Karen Den Braven

  • Address: 1005 Linderman Rd., Troy, ID 83871
  • Favorite Meal: My husband's chile rellenos- made with chiles we grow
  • Favorite Dessert: Ice cream - any kind!
  • Favorite Ice Cream: (See favorite dessert...)
  • Favorite Books: The Island at the End of the World; Isaac Asimov's Foundation series; Andrew Garcia's Tough Trip through Paradise; Tony Hillerman's Southwestern Whodunnits; most things by Wallace Stegner; Edward Abbey; some Tom Clancy
  • Favorite Movies: O Brother where Art Thou; the original Star Wars series; the Lord of the Rings series; Ratatouille; Fargo; Dirty Dancing; A Beautiful Mind; Sideways; Top gun; Castaway
  • Favorite Music: "classic rock": Allman Bros., Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Billy Idol, Fleetwood Mac; old time and bluegrass: Alison Krauss, Asheville's own Steep Canyon Rangers, Seldom Scene, Nickel Creek, Emmylou Harris, Doc Watson;  
  • Hobbies: Outdoor activities: hiking, biking, rafting, skiing; gardening, reading, cooking, jewelry making
  • Family: I am still lucky enough to have my parents, who live now near Myrtle Beach, along with my sister and her family. My husband Tom and I married in 1995, and have no children, but many nieces and nephews, most of who are now parents themselves.
  • Before ACR: Haw Creek- all 8 years
    (While going there, I always said that I wanted to be there when the wrecking ball took it out, and by gum, I missed it!)
  • After ACR: After graduating, I attended NC State for math, graduating in 1977. I then moved out west, getting a master's degree in mechanical engineering from UC- Berkeley, then a PhD in ME from Colorado State. (I still miss Colorado...). I moved to Moscow, Idaho to take a position at the University of Idaho as a professor of ME in 1987, and have been here ever since. I met my husband Tom (a native of Cody, Wyoming) here, and we married in 1995.
         I have slowly moved into administrative work, and am now the director of a transportation research institute at the UI. Tom and I had the misfortune to lose absolutely everything in a forest fire in July, 2003, and recovery has taken a number of years. We moved into our new house finally in 2009 - and it looks like it was designed and built by two engineers, as it is almost entirely concrete and steel. We're on 50+ acres of mostly trees outside of town. I love it! We have no children, but spend as much time as we can with our extended families and friends.
         The photos are a mix of old and new house, family, and adventures.
Last updated 10/20/2013
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Bucket List 
  1. Retire!
  2. Hike the rest of the AT. (I did a piece of it in 2003 before the fire, and would like to return to it sometime.) 
  3. Take my niece to Paris - it's on her bucket list..
  4. Bike across the US
  5. Visit New Zealand
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