Camping In Grandjean

We headed out of town Friday late morning. Luckily our softball team sucks and we were out of the tournament Thursday night (which is another story because we had a really good game). We drove out to Grandjean which is nestled up to the foothills of the Sawtooth Wilderness. It is a really beautiful area. We decided to go hiking on Saturday and put in a solid 11 miles (5.5 miles pretty much straight up hill. Okay, so it was all slightly uphill except the last mile was STRAIGHT uphill). The trail went alongside Trail Creek most of the way and our destination was Trail Creek Lakes. It was quite the hike but a very good day. Up early this morning and doing chores and getting ready for the week.

There were a lot of pretty wildflowers

Trail Creek

Huge dandelion-looking thing

The only reason I go camping - Smores!

Trail Creek Lake

This is the cliff that drops into the lake. I didn't have my smaller lense so I couldn't get it all in one shot.

This is the creek that our camping spot was on, looking back at the Sawtooths.

Same creek, different direction

After 11 miles (which is about 20 miles for Lucy since she runs all over the place and doesn't stay on the trail), we had one exhausted mutt. She couldn't even stand up to eat or drink. Hazen says she is flipping me off with her eyes in this photo.

Garden

We had a really good 4th of July. We went to lunch with Doug, Tera and Berkley. Since it was such a nice day, Doug wanted to float the river so we went with him. It was a nice, relaxing 2 hour float (though a bit chilly until my butt went numb). Later we BBQ'ed with Ryan and Erin before heading to the Shakespeare Festival. We say Comedy of Errors and it was really good. I think Hazen even enjoyed himself (or maybe it was the half-naked dancers running around on stage?) Either way, we had a good time. Hope you all enjoyed America's Birthday as well.

On a separate note, just wanted to share a few pics of my garden.

Cantalope

Corn

Bell Pepper

Chili Pepper

Tomato

Green Bean

My first vegetables! I actually have beans growing!

Green Onion

Cauliflower

Kohlrabi

Zucchini

Zucchini flowers. Guessing this will be the next thing I get.

Not exactly in the garden, but these are some strawberry plants I did. However, I have not been able to eat one berry before the stupid squirrels get them.

Jennie Lake

Hazen and I decided to go camping for Hazen's birthday. He got to pick the spot, and decided on Jennie Lake. We headed out Friday morning and started on the trail around 10:45. It was a 4.5 mile hike into the lake, but was a fairly easy hike (except the very end of it). We had our backpacks that contained everything we would need for the weekend. Hazen unfortunately had the heavier pack. The lake is at about 7000 feet and we found patches of snow on the ground when we arrived. Yay! The sun had come out though and was fairly warm if you weren't in the shade. Hazen took his new fly pole that he got for his birthday and was set on catching us some dinner. Luckily we had a back up plan because he fell from the log he was fishing on into the water and scared all the fish to the other side of the lake. I had my camera poised and ready to shoot as he fell in, but I decided against it. Sorry, no photos of that. All he had to wear after that were his long johns and tried to get warm by the fire. Sleep was another issue. Hazen said he was fine and has slept in colder weather. I think that is just crazy. Not exactly sure how cold it was, but definitely somewhere in the 30's. Super cold and uncomfortable all night did not make for good sleep. I'm pretty much a wuss so we decided not to stay the second night. The hike back out was much faster as it was mostly downhill. The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and trying not to move as we are in a lot of pain. Apparently we need to exercise more.

Jennie Lake

Before falling in

Campfire spot, covered in snow

Our beautiful girl

The Fam

Mom (Lynn), Aunt Dawn, and Grandma Patricia came to visit for the weekend along with Dawns 2 foster kids, 2 year old Joshua and 6 month old Sunshine. The arrived Friday in time for lunch and we enjoyed a semi-sunny afternoon before the rain rolled in, just in time for our softball game. Mom came to watch the game but she probably wished she didn't since it was raining so hard. Luckily the rain stopped after the first inning. Quite the game though. The other team was very hostile and rude. We took a drive out to Emmett for a friends grand opening of her antique shop. We were due to go to the Shakespeare Festival that night and Hazen was going to watch the kids. The weather had other plans for us as the play was rained out. Sunday was mostly for visiting and a nice BBQ of steak, salmon and crab legs. Everyone took off this morning as we headed out for work. We had a great weekend. Here a few pics of the kids.

Memorial Day Weekend

Barry and Teri came over for the long weekend. They flew in Friday night and we had a nice dinner that evening. Saturday we went to the Art Museum to see the Ansel Adams exhibit. Nice photos, long video. Hazen ended up falling asleep so we went outside to enjoy the sun while Barry and Teri finished watching the documentary. We had planned to go see the Rollergirls but ended up staying home and barbecuing (except the propane ran out a couple minutes into grilling). We went for a beautiful drive on Sunday through Idaho City, Stanley and Sun Valley. It was a little overcast, but still warm and you could still see all the mountains. Monday morning Hazen and Barry went to the driving range while Teri and I hit some garage sales. Met up for breakfast at Goldy's, which was pretty good. Apparently they were in Bon Appetit magazine as one of the top 10 breakfast places in the country. Tried to find more garage sales then had to go to Cabella's to see Elmer Keith (if you don't know who he is, it's not that important). Had a nice lunch then home to relax before they headed back to the airport. What a wonderful weekend.

No, you're wrong!

Consulting the map again

Lots of Pics of Mason

Teri and I went to California for the weekend to babysit Mason. We had a wonderful time and got way too many pictures. Here are just a few.

At the aquarium. There must have been a shark.

You go into a glass tube and water rushes down over the glass. Couldn't tell if she liked it or not.

Tumbling

She loved to get her feet wet in the ocean.

Bath time

She's flying

Getting toenails and fingernails painted

Grandma and Mason

Mason and Louie

Mom and Dad are home at last

Sunroom

I have been working on getting the sunroom painted for the last couple weeks now. I have a problem with starting projects and not wanting to finish them so it takes a really long time. It seemed to turn out pretty good though.

Before

After