.

It might be fun to make a pawtrait focusing only on value and letting the colors fall where they may. Someday...if I live long enough.

The kitties have done very well this trip, and they've become the best of buddies. Sometimes we think Smitty (who is about twice Sadie's size) is playing too rough, and then we'll reprimand him. Two seconds later, she's the one chasing him around, and so I think she's pretty well able to hold her own against him. Also, Sadie took it upon herself to blaze a new trail across the top of the trailer slide

up above the cabinet over the kitchen sink

and finally scaling Mt. Microwave.

Smitty watches her every move with keen interest.

Although I brought plenty of hand-stitching this trip, I actually accomplished very little. This is about all I did. I'm thinking of adopting the "Bad Hair Days Guaranteed" as my personal motto. It would save a lot of time in the morning.

So we'll get an early start tomorrow and we have a long drive ahead, but it has been a wonderfully relaxing vacation. We've had a great time.

The next time I write will probably be Sunday or Monday, and I'll tell you all about the quilt shop. For now...see you on the other side.