Happy Anniversary

Ron and I's anniversary was on Friday, so we decided to make a weekend out of it and just get away for a few days.  Without the kids.  Well, the kids heard us talking about camping for the weekend and got so excited that we couldn't not take them.  At least for one night.  So, this is our weekend story:

Wednesday:

Ron and I both worked all day, then went home and loaded up the trailer and the kids to head out to Given's Hot Springs for the night.  The pool was fabulous and the kids had a ball!

Thursday:

We got up late and made breakfast.  The weather was wonderful, so we got out and played some more on the swings and also played some soccer.  Then, after lunch, we loaded up and headed to Grandpa's house (my dad) to drop off the kids while we continued on.
We pulled into 1000 Springs outside of Hagerman around dinner time.  We checked in and got our spot and set up the trailer and walked around the park and up the river a ways.  It was a nice evening with not much going on. 

Friday (our anniversary):

We got up and had breakfast then planned out what we were going to do for the day.  First on the list was the Malad Gorge.  Our sweet GPS lady took us in the back way through someone's private property, so it took us a little extra time to find the main entrance, but that is ok, we weren't on a schedule.  Here are the photos of the Snake River from the bridge crossing Malad Gorge.

I cannot figure out how to rotate these....sorry.

We walked further up the trail where you can stand on the edge of the cliffs.

After exploring every inch of the park, we decided to move on.  We headed out to the Hagerman Fossil Beds (they are a national monument and receive a lot of hype).  The fossil beds are a few miles out of town, but the visitor center for them is in town.  We don't need a visitor center, there will be signs there.  Huge disappointment.  There was nothing there.  Nothing at all.  One trail was all blocked off, that was it.  So, we headed into town to get the scoop (maybe they are not really there where the sign on the highway says they are, but hidden somewhere).  Well, apparently last year they had a huge fire that destroyed everything out there, so they are rebuilding.  Someday.

While in the visitor's center, I heard the lady behind the desk tell the only other people in the office that Billingsly Creek was a beautiful place.  Great, let's go there.  I think the visitor center lady needs to get out more.  Billingsly Creek was just that, a creek.  A small creek that stank like rotting fish.  Beautiful.
Back to GPS lady for some direction.  Under "attractions/parks" there was a park named "Niagara State Park." Now, THAT sounds like a pretty place to visit.  So, off we went, GPS lady guiding us.  Right off a cliff.  Yes, she tried to get us to drive off of a cliff and into the gorge where the Snake River flows.  Thanks a lot lady.  Some time later we find a gas station and ask the clerk for directions.  She enthusiastically tells us where to go and it is so close.  Perfect.  Driving by at 55mph we see the sign: Niagara State Park WMA - Closed.  Not just closed for the day.  Probably been closed for years.  Thank you GPS lady and gas station clerk.

So, we decided to head back before anything else could go wrong.  We stopped in Hagerman at the SnakeRiver Grill for a wonderful dinner.  Ron had finger steaks (best he has ever had) and I had local fish, trout.  It was a great atmosphere and a nice ending to our day.

Saturday:

We woke up to rain (it had been raining a little off and on Friday and then all night long).  We decided to head to another GPS recommendation: The Sawtooth National Forest.  And, since Shoshone Falls was on the way, we decided to stop there first.  On our way down to the falls we saw this cute little girl on the side of the road.

The falls were beautiful!  With all of the wet weather we have had, it made them much more than they were the last time we were here.  It was a little chilly with a mist, but that was ok.  This is from the main lookout - right off the parking lot.

 We decided to hoof it up to the higher overlook and met another furry friend on the way.

Please excuse the photo, we had been camping for a few days :o)

So, after exploring the falls, we headed out to our next destination: The Sawtooth National Forest.  As GPS lady wound us further into Twin Falls, I was looking around and said, "Weird, the Sawtooths have large mountains and we are not heading toward any of those."  Then we arrive at our destination.  Not the Sawtooth National Forest, rather the Parks and Recreation office of the Sawtooth National Forest.  Fail.

From there, we decided that we should just play it safe and head over to the planetarium and museum at the College of Southern Idaho.  That was a success, YAY!  We watched a movie in the planetarium and then toured the museum.  Since it happened to be National Astrological Day, they had a lot going on.  Unfortunately, the cloud cover prevented looking through the telescope at the sun.  We hope to return soon with the kids, this is something that Braison would absolutely love.  Hopefully it will be clearer weather next time.

We finished up at the museum just after lunch and once again (for some unknown reason) we turned to GPS lady for more suggestions on attractions.  This time she suggested: Shoshone Ice Caves.  I had been there as a child, but Ron has never seen anything like it, so off we go.  I called them to make sure they were open and the grouchy lady who answered the phone informed me that they closed at 5 and tours take about 45 minutes.  GPS lady estimated that we would arrive at 4:21, so it would be just about perfect.  Then we hit road construction and lots of traffic.  4:21 arrival quickly turned into 4:55 arrival.  We saw a sign on the side of the road that said, "Mammoth Caves" and it wasn't too far away, so we decided to go there instead.  Yikes.  After driving off the highway on a dirt path for a mile and a half, we finally reached the main "building" and museum.

So, we pull up and there are numerous other (broke down) cars parked out front.  We walk in and find the hillbilly clerk running the desk and ask about tours and hours.  He informs us that the tours into the cave are self-guided and that we can go down in there, then come back and enjoy the museum.  He also tells us that they close at 5 (it is now 4:40ish), but he would never rush anyone, so we can take our time.  Great, except for I am seriously concerned about our well being and whether or not we will actually be leaving this place.  But, we take the propane lanterns from him and head into the cave.  Are we crazy?!?

Here are a couple of shots inside the cave.

The cave was pretty cool, you go down to 100' under the surface.  After we made it out of the cave alive, we tackled the museum.  Now, we couldn't take photos (understandable) or touch anything because it is coated in arsenic.  Lovely.  Now, this museum had EVERYTHING.  Indian artifacts, guns from every era, textiles from all over the world and eras, and a number of taxidermy animals; bears, hundreds of birds, wolverines, squirrels,  two-headed lamb, two-bodied lamb, alligators, a giraffe, and the list goes on.  The room was so packed with stuff that we could hardly make our way around.  It was very interesting and educational and creepy.

After leaving the Mammoth Cave we decided to head into Hailey since it was just a few miles up the road.  While in Hailey, we visited the cemetery, where I have family buried.  This is my great-grandfather's (and great-grandmother's, who is still living) headstone as well as his foot stone (sorry again about the rotation issues).

This next headstone is that of my great-great-uncle Harold.  His was the first funeral that I ever attended and I remember it so clear to this day.

We also drove by my great-grandmother Shirley's (the one whose husband's headstone is above) old house.  I thought some of the family might enjoy the photo.

Then, we headed up the road to Ketchum for some dinner.  We found a hole in the wall pizza place that served us the prettiest pizza I have ever seen, and it was delicious to boot!

And, here are a few photos on our way out of Ketchum.

We decided to come back soon with the kids and get over to the cabins.

After dinner, we slowly made our way back to camp.  It turned out to be a pretty fun and adventurous day!

Sunday:

It poured rain all night and so we decided to get up early when the rain had slowed a little and pack it up to head home.  It was nice to get away for a few days, but much nicer to see the kids when we got home.  They were SO excited to see us!  They also made me beautiful cards (photos coming soon) for Mother's Day.

All in all the weekend went nothing like we had planned or expected, but you can't win them all and we did wind up having a good time and making memories in the process :o)