We quite enjoyed our quick stay at Lake Tahoe (we will definitely be back), but for now, we had to get moving if we wanted to make it to Brian and Char’s place in time for Christmas. The trip to Eagle (just north of Boise) from Zephyr Cove was an absolute slog, coming in at nearly 500 miles – our second longest drive towing the RV. On top of just being long, the journey to Idaho was quite boring as there is extraordinarily little going on in terms of scenery along I-80 in northwest Nevada. Thankfully, the drive was relatively flat and straight, so Sam was able to get behind the wheel and knock out a portion of trip while I got some rest in.
After a full day of driving, we finally arrived in the Boise metro. However, before we could head over to Sam’s parent’s, we had to park the rig at its home for the next two weeks – Hi Valley RV Park, about 20 minutes east of their house. I say “its home” rather than “our home” because rather than sleeping in the RV, we would be staying at Brian and Char’s while we were in the area. Due to this sleeping arrangement, we didn’t spend much time in the park, however, it seemed nice enough and served its purpose admirably as a spot to store the rig while we were in town.
This also meant that Charlotte would be joining us over at Grandma and Grandpa’s! Unfortunately, I don’t think that she enjoyed the situation quite as much as everyone else as she had other kitties that she would be forced to interact with (terrible, I know). There were definitely some hisses and showdowns during our stay, but the cats were civil with one another, for the most part. Near the end, Charlotte even got quite brave and began venturing out into the living area (probably in search of food), showing little fear of Dash and Meme.
Once Charlotte was successfully moved in and the other sisters had arrived in Boise, it was time to start the Christmas festivities! At the ripe age of 30, this marked my very first Christmas away from my family, but I couldn’t have selected a better group of gals (and guy) to celebrate with. I thought that I would miss my folks more than I actually did, mainly because I was just having a great time with my soon-to-be-official new family. At this point, I was part of the gang!
After attending a lovely Christmas Eve service at their local church, we migrated back to their place for a pleasant evening of snacking, wine-sipping, and movie-watching – both Christmas classics like It’s a Wonderful Life and home movies from when the girls were little. Some of the home movies had us just cracking up. You can only get so much context from pictures, so it was great getting to see what my lovely wife-to-be was like when she was a little girl.
One major difference between my family and the Murphy’s when it came to Christmas, was the sheer number of pictures taken (and the level of professionalism that went into them). Not only has my family never taken a picture with matching pj’s on Christmas morning, but we have a hard enough time just getting everyone together into one pic!
After opening presents, we lounged around and played with our new toys before eventually making our way over to the table for a fantastic Christmas dinner. But before we could chow down, we made sure that the camera got to eat first – duh!
With the Christmas activities gradually winding down, it did not take long for word to spread around the neighborhood that the Murphy garage was open and that it was time to party! The stars of the neighborhood turned out in force to celebrate with us, and the entertainment continued late into the evening. The beer was flowing like wine, and at one point, we even found ourselves involved in a few high-stakes games of shuffleboard, with several Benjamins exchanging hands before it was all said and done.
We needed a few days of recovery after that one, but once our livers had sufficient time to recuperate, it was time to do it all again – New Years’ BABYYYY! We had quite the treat in store for us this time as one of Brian and Char’s neighbors was hosting a small NYE party at his penthouse office in downtown Boise and we were lucky enough to be invited! To no one’s surprise, we had an absolute blast. It was a pretty surreal evening, and I can’t imagine a better way to bring in the new year than kissing my beautiful fiancée from a penthouse suite overlooking beautiful Boise!
Once again, our livers needed a break after that one. In fact, Sam and I decided that we needed a longer break this time and made a pact to refrain from drinking for the entire next month (aka “Dry January”). Thankfully, the “enablehood” decided to take it relatively easy on New Year’s Day, so we weren’t confronted with too much peer pressure as we began our long, hard detox. We ended up having a nice, quiet New Year’s just hanging around the house, playing euchre, and watching football. Sam’s cousin Benj even made an appearance! It was great getting to finally meet some of Sam’s cousins and start putting faces to the names that I had heard all about.
We truly had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas and ringing in the new year during our time in Idaho. We are so fortunate to have such great friends and family in our lives! Although we were a bit worn out from the whirlwind of a trip, our hearts were full to the brim as we said our goodbyes. Our stay in Eagle was over way too soon, but the road was calling our names once more. Our journey saw us making our way further west – this time to Bend, a small but vibrant city located on the east side of the Cascade Mountains in central Oregon.