The Drive to Idaho
As we drove from Washington to Idaho we saw some beautiful country. Near Mt. Hood and River we saw numerous wind-surfers with their brightly colored parachutes.
In southern Washington we drove through rolling hills covered with these space-like wind mills.
Many parts of Washington, and even Oregon reminded us Southern Utah.
As we drove along the Columbia River, the sites were breathtaking. As we climbed in elevation going through Montana, the kids were surprised to see snow in July. They were also starting to wonder if there was any human life in Montana. We assured them there was and stopped in Missoula, Montana for lunch as proof.
Driving down the canyon through Court D' Lane and witnessing the many small Idaho towns nestled in between soaring mountains was also fun for the kids to see. We finally made it to Rexburg and coming from the North it literally looked like it was in the middle of nowhere. Breck wanted to know why on earth anyone would want to go to college there (if only he knew!).
Rexburg, Idaho
Our hotel in little Rexburg was new and very vogue! After dropping our luggage off, we quickly drove to Brittney's apartment since it was late.
of course the college kids were still going strong (Brittney with her roommate Lanette).
But we were exhausted from the ten hour drive.
The next morning we dropped off Breck and Aubrey at Brittney's so that they could spend the day with her. They had fun that day going with Brittney to her classes, going to devotional, and then going to the Temple (thus the nice clothes).
Since the kids spent the day with Brittney, Brad and I decided to spend our day strolling down memory lane. Brad and I met at a Beaver Dick dance hosted by "Ricks College" over 23 years ago.
Beautiful view of the Temple.
Beautiful view of the rolling grassy fields.
Even an afternoon cloudburst was an amazing site.
It's very telling when the Temple can look so lovely, even through a dirty car window, on a cloudy day.
Brad and I had fun visiting good friends that lived in the area. Diane and I were nursing-school buddies, a million year ago when BYU-I was Ricks.
We met Pam and family at Frontier Pies for old-time sake. Pam and I were childhood friends,and Ricks College roommates. It's hard to believe we are old enough to have college-aged kids of our own. Tawny (in green) is a Sophomore at BYU-I. She has two other girls not shown, Justin is Breck's age,
and Alicent is the baby of the family. Pam named her youngest (sitting next to Merinda) after me. I kind of like my name and think it is pretty cool to have another Alicent running around in the world!
Since we wouldn't see Brittney on her birthday, Brad BBQ's some hamburgers, and we had a little party.
It was great to see Shayanne Charles again from our ward in Kentucky.
And Daniela and David also from Kentucky, who are now married (which still blows my mind).
It was also great having all my girls together again.
Bradley Massey was also there. Him and Brittney are like brother and sister since they practically grew up together in Saint Louis, Missouri.
It was good to see the kids up to their old antics, or the kind of stuff that used to go on during dinner at home.
For dessert we ate at "kiwi Loco", a great little frozen yogurt place. We also got an awesome deal since Brittney's roommate Kali, has connections (her family owns the place).
After dropping of Aubrey to stay with Brittney for the remainder of the week, and saying a sad "goodbye" to Brittney, we just had to take one last picture in front of the Manwaring Center. It was so refreshing to be at a place where everyone knows how to pronounce your name correctly!
West Yellowstone
As a kid, I loved visiting West Yellowstone and browsing through all the fun shops.
I think Breck and Merinda thought it was pretty fun too.
A visit to West Yellowstone just wouldn't be complete without catching a show at the PlayMill Theater.
While waiting in line, we saw the most amazing double rainbow.
We had fun sitting with Blake & Josie and family. The play was "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", and everyone loved it! The best part for me - it was clean (since most of the actors and actresses were students from BYU-I).
Island Park, Idaho
The last part of our Idaho adventure included a stay at Josie's family's cabins, at Island Park.
Brad and Blake having a deep conversation.
The cabins were modern yet rustic, and just a lot of fun.
This was a common occurrence during our stay (not Brad eating, but Breck being mauled by two or more boys at any given time). He didn't seem to mind much.
The girls enjoying the swing and eating Josie's amazing homemade ice cream and dutch-oven cobbler.
Shane and family after a long drive from Utah.
Josie's Grandmother had a real-life tepee on her property. Merinda wanted to sleep in it, but unfortunately the boys had first dibs.
This picture is fuzzy because it was taken inside the tepee, late at night, when the boys were supposed to be sleeping.
The next day we all went four-wheeling.
I drove behind Breck so I could keep my eye on him witch was a big mistake since I literally ate his dust the entire way. He liked to fish-tail and create huge clouds of dirt. I was covered from head to toe and blowing dirt out my nose for a week afterwards.
We all rode our four-wheelers to a scenic park and museum. Once again the view was picture-perfect.
We took a hike on a fun little board-walk over the green grasses,and crystal clear water which was full of colorful plant-life and fish of all kinds.
Breck just had to find something to climb on.
And Merinda just had fun wading her feet in the refreshing water.
The grown-ups enjoyed talking and catching-up (Breck likes to think he is a grown-up when it comes to eavesdropping on our conversations).
Did I mention the amazing scenery, well case-in-point. How often are you within a stone's throw to Moose?
Brad and Sam filling their water bottles up with water from a real Spring. The water was so cold and so good! I was tempted to fill several bottles, slap a label on, and sell them for a mint in town, but thought better of it. At least I got to taste the difference between bottled "spring water" and real spring water! We had a great time in Island Park and just want to thank Blake and Josie for the wonderful accommodations, entertainment, company, and food (we ate like kings and queens with Josie's amazing cooking!).
