It all started at Sunday dinner about 7 years ago. we were talking about a trip we'd been on 5 years earlier. The plan was to drive from so Cal to SLC, UT area, the up through Idaho and into Washington State, visiting family and friends all along the way.
On that trip, I took an ill advised paraglider trip off Francis Peak (above Farmington, UT) just as a strong storm front blew in. The short version is I went down fast and landed hard but luckily survived. Upon landing, I broke my ankle, making for a l-o-n-g day that required cutting short the trip to return to Torrance for additional visits to the doctor and to convalesce.....
We reminisced about that "cut-short" trip and called Diane's youngest brother, Muggy (yup, it's his legal name). He and his wife and two kids live in Emmett, ID. It had been in the plan to stop by to say hello.
During that conversation, I started up about how I was so sick of driving over an hour to go the 7 miles to work each morning (and the same each evening!). Muggy said we should pay them a visit. The pace was quite a bit slower and if I could take that, it might be fun.
So, a month later (in the heat of June) we took a short week to fly to Boise and rented a car and drove the 35 or so miles to Emmett. The discovery was interesting, to say the least!
The drive down the newly opened freeway section and north on Eagle Road were pretty impressive. Not too much traffic mid morning and the views of the low hills surrounding Boise were nice. However, when we got on top highway 16, the landscape became quite barren (low, rolling hills, covered with dry grass.... kinda like the hills above the bay area in CA) and, frankly, depressing. But then, just as we were about to give up, a "gun-sight pass" appeared up ahead.
The road descends into the valley with a nice overlook just as you clear the pass. We stopped and got out. One look at that green, peaceful looking valley and I was lost forever!
We spent the next few days looking around, eating elk, local corn and 'taters. I found a job, we bought a house and returned to CA in shock at what we'd done!
Upon returning, I told my boss that I was planning to move on. He presented me with notice that I was to be part of this last of a series of downsizing initiatives at IR. He suggested that we could take advantage of the downsizing and get me some money in the offing. Interestingly, about a month later, he was layed off and the department disbanded.
Two weeks to the day later, we were moving into our home in Emmett in some of the hottest weather we'd seen since our last trip to Las Vegas.....
And the rest, as they say, is history...
More later.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
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