Where there is smoke.....

I have finally found something I detest about Boise.  Yes, detest.  It is an area that Boise fails me.  Apparently it isn't usually this bad - but even just a week of this is enough for me.

What is it?



SMOKE.

It's not one of those things you really consider before moving, at least I didn't.  Hmmmmm, how many cruddy air quality days will we have due to surrounding wildfires?  I have asthma - so I actually did look at air quality stuff before we moved.  It seemed a bit worse than I would have expected for the area, but I didn't think much of it.  NOW I know why. 

The way the mountains and air currents work, the smoke from surrounding fires gets stuck in Treasure Valley.  Yay.  Right now we are going on almost a week of it just sitting here.  In the beginning of the summer the smoke was interesting to see.  It started like this:

Oh look, there is some smoke from a fire.  Makes for a pretty sunset.

 

Oh, hmmmm, more smoke.  Just a hint of a smell.

This is a normal view of the Oregon Trail area near our subdivision.

This is a view earlier this summer.  That is all smoke. 

Here is a normal view of our backyard.

Another normal view.

And this was it on Saturday.  This week the trees are even hazy.  So over it.

It clears up a bit by evening, but still....you'd think there was rain in those clouds.  Nope.  I actually don't remember the last time we had rain.....

You open the door and you smell smoke.  You walk outside and your hair smells like smoke when you come back in.  The dog smells like smoke.  The house smells like smoke.......

We see planes landing and think of how annoying it must be for them too.  Apparently visibility was reduced to 2 miles on Sunday (expected to get worse this week).  Normal is at least 10 miles, sometimes up to 50 miles.  That link will give you a run down of some of the current fires too.

Add a baby taking up a large portion of my lung capacity with the asthma and I'm done.  Inside activities for us.  I've also been feeling the desire to move around lately - so I'm thinking trips to the mall to burn off energy will be a regular part of our routine now. 

I don't think she minds.......

We are told by everyone that it isn't normally this bad - they can't recall a summer this smokey.  Apparently the air quality is worse than it has been in years.  Making it into the red category the other day and the orange today.  So, we picked the right summer to move to Boise! Lucky us!

The Idaho Statesman tells us "Boise might get a break from smoky, soupy air on Wednesday. Might."  Their confidence is overwhelming.

Of course, why all the smoke?  Well - Idaho is on fire.  And Oregon.  And Nevada.  And Wyoming.  And Utah.  And....well the entire West is pretty much on fire.

Yes, there is an ap for that.

This was Idaho the other day.

I've heard it has been dry and that has something to do with it.  Just a little.  Lightening seems to actually be the main culprit for setting them. 

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/08/14/2231230/boise-might-get-a-break-from-smoky.html#storylink=cpy



The closest one we've had this summer, aside from a little grass one that was put out easily, was the "Micron" fire in July.  It burned over 2,000 acres, but was blown away from us, which is good since Micron is across the street from our subdivision.  We've discussed before that they are probably set up for fire stuff since that would be a very expensive building to burn, and it appears that they are. 

Driving home and realizing, hmmmmm, that seems to be right around our exit.

Yup, there is Micron, helicopters, and a nice big old patch of burned land.

Several helicopters working on it, which Little Lady LOVED!

To the left is Micron, and to the right is the area the fire started.  Straight ahead are the hills you see from our backyard - well, that you usually see, when there isn't a mess of smoke outside.

I knew it!  There is apparently some kind of water container behind Micron.  The helicopters were filling their buckets there.  Made much faster work for them I'm sure, otherwise they would have to fly to Lucky Peak, which is still pretty close.

Carrying a water filled bucket.

Another helicopter and a bunch of burned land. :-(

This is the view by our house - basically looking from the hills side.  You can see all the burned land.  Still looks like that - a bunch of blackened earth.  Sad.

Well, I'm hoping there is at least a little relief tomorrow.  I probably sound like such a complainer, but having asthma really does affect you with this stuff.  I hate it.  It is one of those things you can't really do anything about, which really bothers me.  I don't think Little Lady will have an issue with it because I'm pretty sure it was caused by living in a mold filled house for a bit as a child (seriously, mold is no joke) since my Mother, Sister and I seem to be the only ones in our family with asthma issues.  Little Lady and Chris are each having runny noses and itchy eyes and I round out the bunch with an awesome cough that sounds like I've been smoking for 50 years and have an oxygen tank.  I'm just ready for a little break from it.  I think I'll go rub my itchy eyes, take a couple hits off the inhaler and call it a night.  I'll try to dream happy, clean air dreams.

