We left Boise just before noon, and enjoyed a nice drive on Idaho 21 through Idaho City. The sky was clear, with the temperature hovering around 78-79 degrees on the way to the trailhead. We arrived just before 2PM, tossed on the packs, saddled up the dog, and set out on the adventure.

We made it about two minutes down the trail before Nora had to use the restroom. While Flossie took this chance (and period of time) to teach Nora how to be a lady in the great outdoors, Tyler, Eros and I jumped down to the river and kicked off the shoes to see what the water felt like. After spending a few minutes on our own, the girls re-joined us, and Nora and Tyler kicked off their pants and had a good time. We walked out into the middle of the stream, but the water climbed up to waist level of both kids, so we halted our advancement across the river.

After getting clothes and shoes back on, we continued down the trail for a quarter of a mile, and took a break for lunch. The kids were a bit upset the jelly was showing through the bread, they are not used to roughing it I guess. Eros enjoyed the break, finding a comfortable spot in the shade, and she was rewarded with the crusts from Tyler's sandwich. Then, we put the packs on and headed back onto the trail.

We made it another quarter mile, and then the toils of hiking for a bit began to set in with the short-legged kids. Tyler bemoaned how much he hated walking and Nora just plumb started to wear out. Eros, however, voiced no such concerns. We made it down to a bend in the river, snapped a few pictures of the surroundings, and then turned around, going about 8/10th's of a mile along the Crooked River in just over an hour.

The trail was fairly busy, and we passed one family camping just off the trail with a few older pooches guarding the camp. A number of kids, some right around Tyler's age and a few years older, also trekked along the river on this beautiful day. Eros loved the smells, and on our way back, she had the opportunity to visit a rodent friend. Unfortunately for her, she never caught wind of him, although Tyler's keen eyes picked him out as he casually enjoyed a snack, ignoring our picture taking and gawking.

The kids had enough of the fun, and we did not take a dip in the water again. We arrived back at the Escalade after three hours on the trail. The temperature had warmed to the mid-80's, although the shaded trail with river nearby made it very pleasant and it never felt a bit hot. The dusty Erben's hopped back in the car, and we headed toward big city again (snagging buffalo wings on the way home for dinner).

You can view all the pictures from the day in the Flickr set. The kids may not have been wild about the entire journey, but it was good to get them out of town and into the woods. They are excited for Grandpa Larry to come with them next time and "maybe we can bring our tents and eat marshmallows" they claim. May need a few more hikes to roughen them up a bit still.

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20110904 - Crooked River Trail Hike in a larger map

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The day was fairly cold and a nice day to spend inside a museum. The Shanghai museum covers the various eras of Chinese history. There was the Bronze hall, the Sculpture Hall, the Ceramics hall, the Caligraphy Hall, the Painting Hall, the Currency Hall and the Jade Hall. I've included a small sampling of photos from the museum. (The internet connection is pretty slow at the hotel, so I didn't include any descriptions or anything). The exhibits were fascinating.

After a nice lunch, we then headed to the Yuyuan Gardens. These gardens were a house and garden built during the Ming Dynasty. It was chilly outside, but it was enjoyable to wander through the labyrinth of rooms, rock and pools. The architecture was amazing. Everywhere you turned there were hidden carvings, especially on the rooftops. I've included some photos that even show a dragon and a lizard figthing.

Or course, in this day and age, you can't go anywhere without your Starbucks!

We then ate a traditional Chinese dinner of dumplings right next to the Yuyuan Gardens. When we came out, night had fallen and the old buildings where glowing.

I hope you enjoy the photos and I look forward to posting more soon.

The WordPress app on the phone seems to be clipping uploads, so we'll see how things cone across.

The Escalde was a blast, getting 20.2 MPG on the Interstate (I-84 and I-82), albeit 65 in Oregon and 70 in Washington for the speed limit. Ride was nice, although we ran with the windows up/sunroof closed. As we dwaddle more on the two-lanes of Washington, we'll let in some breeze.

Seattle bound tomorrow for Casa de Hemstreet !

Edit: trying a repost with a change to image settings as even vertical orientation pics are clipped.

Sigh, it is still busted.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/livefromboise/sets/72157620656494248/

We pulled into Mountain Home at 09:10, and met up with Nolan and Nicolas in the Walmart parking lot, and departed south through town, and onto ID-51 for a 15 mile or so jaunt toward the Snake River.  After crossing over the Snake, we hung a left, and it was a few miles up for the turn for the Bruneau Dunes State Park, and then a hop, skip, and jump to the dunes.  We pulled up and parked near the smaller dune, and walked about 250 feet or so to the base of the dune.  The weather was exquisite -- while you may hear wind in a few of the video clips, it was more a factor of the nice breeze catching the mic of the iPhone.  The temperature was around 74 or so when we arrived, and did not crest 80 by the time we left about three hours later.  There was not a cloud in the sky, so the sun was out in full force, pounding on the sand.  We were a north facing slope, so things were quite mild and pleasurable with the breeze washing away any hint of heat.  On the south facing slope, the sand temperature was much higher, and hot to the touch.  Nora seemed to be the only one NOT concerned with it -- that's my girl.

One is allowed pretty much free reign on the dunes in terms of activity.  We hauled up our little camp to the ridge, and the kids would shovel, load, dump and play for a few minutes, then want to go down in the sled.  The first couple runs were a little slow going, but once we figured things out, we were able to get the sleds up and cooking fairly well.  Unfortunately, we had to walk back up each time.  The boys had no problems getting back up on their own, but Nora requested Mommy and Daddy carry her.

After several hours of playing, sledding, and digging, we packed up the camp, and headed down the dune for the last time.  Back at the cars, we cracked open the peanut butter, opened the jelly, and the kids continued to expend massive amounts of energy as they frolicked throughout the Tahoe.  Flossie and I had some non-child interactions with an adult (yes, a real conversation that did not consist of one of Tyler's various "jokes") for a bit as the day warmed, but the nice breeze continued to make it a gorgeous, sunny day.  After filling up the bellies, we drove up to one of the two lakes that split the dunes.  The kiddos tossed some rocks into the lake (pond), and we hiked around for a short distance among the brush to the base of the large dune, looked at it, thought oh wow that is a long way up, and meandered back to the car.  By this time, Nora, on Flossie's shoulders, had taken up a relaxing laze upon her mother's head -- eyes were open, but she was sapped of energy.  We loaded back up in the vehicles, and took a quick jaunt back to town to wrap up the day with some ice cream.  Nicolas had no problem finishing his -- Tyler was a bit on the disgruntled side with his choice and not being able to go back and pick a different kind.  Nora was flat out zonked, and slept in her car seat through the affair.

All in all, a wonderful day.  We meandered back to Boise taking the long route...following the tracks west out of Mountain Home on along the old highway, then onto the dirt road that parallels the north side of the tracks past Cleft and Simco, where, we jumped back on the interstate for a few miles, then peeled off on the back door route via Kuna Road.  Tyler napped for a bit, although the dirt road rocking and swaying did pop Nora out of her slumber.

You can see all the photos and videos from the day in the Flickr set, enjoy ! You can also see our GPS tracklog of the adventure as well.