Stanley, Gardening, and Road Tripping!!

        Well, I apologize for being so terribly overdue on my latest entry and I’m sure you all have just been dying to know what is happening in the magically mysterious and murderously melancholy life of Madison MacNichol!! Haha just kidding everything has just been so hectic I haven’t even had time to sleep properly much less write! But we just can’t have that, and as we know time is always made for the things that matter.  Prepare yourselves for a painfully long and dull account of  my life’s latest details ;).  

       So here I sit in the very late afternoon in Stanley, Idaho on the porch at the ranch while Grandfather reads The Economist, madly typing away before my free time gets bulldozed by supper.  I was able to get out of McCall for a few days for my yearly trip to this part of my grand state and have enjoyed it immensely.  There has been much walking, running, hiking, photo taking, chatting, laughing, and eating (naturally).  

       Charlie and I went for a hike up Williams Creek which was very lovely but I was terrified the whole time I would meet a bear, which I never did thank goodness! The little one hiked the whole way and chased at least 87 squirrels after which he was so exhausted he could barely keep his eyes open poor guy.   

       One afternoon Neil and I rented a paddle boat at Redfish Lake and had ourselves a nice little lunch on the water. 

Charlie was skeptical but I convinced him to get on board with bits of ham from our lunch. Then that evening Grandfather read to us after dinner.                    It reminded me of how in must have been in Little House on the Prairie or back when he was younger and made me wish it was still a regular occurrence.  He read the poem "Dangerous Dan McGrew" (….and there he lay dead and pumped full of lead, the Dangerous Dan McGrew….) which is a gruesome tale of a ruffian shot in a bar over a prostitute. lol I really enjoyed it. 

       Also probably one of the most exciting aspects of the trip was Little Miss. Carter!  My cousins new baby and the newest edition to the family and cute as a button.  Hard to believe but she only cried a little when I got to hold her.  She is the best behaved baby I have ever encountered (granted I haven't encountered many) and I cannot wait until she is old enough to call me Auntie Madi and I can teach her dirty words in Spanish! hehe just kidding Sara…kinda…;)  

       Neil and Steve have been feverishly rebuilding the boys cabin at the ranch to make it into Doug’s Cabin and they have really just done a fabulous job! Uncle Roland pitched in to get it all done in time and here are the boys having a celebratory beer in front of the finished product.  It looks great and I an very excited to see what it looks like when all the furniture is moved in! Nice job boys! You are the bomb(s)! :D  

       After Stanley I spend a day in Hailey/ Ketchum, Idaho shopping with Mom, eating the yummiest food imaginable and visiting with my Aunt Kelly and Uncle Mike who live there.  Here are the three of us girls having dinner at CK's.  YUM!!! 

        All this traveling and family visiting really got me thinking about how lucky I am to be part of such a wonderful family and a beautiful place.  I believe in every person’s blood there runs a bit of soil.  A bit of earth that reminds them where they are from and of those who love them.  This bit of soil plays a role in their lives however small and no matter how far they wander from it.  Some may deny it, or miss it, or fear it, or fear for it but regardless it will continue to flow within them until the end of time.  This is where my soil comes from.  It is dark and healthy and strong like the people it produces and it never ever ceases to amaze with all its bounty.  From it grow the great Rocky Mountains, pines as far as the eyes can see, and a plethora of wildlife. This is my Father’s and my Grandfather’s land and if I can get out of my own way long enough to listen, I can hear it speaking to me through the birds and the wind and the river.  I am of this land.  Good bye 'till next summer Stanley....

      Also, it was my birthday on the 11^th of this month and to celebrate Mom and I took the kayaks out on the river with the pups.                                          Being the thoughtful overprotective mother that she is, she went out and bought all the dogs life vests in case of a Chihuahua overboard incident.  Naturally Charlie bailed off the front of the kayak not ten feet from the shore and lucky for me those vests have a nifty handle on the back for easy retrieval.  It was a blast and even though Charlie was embarrassed to wear such a silly thing in public everyone we met thought he was a stud muffin.   I personally think it's more of a moral hazard really, I mean what’s to stop him falling in if he knows for certain he won’t drown? :P 

       Anywho after kayaking we went out for sushi and called it a day.  It was delightful. Thanks Mama for taking time off to spend my special day in style, love you!  

