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I love travelling. I love seeing places I have never seen. I love visiting not only our destination but places along the way. I have been on a lot of road trips with many different people and realized quickly there are two kinds of people. First, there are those who like to get to their destination as soon as possible. Second, those who take it a little slower and enjoy several little destinations along the way. Brock and I are definately part of the latter group. We like to enjoy the ride, stop at new places, stop at familiar places, find a good restraunt to eat at etc. Unfortunately, most of the time we don't have that luxury. We are short on time and have no other option but to get there asap. Thankfully, on our trip to Salt Lake City earlier this month we were able to make a practical stop (potty break for Hannah) into an enjoyable stop. It was really fun to find a fun place to let the kids run, to take pictures and to see the beauty of a new place.
This stop in St. Anthony Idaho had beautiful fall colors, a pretty stream, a peaceful lake and a really cool army tank. Best of all was the fact that it was right next to the gas station.
Despite growing up in Idaho I don't make it back there very often. It was so fun to be there again - even if it was southeren Idaho instead of northern :-)
While visiting
Chris and Erika we headed out to see and experience the mountains. We decided we also wanted to check out OctoberFest (being held at a ski resort) so found a short hike in the same area. Unfortunately, there was much more snow than we anticipated and it was very windy so many of us weren't fully prepared (hats, gloves, boots) but we decided to go for it anyways :-) The road to get to the trailhead was gated so we ended up walking a bit further than we expected but still not too crazy.
Madison and Isaac were rearing to go. Madison kept that energy and was usually way up ahead but Isaac's energy eventually disappeared and he had to be prodded along or carried along half of the time. Chris, Finn and Madison checking out the map.
And we're off - Brock (with Hannah hidden on his back), Isaac, Bruce (Brock and Erika's dad who was visiting from Wisconsin), Madison, Erika, Chris and Finn.
Uh oh, Isaac hasn't made it too far and he is already hitching a "ride" - this may be a long hike :-)
Maybe if he hadn't burned so much energy throwing snowballs and running from snowballs earlier :-)
I tried to catch him doing his "na na na you can't get me" but he put his hands down right as I was taking it :-) You can still get the idea by his posture, hand position and big smile :-) Brock of course had to show him who was boss and got him right in the head :-) Isaac thought it was pretty funny!
We are all starting to wonder where the lake is :-) It was supposed to be a .4 mile hike and it feels like we have already gone that far :-) Chris and Madison are waiting behind the trees to attack the stragglers with snowballs :-)
We are now to the rocky, steep stuff. It is beautiful - such a variety, trees, shrubs, color, snow, grass, snowy mountains, rock covered mountains etc.
We have finally arrived at Cecret Lake. It is so pretty and we all agree worth the effort to get there :-)
Erika, Finn, Bruce (grandpa), Chris, Madison, Isaac, Hannah (fast asleep), Brock and me
Chris, Madison and Isaac off in the distance
Erika and Finn
Heading back down - Chris and Brock (with Isaac and Hannah)
It was pretty steep and icy heading back down - but very beautiful. We made it down much faster as we were all getting hungry and cold
I had to take a picture of the sign because we still couldn't believe it was only .4 miles (plus the walk to the trailhead)
It was so exciting to see two moose on our walk back to the car. They were not too far off the road busy eating in the trees.I have seen a female moose once before but never a male. It was very cool.
We stopped at OktoberFest and ate our lunch and walked around a little bit. It wasn't too exciting and the food lines were SO long we decided not to sample anything. The drive down was almost as beautiful as the hike - there was so much color everywhere and seeing the city down below was really cool
We had a lot of fun just hanging around the house with Erika, Chris and Finn and of course Grandpa. They have a great backyard that was so easy to relax in. There was a hammock or comfy chairs for the adults, swing, slide or sand for the kids and grass to roam in for the dogs. The only thing that completed our time outside was the ice cream truck!! Grandpa treated the kids and of course we all helped them finish it :-) Hudson tried his best to help Hannah with her treat :-)
Isaac and Finn are good buddies. They are so cute together, always getting along great.
Acting shy with grandpa can only last so long, he is really quick to make them laugh. :-)
The clan shortly before we had to leave. We all had a great time and we were so glad it worked out to visit at the same time as their dad (grandpa) was there.
