Snowmobiling in McCall

I'm always looking for an excuse to take a trip.  I'm not sure what I like most:  getting away from home, seeing someplace new, hanging out with great friends, or having new experiences.  Scott's 46 birthday was the perfect opportunity to plan a trip.  I tossed around the idea of a cruise.  We have frequent flyer miles to get us to a port, time to go, and friends to go with, but the timing just wasn't right.  It also was going to cost us more than I originally thought and the ports of call didn't look very warm, bright or tropical.

Plan B was a trip to McCall.  I decided to make the trip to McCall as close to a cruise experience (minus the water) as possible.  I found a great condo (three bedrooms, three baths) for a good price and invited Byron and Donna Stepherson, and Ben and Trittica Nielson.  After making sure things were in order at home (you wouldn't think two nights away would require that much planning, but after Taylor and Emiline Nielson had a grease fire a few weeks ago when their parents were gone, I wanted to make sure my kids were well equipped with microwaveable food) we hit the road with Stephersons at about 11:00 am.

The ride to McCall is always a bit of a stomach turner with its twists and turns (perfect for simulating sea sickness) and Byron wasn't feeling great by the time we got there.  Scott was just really hungry.  We stopped by the condo to make sure everything was in order and get the heat and water heater going, then we headed to McCall's famous Pancake House for lunch.

The best and worst things about the Pancake House are its extensive menu (including all breakfast items available anytime during the day) and its large portions.  I've only eaten there once or twice, but it's always far enough apart that I forget how much food they bring you.  An hour later and completely stuffed we rolled out of the restaurant and proceeded to tour the town.  Five minutes later, the tour over, we stopped by the lake to watch folks walking their dogs and sledding out on the ice.  Byron and Scott headed down to the lake and after about 10 steps into biting, bitterly cold wind, Donna and I made a beeline for the first tourist shop.

After feigning great interest in some local art and blown glass, we warmed up and the guys returned.  The rest of the afternoon was spent playing games and hanging out at the Condo.

Nielsons arrived in time for a delicious home cooked meal of salmon, garlic potatoes, salad, fruit, and red velvet cake.  Unfortunately, we were so full from lunch (we ate at 2:30 pm) that it wasn't quite as enjoyable as it could have been.  Just like being on a cruise - way too much food and you're eating all the time.

That night, aside from other games we played, we did a round of the Newly Wed game.  Apparently some of us still need to work on our communications skills and pay a little more attention to each other, and celebrated Byron's (Feb 7) and Scott's (Feb 8) birthdays.

Saturday, we were up at the crack of dawn for our off-shore excursion.  Trittica prepared a hearty sausage breakfast casserole and beautifully arranged fruit for breakfast and we headed out for a morning of snowmobiling.

Most of our snowmobiling experiences were limited.  I had driven my Uncle's and Dad's machines.  Uncle John's had heated hand warmers, comfy seats and power, Dad's had  . . . well, they most likely would get you to and from your destination (most likely).  Byron's experience was an ear-shatteringly noisy, jarringly uncomfortable machine that they spent most of the time digging out of the snow.  Also, at least four of us have back issues and made sure to top off breakfast with ibuprofen before we left.  I was looking forward to the excursion.

The backseat in our Expedition is really great for cuddling, not so great for room.

We rented double seater machines through Cheap Thrills rentals in McCall and after getting completely suited up (boots, gloves, helmets, goggles, and snowsuits), we headed out to the trail head. After a lengthy 40 minute demonstration on how to turn the machine on, change the belt (should you burn it out), how fast you should go, where you should and should not ride, how to tow a machine, and the crazy amount of money you would owe should you disable the machine through stupidity, we were sufficiently warned and scared to veer off the trail even a fraction of an inch.

Walking to our machines we looked like a slow motion scene from a space movie where the heroes are headed to their ships to save the galaxy.  Our big bulky suits made us walk slightly bowlegged, our boots forced us to take exaggerated steps, and our helmets looked sturdy enough to take the impact of any tree that might happen to get in our way.

We and the Stephersons had great machines with hand warmers and plenty of power.  Neilsons were not so lucky - no hand warmers, stinky machine, and limited power (they may never snowmobile again).  We rode out to a hot springs and looked longingly at the pool, then got back on our frigid machines and drove another twenty + miles to a ghost town.  The town could have been really cool, but since we were limited on time (had to have the machines back by 1:30 pm) we got off our bikes, looked around, took a picture, and mounted back up for a rushed 35 mile ride back to the trail head.

Scott was a decent fellow and let me drive quite a bit.  I stayed true to the trail, occasionally taking the machine over the suggested 25 MPF.  Scott, on the other hand, figured if the snowmobile's speedometer registered up to 110, we had better let her run a bit.  He still kept it about 50 mph and for the most part stayed on the trail.  If he occasionally veered I was sure to check his course by repeatedly banging on his helmet.  Good times!  I tell myself things would have been different had I my own machine.  I picture myself off trail in plenty of powder, heading cross county and answering to no one.  Yeah right!  I'm pretty sure that girl only exists in my dreams.

Ben, Byron, and Scott - ready to mount up!

Historic Gold mining town of Warren

Scott and I 

Really boring video of the ride.  Pretty much what we saw for 70+ miles.

We powered back in just in time, returned our snow gear and hit the Pancake House again for lunch.  The amount of food we ate and the early morning departure necessitated a nap when we returned to the condo, but pretty soon we were back to playing games and visiting.  Neilson's had to head back Saturday night to get Trittica home in time for an early shift Sunday morning, so we finished up our round of 6 person hand and food and wished them a safe journey.  The rest of us played a few more rounds of Ticket to Ride and called it a night.

Maybe we played too many games:)

Sunday morning we headed back to arrive in time for church.  It was a great weekend, and definitely something to do again!