We were wondering what the Little Mail Carriers had been up to lately, when we received this exciting missive all the way from Idaho! Their host lydacher did a thorough job of spoiling the little guys with splendid views and lots of fun activities! If there was any doubt that the Little Mail Carriers have all the fun…
Hello everyone! Late last year we traveled to Idaho, the U.S. state famous for its extensive wilderness areas, winter sports, and… potatoes.
When we arrived, our mail carrier, Jason, drove us in his truck to Old Town Pocatello. Then he walked us up a hill to our host’s house.
Our host Cheryl (aka lydacher) was in the midst of holiday preparations, so we jumped right in to help! The biscotti were divine – but diving in the chocolate chips was one of our favorite parts…
We were welcomed by the dollhouse family and shown to the guest room. As mail carriers, we had no trouble making friends with the family dog.
The next morning, we ventured out into the snow. We’d brought our bicycle, but the snow was too deep, so the dollhouse family loaned us their 4-wheeler.
Wheeeeeee!
Oops! Ouch… Are you ok, Little Paulo? Maybe that’s enough snow for one day…
While we dried our clothes and took a rest, our host gave us some facts about Idaho, which has only 1.5 million people living in an area of 219,887 square kilometres. Much of that area is designated wilderness, where motorized travel is prohibited. Idaho has more miles of rivers than any of the other contiguous U.S. states and several mountain ranges that include at least 9 peaks that are more than 12,000 feet (3.6576 kilometres) above sea level.
To take a break from all the snow, we warmed up in Lava Hot Springs, a short drive out of the city. These pools are fed by natural underground hot springs and are most popular during the winter, when the freezing air meets the 110° Fahrenheit (or 43° Celsius) water and creates an outdoor sauna.
The next morning, we looked through our host’s postcard collection, which she keeps in notebooks and special boxes, filed by country and theme. We learned that she has taught classes about Postcrossing through New Knowledge Adventures, a continuing education program offered by Idaho State University.
She makes children’s mobiles from some of the colorful postcards she receives, and she also made a platform for an electric train for us to ride with our Lego friends – complete with scenic postcards that reflect the views we should see from a real train. How cool is that?! :D
We helped our host select postcards to send and accompanied her to the post office. Postman Rocky sold us stamps and weighed us on his postage scale. Rocky told us that we weigh about the same as a first-class letter!
Bidding Rocky goodbye, we drove back toward the hills on the west side of the city. We’d taken our bicycle along to do some trail-biking… but instead we just sat on a split-rail fence, watching the trains in the valley below us.
The view was just breathtaking!
During the week, we also visited some museums that are uniquely Idaho. The Museum of Natural History at Idaho State University features an exhibit of prehistoric whorl-tooth shark (Helicoprion) fossils found in Idaho.
Idaho is sometimes called the “Potato State, ” owing to its popular and widely-distributed crop. The Idaho Candy Company makes an “Idaho Spud” candy bar that resembles a potato, and there’s even a Potato Museum that houses the world’s largest potato crisp!
We were invited to some holiday parties where we were welcomed by friends of all ages and got to hang out in the decorations!
And of course, we met some Idaho cats. This photo is for all those postcrossers who love cat postcards! :)
Year 2013 is over, and it’s time to bid our host goodbye… Happy New Year 2014 from Idaho!
Thank you so much lydacher for this amazing stay! On they go!
The little guys are currently looking for hosts for the next months, so if you’ve got a camera and some free time to show them around, leave a comment and we’ll get in touch! :)
71 comments so far
I'd love to host the Little Mail Carriers. I'm in Irvine, California, just a hop, skip and jump away from Idaho.
i would love to host the buddies too :) ;)
If they would like to come to Helsinki or Jyväskylä again, I'd love to host them :)
The Little Mail Carriers are welcome here in Amazon, in north of Brazil!
I'd like to host them for the 2014 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta!! Or, the 2014 Gathering of Nations Pow Wow coming up on 23-26 April. That is where Indian tribes from all over the world gather to celebrate their heritage and dance traditional dance for spectators. Or, I could host for both events!!
They are very, very welcome to visit their playmobil colleague here in the Netherlands!
