We LOVE road trips! We had plans to go to Idaho for the Sawtooth Relay. We've been the volunteer support part of a relay team from Eagle for a couple of years. This year the team didn't enter the race, but we didn't get official notification that we weren't needed until the week before the race. We already had Friday off of work, so we packed up The Outlaw anyway and headed to Eagle for Eagle Fun Days instead. And since we had an extra day, we planned to drive through Sun Valley and Stanley (the race route) on our way to Eagle.
Thursday night we planned to camp in the car (the futon mattress fits into the back of the XTerra just perfectly and makes a very comfortable bed) and wanted to camp somewhere on the way to Sun Valley. We got to Shoshone after dark and thought that the Magic Reservoir was just off the highway and would make a nice campsite. We were navigating by headlights and couldn't find the water! We finally parked just off a dirt road in a grassy field and planned to find our way back out in the morning.
Friday morning we woke up to bird noise and ducks - we camped "in" the reservoir after all!
We enjoyed our drive through Sun Valley and along the race route. Plenty of "Honey Buckets" set up at the different check points for the race - which would be on Saturday. At Stanley, we forgot to turn and were driving along the Salmon River. James thought the scenery was a bit different and we finally stopped at Sunbeam Hot Springs to check the atlas. We were only 14 miles out of our way.
This is the old bath house - constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps and now is completely empty.
This is how the water gets from the springs (just above the highway) to the river.
We thought the water would mix right at the bank and be comfortable. WRONG - the hot water scorched our calves and the cold water froze our toes. We didn't wade for long.
Our next "wrong" turn was on purpose. We drove up to Cascade to visit Oma and Uncle Neil. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for dinner.
Uncle Neil suggested we stop by the Cascade Reservoir dam spillway on our way out of town. It was raging! The view from a dry distance.
The view from the parking lot at the bottom of the dam.
A rainbow from the spray.
The view from the top of the spillway.
Our final stop on the way home was at Ridgeline Specialty Sports in the Winco shopping center. Friends from Eagle were having their Grand Opening on Saturday. Friday night was the pre-grand-opening-party-for-friends. So we stopped by to see the new shop and inventory and have some chips and salsa.
Saturday was the Eagle Fun Days parade, complete with water fight.
Kurt filling the water guns and kiddie pool.
Carlee selling CJ's Sweets and Treats. YUM!
Lining the street and hoping for candy.
After the parade we ditched the downtown crowds and headed for Gerber Park and the water park there. Clay and Kristen brought some softball gear and we played a little ball. Aspen was the ball girl. We'd throw the ball in her general direction and she'd run to pick it up, and then run right up to Kristen to throw her the ball.
Kristen
James
We had dinner and watched USA v. England World Cup Soccer at Clay and Kristen's. Clay had forbidden anyone from telling him anything about the game so he could watch it after dinner. James and I already knew the score and what time during the game each goal was scored. We also knew exactly what the sports talk radio guys felt about the score, about the goals, about the referees and the players. While we watched, James would nudge me, "USA's about to score...." and we'd get to see the goal we'd heard about on the radio. It was a tie. 1:1.
On Sunday we had a wake up committee. This is Bree and a battery powered dinosaur. At one point they were on our bed, McKayla and Carter were on our bed, and Ellie was watching from the doorway.
Before church, we went over to Clay and Kristen's to go to the Veladrome bike park. I wanted to get pictures of Kristen and Clay and James doing the big jumps, but the battery was super low. I'm lucky to get these pics...
Emma - love that grin!
Aspen - love those stripey socks!
Kristen pushing Aspen around the dirt jumps
James - wheelie!
We went to church with Kurt and Carlee and family. Kurt brought a package of skittles and handed it over to James - who was then the favorite uncle. Christy would sit on my lap to color, but Jake only came over for skittles. James taught him "Pick-A-Hand." James would put a skittle or two into his hand, close his hand and then put both hands together and shake. Then separate his closed hands and offer them to Jake to choose which hand to open for the chance at a skittle. At first, Jake didn't know what to do. After watching Tyler and Christy choose - and receive skittles, he finally would touch James' hands. Both of them. Every time. Smart guy.
So sad when it is time to go. Dinner eaten, car packed, chalk art completed.
The Jessi James Gang Was Here.
