We started school for Luke and Mabel on September 13. Starting on the road meant that Luke and Mabel got to have school with their grandparents! So fun!
Luke started third grade and Mabel first. We did our first day of school tradition of a little tablework, a few photos and then a hike with fall bouquet collecting. It was a beautiful day in Spokane and we decided to explore Riverside State Park (where Jason proposed to me over 15 years ago!).
This is the first time that Jason was able to be present for a first day of school which was really great!
When we moved to Moscow (pronounced mahs-coh), Idaho in 2014, I was really unhappy to be there. We’d spent the year before living in the stunning Panajachel, Guatemala and the beautiful Green Mountain State of Vermont for the two years before that, Moscow felt like a bit of a dud. Too big to really be a small town and waaay too small to be an urban area, it was a space that I once labelled “too family friendly.” I remember telling a Vermont friend that I could never imagine that I would ever miss Moscow. Of course, after about two years it had really, really grown on me. By that time we had less than a year to go before Jason would graduate and we would need to move again. All that to say, it was felt like a bit of a homecoming to return to our sweet friends and the lovely town of Moscow for our first few days after leaving our Rapid City home.
Our time there seemed to fly by and we look forward to when we can return. There are a few highlights from our visit below and a kind of “best of” list for Moscow in case you ever get to visit 🙂
Fall was already in starting to show it’s colors. We collected these beauties during a quick stroll through the Arboretum.
One of our favorite haunts, Phillips Farm — we lived walking distance from this farm park during our first year in Idaho. We quickly came to love the easy hiking paths, wild orchards and wooded areas and, not to be left out — the “scat” board with models of more than 15 types of animal scat 🙂
The most valuable thing for us was betting to spend time with our friends — it was awesome to watch the kids reconnect
And no trip to Moscow should be complete without a visit to the Saturday morning Farmer’s Market — unfortunately it was cold and rainy for our trip, but still delightful to get to go.
A few other fun stops — being chased by giant chickens at the delightful Moscow Food Co-Op and testing out a raft in the amazing showroom at Northwest River Supply.
Last Friday was our final day in Rapid City. We’d hoped to be completely packed and to just enjoy a day of fun. That wasn’t entirely the case, but we still crammed in about as many of our last favorite things as possible.
Earlier in the week, we visited Dinosaur Park with our pastor and his wife. Dinosaur Park is one of the places we visited the most during our four years in Rapid City. Located on a hilltop in the center of town and a free destination, the enormous dinosaur structures with great views of the city quickly became a favorite for the kids and us.
Tally’s Silver Spoon in the historic downdown for a delicious breakfast — my parents treated us to breakfast at Tally’s during their visit shortly after we arrived in Rapid and it has been a special place ever since.
One last trip creek walking at Rushmore Lions Nature Park — we are so thankful to have had such lovely places to play, right in town!
Squeezing in our final packing up! And, we even parked our truck overnight at one of our favorite places — our friends, the Haan’s house! Our very first neighbors and friends in Rapid City.
And the last, last favorite place – Armadillos Ice Cream Shoppe! Our kind neighbor gave us a generous gift card as a going away present and we definitely needed to use it ALL. So we each got our own sundae! Wow, they were delicious end to our Rapid City experience.