They're also welcome in the Netherlands ;-)
Hello. During easter break in April my friend Anna from Ireland will come and we will go to places all around the island. Perfect for those two mail carriers that will get the chance to see all Gran Canaria and another secret location I cant reveal because its a surprise for Anna :D
Great pictures, great story. :)
Sweet characters, cool adventures and nice hosts... I'm sure my class (primary school, age 6-10, taking part at pc since last year) would love to host the little mail carriers and if they arrive on time show them the Cologne Carnival or just the cathedral, the river rhine, and of course our school. Keep fingers crossed.Elefanten/Elephants class
Interesting story & great photos! :)
This story is zo cute. It really made me smile!! I would love to show them around in The Netherlands! I live in Alkmaar but i travel a lot trough the whole country by train, so i could show the around a lot of places; Amsterdam where i study, Zandvoort at the sea where i work, de Veluwe and Utrecht where my boyfriend lives :-)
I work in a family with a 10 year old who's disabled, he can't walk or talk but his brain works as a normal 10 year old. He LOVES Playmobil! When I work with him i play with him with his large collection of Playmobil (or he helps me picking out postcards and posting them for postcrossing ;-) Would be so much fun to bring these little guys to play with!
Great story, lovely pictures....
In the near of my hometown is another potatoe museum.
I only just found out about them, but I would love to show these guys the typical life of a Belgian student and the beautiful city of Leuven (where I study)! (Maybe I could even sneak them into the lab...);)
I've had the joy and the pleasure of hosting these two most excellent of guests. It looks as if they had just as good a time in Idaho as they did with me. Aren't they the lucky ones to travel around so much?
Haha! I loved seeing them ski. Handmade red scarves flying in the wind is a cute touch. Great post, Ana. : )
Interesting! Thanks for sharing! ^.^
I wish I had known you were coming to Idaho! I could have taken you guys to the Capitol, Boise Stadium, and to my library which is across the street from the post office. If ever you want to come back.....
I'd like to host! :)
Great story and the two of you had a wonderful stay in Idaho.
What a marvellous story! I really loved reading it and seeing all those splendid pictures and funny ideas!!!
Great job Cheryl, thanks a lot!
Thanks for sharing this wonderful travelog!!!!!! :D I enjoy every part of it! I can see that the little mail carriers really enjoy their time in Idaho! It's wonderful!! Cheryl!
I'd like to host the mail carriers as well!
I would love to host them too, I live in Minden, Germany :)
But maybe they would also like to visit Rome? I'm going there in April :D
I could show them one of them - or both :p
Maybe they like to visit me in Ulm? ;)
I always enjoy reading their adventure. I would love to host them. They're welcome to visit me here in the Philippines. :)
Great travelog, and especially nice photos! I would love to host them here in the Washington, D.C., area (Alexandria, Virginia). But they were in nearby Maryland recently, so I suppose they'll want to wait a while before visiting the region again.
oh my! i wish i had such a handsome mailman, jason :-)
Yes, "dandilion," Jason is terrific. He's not only handsome, but very sweet and friendly, too. AND, he brings me postcards from Postcrossing nearly every day!
So cute photos and very interesting info about Idaho state! Good work boys!
what fun to see our little mail carriers and their adventures
What an awesome travel report! Cool activities and great photos! It's amazing and wonderful to see how much sending postcards is part of postcrossers' daily life, and to know that I share the joy with others.
If the Little Mail Carriers feel like visiting South Germany I would be happy to be their host!
What wonderful adventures and great hosts! Here in Berkeley and San Francisco California we'd love to show the Little Mail Carriers around, ride cable cars, take our bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge with other Postcrossers. Let us show you Pacific ocean beaches, huge redwood forests and sea lions! We'd send postcards all along the way :-) Welcome!
If they would like to catch the FIS World Cup Ski Sprint in my town on March 5th, my camera & I are available to show them around. :-) http://www.worldcupdrammen.no
really funny travelog and awesome pictures! :D
As a native Idahoan, I'm quite proud that the mail carriers were hosted in such grand style. What fun!
Come visit Amish country, Lancaster, PA! We will fatten you up on Shoofly pie! This postcrosser in Idaho did a GREAT JOB with the pictures and locations! Awesome!
I know the the little mail carriers have been to Hindmarsh Island in South Australia, but if they are interested coming West to Perth, I'll be happy to show them the wild west!
I love the storyline -fun and entertaining!
I wonder if Little Mail Carriers have been to Malaysia especially Terengganu? We have awesome places to go and plenty of activities too! ;)
They could come visit me in central Manitoba, Canada! Lots of hunting and fishing and powwows and stuff...
In July they could come to Ingersoll for our meeting. We have a cheese museum and lots of other things to see and explore. If they came now they could check out the Maple Syrup farm.
I would love to give them a tour in Finland, Helsinki! Or in October, I could take them with me for my ten day trip in Namibia. ^^
hello, little mail carriers are more than welcome in my country, Slovakia, right in the middle of Europe. :)
let me know then. :)
If these little guys never made it to Montreal, Canada I can be their host...
I would love to host the little mail carriers!
I live in historic Cedarburg in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. We have great historic buildings, beautiful parks, nearby Lake Michigan, Holy Hill, and more. We could take a side trip to Milwaukee and visit the bronze Fonz and the Milwaukee Art Museum. They can even be Cheeseheads for a day!