To Doula.......or not to Doula.......

So - we're pretty much on our own here.  Stress has started now that I've been thinking about leaving Little Lady with someone overnight while Bambino is delivered.  I have never been away from her overnight - or for longer than a workday.  We have finally, hopefully, found someone to help watch her sometimes.  She will be hanging out with us for three hours on Friday so I can show her where everything is and how I handle things and so on.  Our neighbor has offered to help when we need to head to the hospital, as well as someone from church, but each of them has their own children and I know they will have other obligations as well.  We will figure out schedules so hopefully they can help some and the BSU student  we are working with will be able to help too. 

That's all we've got.  Which leaves me a bit apprehensive about delivery as well.  Chris is great, but the reality is he is very busy right now and has limited experience with natural birth and doesn't really have the time to do much research on it right now.  That leaves me thinking Doula.  I've had people suggest one as a source of support during delivery and I haven't heard any bad experiences with them.  I asked at my appt yesterday and the midwives are more than happy to work with one.  I'm waiting on a call back from my midwife about if she has a specific one she prefers to work with.  Then I'll have to see if they have availability (starting this kinda late) and how much they cost - ugh.  I guess if I can avoid an epidural, we'll save money - but some things are out of our control and if I need a C-section that will be an entirely different cost. 

The reality is, I want this to be a pleasant experience for all of us, I don't want Little Lady neglected, I don't want Chris stressing out (and stressing me out), and I really wouldn't mind having a little support just for myself if I need it.  Part of me feels that it is a rather yuppie thing to do, but being without friends and family can make this whole process stressful enough.  I guess I've made up my mind - I just need to figure out how it all works and how much it all costs.  Wish me luck!  It's going to be a very busy next several weeks!!!

****Update: Just in case it was confusing or not clear, a Doula would come to the hospital with us, it doesn't mean we would do a home birth.  I honestly have no desire whatsoever to clean up after that or fight the dog away from inspecting......***


On another note - we've been asked by a couple people if we had a registry, we did not.  We went ahead and made one on Amazon.com.  We really do have most things we need.  We have tons of clothes to start with.  I'm holding off on getting bigger sizes/warmer seasons 'till we know how big he will be.  I did put a few things on the list for me for postpartum and a couple items for Little Lady.  Just things we could use or would be nice (a big sister shirt!!).  Gift cards are also always good!  Cooking probably won't be #1 on my list and Chris is going to be busy literally every night with school stuff - so take out or delivery will unfortunately probably be a staple for a little bit.  If you have suggestions for stuff I might be forgetting - mention them.  I might already have it - but I would welcome any reminders in case I just forgot!  Lots of stuff on the registry were already from suggestions by others.  Did you know they make disposable delivery gowns?  I had no idea.....I don't want one - I just found it fascinating.  I'm still deciding if I just bring something of my own or wear the hospital garb.  I wouldn't mind the, ahem, support of something from home, but I already feel like a cow in everything I own and the idea of letting them do the laundry is pretty nice....

32 weeks.  Measuring 34 :-\

We also had our tour of the St. Alphonsus Family Maternity Center, where we'll be delivering Bambino.  VERY nice.  It is certainly a more "home like" setting.  They put lots of thought into little details.  All their birthing rooms have either jetted tubs or showers - they also have a jacuzzi room (first come, first serve) - a 24 hr pantry with coffee, toast, flavored ice, water.  I'm thinking Chris will be getting nice and familiar with that coffee.  Their post delivery rooms are very cozy - they even have double beds!!  Yes, hospital double beds - the kind that can move up and down, but Chris or Little Lady could cuddle comfortably in there with Bambino and me.  The beds even have comforters too - not thin little hospital blankets.  Half the rooms have double, half have single - you can guess which one I'm rooting/asking for. There is no nursery - they really try to promote spending as much time with baby as possible - baby rooms in with you.  I prefer that, of course. 

photo courtesy of http://www.sarmc.org/maternity-images.html

They do have a little area behind the nurse's station they can keep baby in for a little bit if you must have a break or baby needs to be looked at for anything.  After delivery you get a (free) 30 minute massage - or if you don't want to use it they give you a voucher to come back to use it.  There is also a "celebration" dinner for you and your partner, served with sparkling cider, and you get to order from a special menu.  The highlight of the tour for Little Lady was the playground.  The maternity center is an entirely different building, right next to the hospital.  In the center are several gardens for walking during labor - or just relaxing.  One area has a playground.  It is located by the postpartum rooms so you can see your kids through the window if you want.  Everything is so geared towards families.  Very nice and comforting.  Of course - they have the medical stuff too - the OR is right at the end of the hall in the birthing area, but it isn't marked or anything so you don't even notice it.  They have portable monitoring stuff so you can still walk around while being monitored (if it is fine with your caregiver).  The NICU is in the same building, just on the top floor, and the high-risk pregnancy beds are in the same building as well, by the postpartum rooms. 

