Valentine’s Day Weekend Near Sawtooth National Forest

February 2021

You can take the girl out of New York, but you can’t take New York out of the girl. As December rolled around in my new home of Texas, I started to miss the snowy magic of winter I’d grown up with, and my boyfriend and I decided to take a weekend away somewhere cold. We didn’t care where we went, so long as it was a cabin near mountains with a fireplace. I found the perfect place on AirBnB called “Mountain & Chill.” I have a dream of visiting every state one day, and this one happened to be in a state I’d not yet been to: Idaho. For reasons unknown to me, I’ve always had the notion that Boise Idaho must be a dopy place much like areas of the midwest I was less fond of when I was living in Kansas for college—flat, and full of potatoes. It’s amazing how ignorant I was (though there are lots of potatoes, and we made a point to eat some fries!). Boise turned out to be a charming city nestled against white mountain backdrops, and our cabin in the Sawtooth National Forest was an absolute dream. After a rather dangerous trek up steep, snow-covered switchbacks, we enjoyed winter jacuzzing, snow-shoeing, cuddles by the fire, mountain sunrises, and more. The nearly 360-degree views of snow-capped pines and mountain ridges were positively breathtaking. This was one of those places I would like to return to again, and recommend to family and friends.

Day I

Traveling with my boyfriend to Boise for the first time, feeling fancy at the Centurion lounge, Fork restaurant, hiking Cervidae Peak, getting stuck on the way up the mountain to our cabin, jacuzzi in the snow

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