My Irish Setter, Lacey, loves mail carriers!
We go camping on weekends to Horicon in our 1987 "Breaking Bad" Fleetwood Bounder motor home. Make sure they pack their "Tighty Whities"!
If they could make their way to Pensacola, FL in July they could go boating, deep sea fishing and see the fantastic Blue Angels jets! Pensacola is actually the FIRST settlement in the US...but was abandoned due to a horrible hurricane. Hopefully we won't have one this year- but I would love to show out little mail carriers our history and water fun!
I'd love to host the little mail carriers! I'm in Illinois and could show them around the area.
great pics interesting story!!! much fun at your next trip, too!!!
I'd love to host the Mail Carriers! It would be best to visit during the warm months so that I could take them camping and geocaching with me! That is the best way to see some of the hidden beauties and landscapes that we have here in western New York! There are also many well-known places to visit, such as Niagara Falls (both the US and Canadian sides), Letchworth State Park, Alleghany State Park, (Great) Lake Erie, (Great) Lake Ontario, Darien Lake Amusement Park, the Jello Museum and more! Maybe we could even take them on a little trip to the Finger Lakes and/or the 1000 Islands! There is so much to see in our neck of the woods in New York State, USA!
If the Little Mail Carriers are looking for somwewhere to be in August, they are welcome to visit me in Japan. August is vacation time, so I'll be travelling a little. Maybe they'd like to see Shikoku, Osaka, or maybe even Tokyo?
I´d love to host them! I´m from Maastricht, which is a border city in the Netherlands. I could take them to see some places in Belgium and Germany as well. It´s right around the corner ;)
I have been hosting international students for 20 years...would love to host these young Mail Carriers! We could go out on Okanagan lake and look for the lake monster "Ogopogo", or go up in to our ski hill BIG WHITE. We could go camping or even rafting down the local creek...lots of adventures waiting for them here in the Okanagan Valley!
hope all of you had a great holiday there
Looks like they had a great time spent with a creative and innovative host. They're welcome here anytime in Myrtle Beach, SC
I had so much fun hosting the Little Mail Carriers when I lived in Japan - now I am in the US in Virginia and would love to host them again!
I would love to host them sometime during the summer here in Colorado Springs, Colorado! They could come see Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods and Seven Falls and all that fun stuff. :)
My daughter and i camped in pocatello last summer and loved it there, especially the ross park pool (i think that was the name). Its very similar to a canadian city called kamloops except much nicer. We loved going to the fred meyer to buy donut peaches every morning. Man those things are good. Take care! :-)
A wonderful story with great photos! So cute these little Mail Carrieres!!
It would be so much fun to host these travelers in Latvia! I could show them different places and things over this country! Hope to see them both!
Great winter holidays! Congrats to the hosts!
And if they want to come Southern and go tropical, I had a recent experience with a travelling toy, would love to show them around...
The Little Mail Carriers are more than welcome to come to Geelong if ever they are in Australia - I'd love to show them our wonderful city and my daughter, Cheyenne could teach them all about Australian animals.
I'm guessing it will be a while before they visit the USA again, but I would love to show them around Portland sometime in the future.
Loved the story and pictures! In early February, they could travel to Loveland Colorado and learn about the Loveland Valentine re-mailing program. People from around the world send Valentines to Loveland to get a special postmark and cachet stamped on the envelope. Many volunteers process thousands of valentines each year in the sweetheart city of Loveland.
Super post! This series is so much fun, keeping up with the Little Postcrossers. As a previous host, I'm especially interested in what they have done and seeing how the hosts write up and photograph their stay.
Super project! Happy 2014 and Year of the Horse to the Little Postcrossers, and the team at Postcrossing.
It is always such a treat to see where and what those two have been doing. I would love to host them here in Portland, Oregon.
Hello! We, groep 1-2b, are kids from a primary school, in The Netherlands.
We would love to welcome the little mail carriers in our school and classroom, to show them a piece of our life, school and city!
I love the stories from the little guys. If they want come back to France some day, I would be able to host them. I'm living in the 3-countries-edge of France, Germany and Switzerland and so I can show them colerful and interestent places in this area. They would take a journey with us in june to 'Ostfriesland' or to Gran Canaria in september. And of course they could have a look in a work-day of my husband. He is a postman :) Also they can say 'hello' to our 3 cats and over 100 teddybears...
bye Gaby
If they want to visit France, I would love to host them >3 They could visit Chartres, Paris and other places !!!
I have lots of playmobil stuff and would to show them some of Scotland !!
Received Wonderful postcard from lydacher :)
its really great to read about such a great host :) and The Little Mail Carrier Visit :)
The Little Mail Carriers are always welcome in Bangkok!
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