So, very nice place, comfortable setting, nice staff, and so, so, so family friendly.  Everything here in Boise is.  I have taken little lady with me to every dr. appt - even the 1 hr glucose test and sonogram (prob a 2 hr appt total) and no one was bothered.  I recall many signs at my previous OB in Frederick stating children were NOT allowed in the sonogram room......

Well, back to my chores!  Maybe a little crafting for Baby C while I'm at it.........trying to enjoy the silence of nap time while it lasts.....

Exploring Western Idaho

Many of you know we have an ultimate goal of buying land in Idaho.  Either for just a nice getaway from the city (hehe, well, an Idaho kind of city) or to ultimately live.  Chris wants to open his own health practice someday in an under served area of Idaho, so we are taking that into consideration as well - would the area be somewhere he would like to practice someday?  Could I stand living there?  These are all long term plans - but you know me, I'm a planner!  So we are starting to do some exploring of different areas of Idaho to see what we think.  We've got to get it in now, in a couple weeks I won't feel comfortable being too far from the hospital (although I'm sure Chris is perfectly capable of delivering Bambino) and I am already not very comfortable sitting in a car for too long.  We'll be sidelined for a while once baby comes, but then we can start little exploring trips again. 


This past weekend we decided to head out to Cambridge to check it out.  For all my real estate friends, here is an example of stuff you can get in Cambridge:

10.66 Acres Bordering Payette National Forest!

This is a pricier one because of the hills, view and tree coverage - but we need our trees.  You can get cheaper land if it is flat and bare:

View 5.07 Acre Lot Priced to Sell!

And there are also cheaper areas where you can get much higher acreage.  That is why we are exploring.  We still want it to be close enough to things to do that we enjoy.

So - let's start our trip!

The scenery.

It almost seemed like we were driving through Delaware for a short distance.  There were corn fields and the land was really flat and you couldn't see (barely) any mountains.

It was looking like it was going to be a hazy day but as we drove we realized it was smoke coming from some fire - once we got past it the skies were much clearer.

Drove through Weiser - and Payette and other places too.....

Some mountains/hills started to appear again after a short break.  That looks more normal!

 

We stopped at a rest stop (some pregnant woman needed to empty her bladder, sheeesh) and took a look around.  In addition to a sign asking you to look out for certain plants (they take weed management VERY seriously in Idaho) there was also.......

The remnants of a wildfire.  It came RIGHT up to the fence for the rest stop and wrapped around it.  I'm guessing they must have setup structure protection to keep it away because it really did wrap around where the facilities were.

Not sure how old it was.  Interesting to see how it travels.  Yup, we're in wildfire country.

Can you see the reddish lines along the edge?  One goes through, right near the center of the picture and then to the left of it you can see more lines.  Those are the flame retardant the planes drop.  You can't tell from these pictures, but the stuff is obviously very effective. 

Unfortunately Cambridge is having it's own fire this weekend.  As of last night it said they were doing evacuations, but I haven't seen any updates about it today, so I'm not sure how that is going.  We also saw a bunch of smoke start up last night and I guess there is/was a Lucky Peak (the name of that little beach near the house)/Black's Creek fire.  That is a good distance away, but we still get to see lots of smoke from it.

Speaking of fires and planes - those planes have been VERY busy today.  We've been seeing them fly back and forth from the airport all day and hearing them overhead.  The National Interagency Fire Center is based out of Boise and there is also a Firehawk Helicopter location at the airport, right by the highway.  Once fire season started up we started to see the helicopters taking off regularly and the huge planes take off from there too - obviously following VERY different flight patterns/rules than the commercial planes - they cut RIGHT over the highway - really close up views.  Did I mention Little Lady LOVES helicopters and planes?  She can't get enough!  Anyways, I think the planes today have been going to the Stanley fire, which they can't seem to get a handle on yet - I'm serious when I say the planes have been going back and forth non stop.