       On a side note my garden is doing wonderfully!  Look how much is has grown! We had a few casualties in the beginning but now all is going strong.  I even got my first harvest of spinach and swiss chard the other day and it tasted heavenly!  Also upon closer examination I noted two of the tiniest zucchinis you ever saw and very adorable infant head of broccoli!  Soon I expect I’ll be eating more veggies than my fridge can hold!  

       OK now for the big moment you've all been waiting for! Below are the dates I will be visiting everyone on my road trip! Yahoo!!! Finally!!  I tried to make it as accurate as possible but for those of you back East keep in mind I may, in reality, be late by or early by a day or two due to unforeseen circumstances (aka life). :D haha If anyone has and questions, comments, feedback, suggestions, or whatever just email or facebook me.  I picked Fall for my road tripping season not only because it is my all time favorite season but also because I figured most people would be at home then, but I for some reason you will be away when I am planning on coming or don't want me to come please also let me know that ;) Also please let me know if I will be able to stay with you or if I should get a hotel. No worries about entertaining me if you have work and such I don't want anyone stressing about having visitors I just want to see all your beautiful faces for as much time as you can spare!  Also I am going to have a traveling companion between Seattle and New Orleans so if your stop is somewhere in between there will be two of us.

So here you go:

Sept. 10- Depart McCall>Moscow to have lunch with Meredith Griffin>Spokane (Kyler Dreyer)

Sept. 12- Arrive in Walla Walla, Washington in time to take Robbie to dinner

Sept. 13- Arrive Seattle, Washington (Mary Hourihan)

Sept. 16-Arrive Portland, Oregon (Carter, Jenny, Jack MacNichol)

Sept. 22-Arrive Corvallis to spend day with Neil then to Eugene, Oregon

Sept. 23-Crater Lake

Sept. 24-Redwoods National Park

Sept. 26-Arrive Danville, California (Foster Family)

Sept. 30-Death Valley National Park

Oct. 2-Grand Canyon National Park

Oct. 5-Arrive Santa Fe

Oct. 8/9-Arrive Galveston, Texas

Oct. 10-Arrive New Orleans (Stephanie Campbell??)

Oct. 14/15/16-Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina

Oct. 17-Arrive Jacksonville, North Carolina (Dusty and Nicole Brooks)

Oct. 24-Arrive Richmond, Virginia (Jessica Lewis)

Oct. 27-Arrive Washington DC

Oct. 30-Arrive Essex. Connecticut (Grammy and Grandfather)

Nov. 1-Train to New York City (Sally, Nick, Liz MacNichol)

Nov. 3-Train back to Essex, Connecticut (Grammy and Grandfather)

Nov. 5-Arrive Boston, Massachusetts (Caroline MacNichol and Kasey Olchitree)

Nov. 8-Arrive Portland, Maine (Hailey Johnston) 

**Sara and Steve Wellington, Megan and Kalen Pick, Terri and Roland MacNichol, Patrick Langan, Nicola and Casey McDaniel not to worry you will all be visited on the way back at some future date unfortunately to come see you would take me way out of my way and cost too much but I will make it up to you all I PROMISE!!!! I am deeply sorry :( Forgive me. 

      Whew! That was a lot to cram into one blog post! I am sorry I promise I will never make you all read so much in one sitting again ;) And as usual to end I have a pic of Charlie Bean.  It's not a goofy one this time though, rather I think it's quite breath taking.  I took this on one of our pre-breakfast walks at the ranch.  It was just about to rain on us so the sky looks heavy and thick.  I love this photo.  Hope everyone is doing very well and I look forward to seeing you all soon! Hugs and kisses to all!!! xoxoxo