Idaho for the (pre)holidays

Over the years I’ve generally been quite good about not taking time with family for granted. When the pandemic hit, it was reinforced all the more. When an opportunity arises to be with my kin, I take it.

Every year I’m allowed a home leave for me and my family to visit my home of record. It’s a benefit that is more or less standard for people who hold international humanitarian positions. Private sector provides similar support (though likely with a few more bells and whistles). My home leave falls on the anniversary of my start date which was in December. It’s handy, in a way, since it means that it always falls around the holidays. As such, having spent most of my life outside the US, I’ve still only missed two Christmases away from family. Last year the pandemic prevented my family and me from spending the holidays with our families in the US – one of the only two that I missed.

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This year we decided to begin the holiday in Idaho with my family and then head to southern Indiana/Louisville to spend time with Priya’s family, about ten days with each. The girls’ school vacation sort of dictates when we travel nowadays and that’s the way it’s going to be for a few years.

The challenge in frontloading the Idaho part of the trip is that we would arrive and depart before the 25th – missing both Christmas and New Year's. Even in Indiana, we would leave by New Year’s Eve (on the flight as I type).

The pandemic is still very much an issue as the omicron variant has spread throughout the US (and around the world). Though our travel went without mishap, thankfully, family activities would nonetheless end up being shaken up a bit. Even before traveling there was considerable discussion about the presence of anti-vaxers at the various gatherings. There was also concern about us, though we were tested the morning we left, we could potentially be exposed on the way there, including within the US where no testing is required for internal travel Though more than 90% of my family (including spouses, children, etc.) are fully vaccinated and have been cautious, there are a couple of holdouts. I was more sympathetic for those who held off due to uncertainties around the virus during its first few months. But now, with its effectiveness and safety more than verified, people just need to step up. And share their vaccines with places like Africa.

As such, family gatherings were a bit more broken up into smaller groups. I tend to like it that way anyway. Conversations are better. When you have 30+ people in a room, including some tots running around, it’s next to impossible to really find out how people are doing and have meaningful exchanges.

We spent a few days with the Boise-based family before heading down to see my parents. Jet lag didn’t seem to be much of an issue. Even our girls are getting pretty good at managing the effects of time differences, though heading east to west tends to be easier than the opposite.

We did get some snow in both Boise in Kimberly. Not a lot but it was enough to make a snowwoman. But bigger snows were on the way.

We had planned on sneaking in a first ski at a small ski area called Pomerelle near where my parents live. We geared all up and headed out. It’s not a bad drive, particularly as you get up into the area where the mountain is. We’d checked the website just to make sure it was open. The site provided all the normal information including snow and weather reports, ticket prices, etc. The one thing it failed to mention was that it, in fact, wasn’t open. Apparently, word of mouth still rules in these small communities, something one isn’t privy to when arriving from abroad.

Growing up we’d never known Pomerelle to be closed the second week of December. It tends to get more snow than other ski mountains in Idaho due to where it’s situated. In any case, we made it all the way to the parking area covered with nearly a foot of fresh snow, only to see the sad, motionless chairlifts.

We headed back to the town of Albion located at the foot of the mountain. It’s an area steeped in history, including that of my own family, and I always like going there. It was very quiet and several of the few businesses appeared to be closed. We stopped at a place that had an “Open” sign illuminated. The door was unlocked but the place was empty when we walked in. Soon a guy came out who seemed to be surprised he might have some business. Formerly a restaurant, the place was now a store. We were able to order a couple of hot chocolates for the girls and we chatted with him for a bit. Found out at the end of the conversation that he was the mayor. Not sure why that surprised me. For a rural town with less than five hundred people, chances are a bit higher that you might accidently run into the mayor.

After our failed ski adventure, we opted on a trampoline place so the girls could burn some energy. Exercise is good for getting over jet lag and this was one of the few options I could think of. I was still nursing a broken arm/thumb and jumping on a trampoline is probably the worst activity for such a condition. So I was relegated to spectator.

Otherwise, we shoveled and played in snow, and hung out with my parents. It’s always a low-key time but always relaxing and enjoyable.

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We then headed north to the mountains. For me it’s a core part of the holidays – time to be in the big snow, ski, sled, etc. I was more limited in my activities due to my broken appendages but it’s always a special time for the kids who have been raised in the tropics of Africa. We met my brother for lunch and then made our way to the local hot springs. Taking an outdoor dip in the water in the middle of a snowy winter is wonderful. This valley (where we bought property a couple years ago) is such a magical place with all that it has to offer. At least in my opinion.

Then it was off to my sister’s rather large cabin to spend a couple of nights in what was a real winter wonderland. We relaxed, had steaks and enjoyed time with family. We also met with a contractor at our unfinished house to see if we can’t get it done, in spite of all the demand on contractors these days. We had a chance to ski, finally, though the snow was relentless. It was that cold, dry, fluffy snow that makes for good skiing though visibility wasn't all that great. Sadly, we didn’t have much time to enjoy it before we needed to get back to Boise to prepare for the second leg of our trip.

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The last day or so before traveling is usually more work than fun. We return winter things to storage. Run last minute errands. Etc. We squeeze in time with family but it tends to be rushed. In addition, we were watching an increasingly precarious travel situation with the spread of the Omicron variant. Thankfully we had no disruption and were able to make it to Louisville without drama.