August 5, 2016 -Hailey, Idaho

I deliberated about how Steve and me would celebrate Shabbat while on our Idaho adventure vacation while staying with our dear friends. I mean I didn’t pack candles, challah or wine goblets. Come to find out, my girlfriend, Julie’s dad, was Jewish. Who knew? Nonetheless, I still do not like imposing on my friends as it strikes me as unfair and uncomfortable; after all,  Shabbat is what we choose to celebrate.

As we were on our adventure vacation for our 27th wedding anniversary, we planned our days one day at a time. Richard, Julie’s sweet husband weighed in heavily, and we were most grateful as he knows how and where to adventure. Our start to Shabbat was mountain biking. Neither of us thought we would initially make it, but we persisted, and we are glad we did. I definitely rank this day trip as the #1 adventure of our holiday.. As Richard described to us, “You have to pay to play.” Up the mountain was an “oy vey” experience, but the downhill ride was invigorating, terrifying, jolting, and life-fulfilling. I learned a lot about physics, momentum, gear changing, the terrain of Mother Nature and braking or not braking. At the end of the day, we felt blessed to have experienced so much living, except for the sore tush part.

Luckily, Shabbat is 24 hours long, and we extended it as much as possible. Saturday’s field trip found us headed to the Sunbeam Dam for lunch before our walkabout in the ghost town of Custer (which was extraordinarily cool) and then soak in the hot springs. When we walked through the doors of Sunbeam Restaurant, I glimpsed twice, and asked the proprietor, “Um, is that a challah?” She nodded. I poked Steve, and we were both dumbfounded…a challah in the middle of Idaho? It was perfectly braided, golden, thick, and freshly baked. I had to pinch myself. I felt bold, and asked why it was sitting on their counter. The lady explained that they call it a zopf – a Sunday bread eaten in Switzerland and that one of their ski instructors brought the recipe to them several summer’s back, and they have been making it ever since. It was a lovely refreshing story. We bought a loaf to naturally conclude our Shabbat at dinner that night. We laughed, drank wine, and ate challah with the rest of our delicious meal. So, there is much more to Idaho than just potatoes. You never know where your Shabbat props will show up.

Shabbat Shalom.