Family Reunion in Idaho
for fourth of july weekend, we traveled to idaho for a few days of camping with riley’s mom’s side of the family! it was quite the adventure and boy do i have some stories for you! the whole gang was there. grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and babies. we camped right on the snake river. it was gorgeous but i’m not sure if anything is worth the 45 mosquito bites that i got! but, by the end of the week, we were all sad to go.
the weather called for sun and a lot of heat. however, our first day and night there, the weather was completely opposite! it started to get windy, grey skies were rolling in, and we heard thunder in the distance. everyone’s camps were set up so we sat down for dinner, a tasty taco salad night! it suddenly started raining so people ran to throw rain flies onto their tents. then we all sat down again and tried to finish eating as the wind picked up. and kept picking up. then we blinked and kids were screaming and crying, we were holding down as much food and drinks as we could, the men jumped up to keep the canopies from flying away. just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, it did! i have literally never seen wind like this! we were all screaming and yelling and laughing. some kids ran into a car because they were so scared! riley and i saw uncle dave’s tent lifting off the ground so we ran over to find stakes for it, buckets of food flew flat on the ground, and the canopies almost wiped us all out! even huge bracnhes were falling off of the trees! it was so scary but mostly just hilarious! i tried my best to catch it on snapchat while also holding down two plates of food and trying not to let a bottle of soda fall onto me haha! i will post the video at the end of this post!
^^^we also got to celebrate megann’s birthday! there was glowsticks and texas sheetcake involved so of course it was a good night :)
on our last night (jumping ahead here), me, riley, delaney, kyle, and madi went out on the boat together. it was such a blast with all of the siblings! we took the tube out and unfortunately for me, it seemed like i was the one who was stuck on it the entire time! delaney didn’t want to go on it and riley and kyle were the only ones who could drive the boat. and there had to be two people on the tube (or so we thought). so there were only so many combos of couples possible and it turned out that i had to be the middle man almost every time. madi and i screamed our heads off, we couldn’t stop laughing! on the ride back into camp, kyle and madi road in on the tube. riley, delaney, and i noticed that we were being pelted by flies! we had to practically keep our eyes closed because they were flying right into them! once we docked and pulled the tube in, we saw kyle and madi’s faces. they were covered in flies!! it was so hilarious and disgusting!! (see photos above) even after i took my one piece swimsuit off, i found them all over my body!
^^^stranded and waiting in the hot sun
after the wind storm on our first night, we all kept joking that nothing would top it. it was one of the craziest experiences i’ve ever had with weather! well of course we were wrong. the next day was spent taking turns on the boat. there were about 25 of us so you can imagine how many back and forth trips were taken up and down the snake river. me, riley, and riley’s parent decided to take one last ride before the sun went down. as we were leaving the dock, riley’s dad said “wow, i’ve never seen the gas so low!” riley’s mom insisted that we shouldn’t go out. but he said we would just go out for a little bit. well, we went down river for maybe only 5 minutes before the boat…stopped. luckily we had two paddles in the boat but there was no one else on the river to help us. so we paddled to the bank of the river, riley’s dad climbed out to search for help while riley’s mom was holding the boat from floating away. me and riley stayed on the boat, burnig in the sun and being eaten by bugs. it was not fun! finally, a jet skiier passed by and we called him over. michelle told us to go and she would find bob. so, the jet ski towed us all the way to our camp. when we got there, everyone was confused. we hurriedly told them that we needed a car to go pick up the parents somewhere along the river. but then, here comes riley’s dad! he got a ride from a local. but where’s michelle? well she hadn’t found him and just waited under a tree for someone to pick her up. haha! it was a crazy series of events. just another story to laugh about at the end of the day!
i wish i could say that was the end of our troubles, but the next day, after filling the boat up with gas, it broke down again in the river and had to be towed in! this time it wasn’t gas but luckily we had a mechanic cousin there to save the day. phew! from there on out we were able to have a blast on the boat, swimming at the pool, and relaxing in the hot springs. one night we even played an intense game of monkey in the middle. there were 5 balls and maybe 7 people tossing them them back and forth! it was a blast. once the sun went down, we went over to the fancy natural hot springs to wind down after a long day. each family took turns making dinner for everyone and we all agreed that the crab boil was the best dinner! it was so much fun and perfect for fourth of july weekend!
^^^uncle dave had caught some trout while fishing while we were all still sleeping. riley was determined to cook it. so, of course he did and it turned out delicious! everyone loved it, even the people who don’t usually like fish!
there was a magical natural spring down the river that we went to on each boat trip. it’s just a little outlet in the river with bright blue, freezing cold water coming out of the ground. it was crazy because as you drive into it, the water just suddenly changes. it becomes crystal clear and turquoise. it was beautiful! since it was hot enough outside, we jumped into the water a few times but man was it cold! it was one of those things that was painful but felt good at the same time and we couldn’t stop doing it! haha
it was definitely a family reunion for the books! we’ll be talking about it for years to come i’m sure! it was such a relaxing break from the real world! riley’s parents loved it so much that we’re even planning one more camping/boating trip with them before summer is over! speaking of camping, did you know that today is national s’mores day?! i’m only mentioning this because i live for s’mores. i’m sure to always have the ingredients on hand because you never know when a craving will hit! :)