FUN-travel: Idaho – Rafting Middle Fork of the Salmon River – Day 3

August 27, 2015 by · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Idaho – Rafting Middle Fork of the Salmon River – Day 3 

  • After two beautifully warm days we awoke to ominous clouds hovering above. It was also substantially cooler and rain was clearly in today’s forecast. What a shame we didn’t dress for it, because as soon as we took off it started to rain. By the time we made it to our first stop we were soaked.
  • We had a good little trek (about a mile) to get to the hot springs but fairly easy as it was mostly flat. On the way we walked through a horse farm which is only one of a handful of dwellings along the river. This hot springs was more like a big hot tub because it had been reinforced with huge wood beams. It felt great to get warm!

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  • The only problem was ending up with a wet bathing suit under my clothes. The rain continued and then turned into hail as we floated down. Several of the rafts stopped along the shore and found shelter under some trees. Fortunately the hail stopped but the rain continued. Today’s “rapid treat” was Tappan Falls which had a 4’ drop.

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  • By the time we made it to camp we were chilled to the bone and shivering. We couldn’t remember a time we were ever that cold! Good news – a camp fire awaited us which we huddled by, and when our teeth stopped chattering and our clothes were only just damp, we hit the tent and donned every layer of clothing we brought.
  • And for the record, they gave us pants and a jacket that they claimed were water proof. NOT! Turned out they were water resistant and certainly not hail proof.
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Me & Mr. T

FUN-food – Tonight’s dinner (following Happy Hour) was carne asada and chicken fajitas with all the trimmings.

  • In the middle of the night I awoke to an almost full moon shining brightly in the sky.

FUN-travel: Idaho – Rafting Middle Fork of the Salmon River – Day 2

August 25, 2015 by · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Idaho – Rafting Middle Fork of the Salmon River – Day 2 

  • We slept surprisingly well on our cots with an added 2” pad. The coffee was good and strong! After a hearty breakfast we broke down camp and headed off for another relaxing, slow moving morning. Our first stop was another hike that took us up to see Indian Pictographs on the mountain rocks.
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Indian Pictographs

  • After another great lunch I decided it was my time to attempt the rubber ducky kayak. While I did manage to not “crash and burn” there were a few times I got stuck on the rocks. Luckily I was able to rock myself off and after an hour and a half of paddling I was done!

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  • For the rest of the afternoon I was on the fly fishing raft watching them catch and release small trout. When one of the poles went overboard our guide Lexie donned her snorkel and mask and dove in and attempted to retrieve it. Good thing she was such a strong swimmer and so determined. After her second go round she brought it up to rave cheers from out raft. Then it was more of the same nice leisurely ride down the river with the occasional eagle sighting and other birds floating above our heads.

FUN-food – Tonight’s dinner treat (after happy hour of course) was lasagna cooked in a cast iron Dutch oven with garlic bread and a salad. Unbelievably yummy!

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Happy Camper

FUN-travel: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Idaho – Rafting Middle Fork of the Salmon River

August 21, 2015 by · Comments Off on FUN-travel: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Idaho – Rafting Middle Fork of the Salmon River 

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  • We stayed overnight in Stanley as our trip started there at 8:15 in the morning. Because the water level was so low, and we would have had a bruising and exhausting time trying to maneuver over and around all the rocks, they flew us down river 25 miles. That’s why we chose Sobek Mountain Travel for our rafting adventure. Everything was “first class” and taken care of so we could just sit back and enjoy the ride.
  • After our raft briefing (we had 3 options – rubber ducky kayak, paddle or provision raft) we
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    End of the Hot Springs

    opted for just chilling and not doing a thing on one of the provision boats. Taylor Wilcox aka Mr. T was our guide and he was the best. Extremely experienced, laid back and FUN! His self proclaimed title is “Professional Leisurest.” And he does it very well.

  • We meandered down the river for awhile before we stopped to take a hike up to a deserted mine and have lunch. Then we continued down river and stopped at a natural hot springs. For the most part the rapids were light and easy.
  • Along the way we spotted a golden eagle flying and an osprey nest perched atop a dead 40’ pondersona pine. The skies were a deep blue with an occasional big white puffy cloud floating by. Douglas firs and cottonwood trees dotted the rocky river’s edge.

FUN-food – We had happy hour wine with salami, cheese, and crackers before our dinner of fresh wild salmon, couscous, asparagus, and a spinach salad.

FUN-travel: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Idaho – Twin Falls

August 20, 2015 by · Comments Off on FUN-travel: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Idaho – Twin Falls 

  • The whole point of staying in Twin Falls was to find my mother’s farm in Buhl where she was born and raised. Unfortunately I never asked her where it was before she died in 2006. So after doing some detective work before we left, and finding Becky in the Records office who was so helpful, we got the location based on her records from 1920 and headed out to find it.
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Original Buhl Farmhouse

  • The original parcel was 80 acres and only a small portion had been subdivided. Lucky for us, April lives on that adjacent property and she told us the house next door was the original home. She said it had been added on to and that her grandmother had rented it a number of years ago.
  • Before our fabulous dinner at Elevation 486 we made a short drive to see Shoshone Falls. It is clearly a lot more spectacular in the spring.

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  • We even had more of a surprise when we found one name in the phone book that matched my mothers. We called and it turns out that he is the great-nephew of my grandfather’s brother.
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Our Distance Cousins

  • The next morning we drove out to Kimberly and found one of the other farms my family owned. Again we got lucky as Prescott; a neighbor came out and confirmed the original farm house.

FUN-fact – Cloverleaf Creamery in Buhl was recommended by everyone in Twin Falls as having the best ice cream. And it was!

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