This weekend I dragged my ass out of bed super early (on a Saturday!) to go check out the hot air balloons at the Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic. I was tired (and no one else in my family managed to crawl out of bed that early, so I went all by myself – yes I’m looking at you, Brian and Joe!) but I’m so glad I went! I took tons of pictures, of course, and really loved wandering the park and checking out the balloons. Besides the awesomeness of the balloons, they had a flyover (some really cool planes but I don’t remember what kind they were – can you believe how informative I am?) and a pancake breakfast to support the Idaho Foodbank. There was a decent sized crowd, but I was still able to wander around right between all of the balloons as they were being inflated and then took off. I will definitely be going again when/if the Balloon Classic returns!

A few of the shots I took are below … some of these are available in my shop, too!

We are on vacation this week, traipsing through the woods in McCall and Warm Lake Idaho … while we are away, enjoy this series of travel-inspired finds!

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To start off our week of travel inspiration, here are a few ideas for when you plan your next nature adventure.  Not a roughing-it kind of person?  Here are some luxury camping ideas that you might enjoy:

1.  Glamping at The Resort at Paws Up, Montana

The Resort at Paws Up is a Montana ranch getaway with a lodge, ranch house, luxury cabins – and best of all – luxury tents.  In Tent City, you can stay in a luxurious 270 square foot tent with wood floors.  You’ll have electricity, heat, a cooling fan, a king-sized feather bed and your own camping butler. Paws up calls this glamping – glamorous camping – and I’d have to agree!  Sounds much more glamorous than what we’ll be doing this week!

2.  Rent an Airstream and stay in Bar Harbor, Maine

The Bar Harbor KOA campground is right on the Atlantic Coast – at the entrance to Acadia National Park.  You can enjoy coastal views and mountain adventures, and then sleep in your queen sized bed in your classic Airstream trailer at night.  Sounds like heaven to me!

3.  Sleep in a cave at Kokopelli’s Cave Bed & Breakfast

Kokopelli’s Cave is a 1650 square foot home carved into the sandstone near Farmington, New Mexico.  Enjoy views of the four corners from the top of the cliffs, then climb into the cave to enjoy a queen-sized bed, waterfall shower, and flagstone hot tub!

4. Stay in a tree house at Vertical Horizons Tree House Paradise

At Vertical Horizons Bed and Breakfast, you can sleep literally in the trees!  Your own bed, bathroom, running water, heat and electricity, all in a tree house in beautiful Southern Oregon.  I totally want to try this someday!  How fun!

5.  Last, but certainly not least – a lovely, luxurious lodge in my beautiful home state – stay at Shore Lodge in McCall, Idaho!

Shore Lodge is a gorgeous mountain lodge, right on Payette Lake in McCall.  You can enjoy a beautiful lakeview suite – a wonderful, relaxing spot to come back to after a day of hiking and swimming in the woods and lake.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this virtual tour of luxury nature vacations … someday I would like to try them all!  This week we’ll settle for tents and rustic cabins, no butlers or laundry service … but I will be coming back with a ton of pictures!  Have a great week, peeps!

1. That picture is new in the shop tonight! It is one of my faves … if I do say so myself.  (Taken on the scenic shores of Priest Lake during our honeymoon.)
2. My super sweet friend Kristin is hosting a giveaway of my photography on her blog this week. Be sure to take a look around while you are there. She has all sorts of great design ideas, advice, and inspiration. Thanks Kristin!
3. Yesterday I received my new Epiphanie Bag in the mail. Oh how I love it. I got “Ginger”, and it is beautiful. I am in love. I will now be carrying my camera around with me everywhere I go! (and pssst … they are having a HUGE giveaway on their blog, too! Go see!)
3. I discovered a cool new Etsy-browsing tool called PicClick (via how about orange). You can browse categories or search for key phrases-  say, for example … beach photography. The cool thing is you can then adjust the size of the thumbnails and view hundreds of results on one page. Fun! (bonus points if you see anything of particular interest in the screenshot below … )

That’s all I have for this lovely Tuesday evening …

It was a gorgeous frosty morning in beautiful Kuna, Idaho. I took my camera out and tried to capture some of the scenes around the neighborhood.

A few nights ago we wandered out across town to downtown Boise … We ate dinner at the Westside Drive In. Brian and I have both eaten there before, but it had been years, so we decided to try it again – and Oh. My. God. We didn’t realize what we had been missing! It was truly spectacular. The best french fries in the valley!! Brian said his finger steaks were the best he’d ever had – and I second that vote on my chicken strips. How is it that Chef Lou can make simple, everyday food so freaking delicious? We topped it off with a fudge shake and now we must go on a diet! We took some pictures too, of course – first is mine, second is Brian’s:

And after dinner, we stopped by to visit Metro Express Car Wash, which is showing some of my photos on the big screen! They are showing my photos from 9pm – 7am through Sunday night. Cool! Below is a shot of my Sail Away photo on the big screen!

I really love this town.

Taken somewhere between Boise and Mountain Home ID …

Between Boise and Mountain Home