girls night out

my friend darla needed a quick adventure so the two us of took our matching daughters and headed to lava.  the grown up girls chatted in the front of the beefy diesel hoggin pick-up truck while the littles channelled taylor and miley in the backseat.  we ate salad and pizza like princesses at the royal and checked into a hotel called home.  we soaked in varying degrees of heat at the hot springs and hid in the steam rising from the water and i layed on the cold concrete next to the hottest pool and watched the stars.  the thing i liked about alternating between the heat of the pool and the frigid concrete is that i had to focus on my breathing to manage the extremes.   we ate ice cream, listened to the trains, channelled some adele and went to bed early.

in the a.m. with bits of my very seldom used anti-anxiety/sleep aidnecessary to undo too many sleepless nights of late still on board i pulled on olivia's fake ugg boots and went for a hike in my pajamas.

 i walked passed the idaho centennial trail sign and crossed this engineering marvel of a bridge...

 i turned and viewed the hot springs and my sleeping girls at "home" as i ascend this trail and laughed when i heard 3 loud whistle blowing trains travel through town  before 8 a.m.  it reminded me of my cousin vinny!

 i surprised some viciously aggressive llamas near this tree.  not sure how i escaped them...i was too scared to take a picture

 there were some aspects where the ground was bare but mostly my trail was covered in icy snow.  this is a flat section. many were not so easy to cover due to the steepness.

 don't blame me for the life-less grey and brown as i have been praying for snow for all i'm worth for months.  i think i am being humbled...

 i did watch this happen and the extremes reminded me to breathe, again.  happy saturday!

hiking down was a little bit dicey, as i figured it would be given my footwear, and i had a couple of tushy-meet-the-ground moments but only one slide-off-the-trail-and-roll-into-the-buck-brush-experiences.  thank goodness for eating like a princess and providing my self plenty-o-padding.  may need a spine adjustment or a massage later...

note to self: you are normally well prepared for all eventualities, which is why your pack is always a little too heavy. take your boots next time! the good news is, you now know that barefoot running is not for you.  phewww!  thank goodness you never have to wear them, those vibrams are so hideous...

after a great breakfast, omelets, pancakes and belgium waffles, at johnny's restaurant we climbed into the diesel and left the home hotel and headed north.  thanks darla, izzy and marin for the perfect girls night out!