House progress and new phone number

...thought you'd like to see our house construction progress....

Here's the initial site with only the land.

then with walls and dormers

This one was taken 11/23 with most of the front siding on.

...and this morning we took this one that shows the front siding and the scallops.

The scallops are the decorative siding above. We'll be painting the green siding with our own colors.

The electrical. HVAC, and plumbing rough are all done inside as is the insulation. The septic and leech fields are done and covered up. Back deck is almost done.

We'll be starting the exterior painting next week and drywall as well. And the well is being dug. It will probably go down 500 feet to get to good water!


Oh....we'll be changing our phone number to a local 208 area code soon so our 916 phone number will be inactivated. As soon as we get the new number, we'll send out an email.

...and no blog entry is complete without some Katie photos...she's up to 10 lbs. now.

Waiting on Thanksgiving turkey..."can't you hurry Dad"?

Katie's new winter coat...had to be pnk.

Out for a walk to show off her new coat

Katie, the goat and the horses....WOOF WOOF !

She LOVES my shoes.

steve/kim/katie

Peek-A-Boo, Idaho

Actually, the town is called Picabo, but pronounced Peek-A-Boo. The population is 128 souls in the surrounding 40 square miles consisting mostly of large ranches and irrigated fields. We stayed two nights and today I took a walk down the dirt road to the fly fishing river, Silver Creek, a mile each way.

Location of Picabo in relation to Yellowstone to the east and Boise to the west.

The nearest flowing stream is Silver Creek, a scenic spring-fed tributary of the Little Wood River, a key source of irrigation water for eastern Blaine County. The pristine Silver Creek is renowned among fly fisherman and was a favorite of Ernest Hemingway, who enjoyed hunting and fishing along the stream with local rancher Bud Purdy. The name "Picabo" supposedly derives from a Native American term translated as "silver water".

Looking west across the valley 

Looking back towards our RV park

The Silver Creek, upriver

The Silver Creek, upriver

Towards the southern hills

Heading home

Upriver

Everyone wanted to watch... 

....as I walked by....

....and on the way back too

Two magnificent horses

One decided to look at me.

Our spot with the southern hills in the distance

Our spot

Katie wanted to "talk" to the sheep in the field in front of our coach but they were too shy.

We've been discovering that Idaho is gorgeous ! Scenic ! Way better than we expected ! ...can't wait to explore more of it in the years to come.

thanks for viewing....

steve/kim/katie

Snake River in Idaho

...thought we'd dropped off the face of the earth? Nope, just spending time in Idaho while our house is being planned and built. We've been here since June 17th. Thought it would be nice to post some terrific Idaho photos.

This one is all about the scenic Snake River Gorge just south of Boise. We drove about 45 minutes south from our RV site, parked the car and walked about 1/4 mile to the edge. This is what you see at first as you approach.....asking "what's the big deal"?

 

Then, you look over the edge of the wall....whoaaaaa!

Looking south upriver

Looking north downriver

The Snake River goes into the Columbia River, which ends up in the Pacific Ocean...just past Portland, Oregon.

Then, we went a bit further and descended down to the river level to an old power station (Swan Falls Dam) that was built for the silver mines way back. Swan Falls Dam is on the Snake River about 40 miles south of Boise. It was built in 1901 to provide electricity to nearby mines. Swan Falls is the oldest hydroelectric generating site on the Snake River. Idaho Power built a new power plant in the mid-1990s. The old plant is now a museum. Unfortunately, we were not there when it was open.

This is the road down to the canyon floor

From up above

Getting closer

Nice park down at the river's level

Having to take the vegetation off the screens is an ongoing process.

From the water's edge.

Here's what it used to look like...notice there's no land bridge across the structure to the other side. That came later.

This river park is a LONG way from Boise....but people came out here to frolic.

Now comes the most interesting part...

Read this...

Here's where the ice dam broke

What it might've looked like with the water rushing through

This is an artist's rendition...

You can see the light colored flood layer almost at the top

Another view of the flood layer looking across the river.

Then, we drove out up that steep road and took a few more photos before heading home....

Amazing views !

Imagine that wall of water rushing through here?

Of course, no blog entry would be complete with some Katie photos...take a look at her new look !!

Isn't she adorable !!??

Her favorite spot during dinner.

She's got me well trained...every morning she naps on my lap for an hour.

Awwwww

That's an awfully big doggie...

Well, hope you enjoyed this one....we'll be posting a few more of Idaho before starting our house construction blog.

steve/kim/katie