Anyways - back to our road trip.  I'll just have to do a wildfire post - we had one at Micron the other week (now THAT is right by the house) and got some really good pictures!  Little Lady got to see lots of helicopters dumping water!

Cambridge, Idaho: Population 360.  I thought I took some pictures of "Downtown" but I can't find them.  They might be on Chris' phone.  Yeah - all these pictures are being taken on our phones.  I swear the quality is better than our point and shoots.  We've talked about a nice DSLR but I hate to spend money.  Any ideas on a good place to find a used one?

The scenery.  The roads were actually pretty twisty.  There was a stream on the left hand side and lots of "growth" on that side.  It was interesting because it was kind of downhill from the road and a rather thin strip of land but lots of cows were apparently grazing down there - amongst the underbrush - hidden away!  Winding along - twists and turns - and then Little Lady threw up.  So a quick pull over and lots of baby wipes and one of the extra outfits I always pack for her was pulled out.  We always have old beach towels sitting in the back so we were able to cover her seat with that.  Poor thing :-(  I don't think she has actually ever thrown up in the car before.  Yeah, we've had spit up when she was really little, but that would just be on a strap and her clothes - this was a first for her.  See - so many new experiences in Idaho!

We stopped at a little convenience store/restaurant/gas stop to tidy up, stretch, use the bathrooms and refuel our stomachs and tank - and give Little Lady some time to regroup and for us to determine if it was car sickness or if she was really getting sick.  She rebounded pretty quickly and we decided it must have been the twisty roads in combination with reading her books and stuff.  We decided we could drive further a little bit more.  Thankfully she did great on the way back along the twisty roads.  I'm sure it helped that she was asleep for most of them.

Check that out!  Let's take a closer look.

I guess it is officially called Woodhead Park.  It is the Brownlee reservoir, then the Brownlee Dam.

We headed down to the water for a closer look and another break from being in the car. Oh, and by the way, that is Oregon on the other side!

Huge.  Lots of boats, lots of people camping.  A nice combo - you can basically put your boat in the water and then "anchor" it right by your camping spot for the weekend.

The water was actually pretty warm!  Pleasant, but not too warm on a hot day.

Since the ground was uneven and made falling over easy and likely, Chris got to do the water play duties.  He was happy to do it though - as soon as I gave him my flip flops to wear!  We didn't have a suit for Little Lady, but hey - do kids really need one?

This was originally a simple request for her to look at me while I took a picture of her - then a request for her to look in my general direction - then we just told her to look at the sky in hopes she wouldn't be looking at the ground.  The result?  Vogue photo shoot.



She seemed to enjoy throwing rocks the most.  She tried picking up some 30 pounders but eventually had to settle for some smaller ones.

I told Chris to make a fun pose - he tried, and then started to actually fall.  So, yup, he is actually falling over in this picture.

How cool is it that we have all these awesome, neat little places so close to us?  I love that she is growing up getting to see and play in all of this.  She is really getting to enjoy nature.  People out here don't let it go to waste - there was even a group of sixty something year olds frolicking in the water right by us.  Yes, frolicking. :-)

This (not so)little guy will also get to experience it all.  So exciting - looking forward to so much family fun.  And yes - I know - H.U.G.E.

We wrapped up our playing and decided to head a bit further to make the hop into Oregon.

Parts of the dam.

Now doesn't that look like one heck of a water slide?  It would be neat to see those open - as long as it was planned - and we were in a safe viewing location....

Welcome to Oregon!

That sign says "Bighorn Sheep Crossing" - not something you see every day! Well, I guess if you lived right there you might.  You know what i mean.

Realized she seemed rather quiet. looked back and she was out.  Her snack was sitting in her hand and everything.  Playing in the water is always exhausting.

The view in Oregon.

"When flood-alert siren sounds, evacuate immediately" - uhhhh, yeah, you better believe it!

Back in Idaho!

It was an enjoyable excursion - although my "sit bones" were pretty sore by the end of the day and I needed to lay down a bit.  My feet actually had a little swelling finally, but it went right away when I laid down.  There are certainly neat things right by Cambridge.  Our goal had been to check out Hell's Canyon.  I guess we were right at the entrance when we turned around - but you have to go a bit further to really get in there and we were done for the day.  Guess we'll just have to go back! ;-)