Well, we finally got to see our boy! Being back from Chile for a couple weeks and after his short stay with the Pios (thanks again), he returned to the school base in Cascade, Idaho. Sue and I went up to the Alzar School for Parents Weekend.
We stayed the first night in Boise Thursday night before the start of activities. It was surprisingly better than I thought. It's a college town (Boise State) and the largest city in the state. We saw the band Local Natives while there within walking distance of our hotel.
The next morning we woke up to some serious snow. It was a slushy mess on the way up to Cascade with about 5 inches of snow in the higher elevations. It slowed us down a bit as we climbed our way out of Boise up to Cascade, which is 2 hours north. Next to us for about an hour is the Payette River, which was running hot due to the mountain snow melt. Between mile market 79 and 94 is almost 15 miles straight of crazy class V rapids. Not just physically taxing, but mentally as there are very few flatwater spots you can regroup at. Absolutely nuts!
Well you know I like pictures and the river was incredibly picturesque. For much of the way up there is almost no shoulder between the road and the river so when I saw a small pullover near a pretty stretch of river I had to stop. I walked back down the road about 200 yards along the non existent shoulder through the snow to be able to get the right angle shots of the raging river. After taking a few pics, much to my chagrin a large Idaho state snow plow came around a corner and heading up the road towards me about 10 seconds away. It's not often you get 10 seconds to see your life flash before your eyes. My only hope was for the plow to lift his blade for a few seconds while he passed me, which he didn't do. He's paid to plow snow. So I curled up as best I could in a fetal like position and got pounded and soaked by a huge stream of sloppy wet heavy snow. I know the 20 or so cars behind the plow must have got a big laugh out of it. I had to as well. I was only drenched.
Justin is living in a yurt with four other boys. They have to chop firewood to keep it warm. There are a couple of other buildings in the compound that house the classrooms, dining area, recreation and climbing wall for the students and some housing for the teachers and administrators. It's pretty Spartan but it does have wi-fi, which the get to use a few hours a day. The compound is located at a slightly gentler area of the aforementioned Payette River, although there is a bit of whitewater nearby, which you can see in the pics.
The program is a leadership development program and while we were there Justin led his parent teacher conference, led a presentation for his English class, led the music and singalong at the Friday night bonfire and led a presentation to parents about whitewater kayaking. That's a lot of leadership and he was superb. There are some pics of the whitewater kayaking demonstration he, Will, Harris and John, the instructor, performed in. I added a bunch of pics of his friend Harris, who is certified Class V and sponsored by a wet suit company, doing some stunts.
Saturday night we got to take him off campus and we went up to McCall, which is a great town with a beautiful lake and near Brundage, a popular ski resort that Justin has been able to conquer while he has been in Idaho. The lake was glassy Sunday morning and was good for some reflection shots. After a breakfast at the Pancake House we headed back to Cascade to return him to his school and said our goodbyes until Memorial Day week when he completes the program.