Oh Deer!

Today we visited Black Pine Deer Farm in Donnelly, ID.  They raise fallow deer, and we got to tour their farm and feed the deer.  It was a fun experience for all.  The kids really enjoyed being up close and personal with the animals.  We also got to bring home some pepperoni made from venison.

Birds of Prey

Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area!!!!  After all this planning, we finally got to see it.  And we stayed there about nine hours.  So sad.  We hit the campground maybe 11:00pm and were outta there by 8:00am or so.  It was cold, we chose not to set up our tent so that we could just sleep faster, and it turned out that there was no camp host and no water turned on.  So we left.  But we did exit in a way that let us see more of the area, and we're glad we did.  With birds of prey, it really pays to look up.

A mama and her baby were just hanging out.  Or perhaps it's a papa?  At any rate, we got this glimpse of these two lovelies just hanging out in their nest.  G spotted more nests along our trail, but we didn't spot any more of these guys.   We had also spotted some large birds out over the river, but didn't get any pictures.  Overall, I liked the area, but it just didn't suit us to camp there this time around.

Boise National Forest and Cascade Lake State Park

After leaving Birds of Prey, it was a top priority to find a new campground.  While eating lunch at Baja Fresh (I haven't had that since we lived in Manassas!), Bill found Cascade Lake, about an hour and a half from Boise.  One of our shortest travel days, and it was so awesome.  Combine the hour and a half from Birds of Prey to Boise with the trip to Cascade Lake, a three hour travel day was pretty darn sweet.  We grocery shopped in Boise, had lunch there as well, and then hit the road.  Even with construction delays, we got to the campground around 4:00.  Bill and the kids got to setting up the tent, I got dinner prep underway.  The sun is still up, dishes are drying in the rack, the tent is all set up, complete with rain fly (rain is possible, plus the temps are supposed to drop to about 40 degrees tonight).  The lake is gorgeous, the kids are having a grand ol' time on the huge expanse of grass we got to place our tent, life is good.  

Our first view of the Playette River as we travelled through Boise National Forest.  So much green.  So very nice after all the desert browns of Dinosaur National Monument.  It's a very different forest from those around us in Denver, too.  I'm digging it.

So many rapids and falls on this river.  Really gorgeous to get to drive near.              

This is where we get to call home for the next several days.  I feel like Flynn Ryder--I could get used to this.

Such a Poor Start

Travel to Dinosaur National Monument was easy, though we took off much later than we wanted, resulting in us getting to our campsite much later than we liked (cleanup after dark is not so good).  But leaving Dinosaur?  Oh.My.Goodness.  We got out of camp around 8:30, so that was good.  Go Team Summers!  Google told us it was about eight hours to Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, so we knew we'd arrive around dinner time, but in theory it would be with plenty of time to set up camp and get dinner made and cleaned up before dark.  HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!  Only not funny.  First, we had to stop to get breakfast, which cost us almost an hour.  How did that happen?  Then we needed some fuel, which took us a while to find at Park City, and as we were pulling out, the car told us we needed to get more DEF.  Seriously, as we were five minutes away from the station.  Couldn't have consolidated that one, could we?  So we headed to another Wal-Mart (breakfast was our first Wal-Mart visit of the day) to get the DEF.  And then we headed to McDonald's for some burgers to eat in the car.  That was another hour shot.  The directions Google gave us were not even to the campground I found, so we had to take off again with different directions.  Another hour or so shot.  All in all, we hit seven gas stations, two Wal-Marts, ate a ton of hard pretzels, went down eight miles of unpaved and ROUGH roads, and were six hours laters than originally anticipated.

Dinosaur National Monument

We've spent two nights here, and the desert is getting me down.  It's been close to 100 everyday, which is no good for me.  Yesterday we spent much of our time in the shade, but today we explored the monument and it's desert eco system.  Holy cucumbers is it hot out here.  Bill took the kids to splash around the Green River over at Split Mountain, but I just wanted some time alone.  So I'm under our shelter (thank you Bill for insisting we get this!!!), trying to convince the chipmunks to just leave me alone! I like seeing the wildlife, but these darn chipmunks are fearless.  

The shuttle to the quarry at Dinosaur National Monument.  It actually did get more full before it headed out, but we were amused that we had it all to ourselves for a couple minutes.  The ride to the top only lasts a couple minutes, but it sure was sweet to feel the breeze!        

The Camarasaurus.  The most intact sauropod found.          

I was amused because behind G is a cast of bones.  They're fragile, not for touching.  The dino bones on the wall opposite this display are for touching.  But I think it's wicked cool (that's my '80s Maine talk coming out) that they let everyone touch the dinosaur bones!             Josie Bassett Morris

This is Josie Bassett Morris' house.  She built it.  She lived in it for almost 50 years.  She kicked butt.  Seriously, she was an amazing woman.  She raised livestock, grew her food, hosted outlaws, took care of a bunch of land and all that goes with that.  So awesome.  But looking back, historically speaking, why learn about her?  What makes her special?  Cuz I sure as shootin' never learned about her when I was in school.  The thing is, stories like hers are important to let us know we can do it.  To remind us that life is tough, but we're built for it, we can take it on and win.  So do I need to remember her name?  No.  But I will.    

Box Canyon.  Which is, indeed, a box canyon.  This is one of two box canyons where Josie would keep her livestock.  The other box canyon is called Hog Canyon.  It was a longer hike, though, and the heat is really getting to me.

The Adventure Begins

The day has finally arrived!  It's been a hard prep time, working hard and trying to get our act together.  We spent a lot of time trying things out, practicing our setup.  So laughable.

           

             

So we practiced without the shelving, planned out the shelving, thought long and hard about our storage and how to be uber organized on this trip.  I love these shelves Bill built, they are super functional and sturdy.    

Can't even tell we have shelves in there.  If you look all the way left, you can see a dresser on top.  That's on the shelf, with a cooler underneath the shelf so it can be pulled out and entered without taking everything out of the van.  Same setup on the right.          

All linked up.  We are a sight to behold!  It took us a LOT longer to get out of Lafayette than we had originally planned.  I had wanted to head out by about 7, we really left just a bit before noon.  First stop, Dinosaur National Monument!

Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery

This is our second time to this park, so we wanted to explore a bit outside of the park as well.  Today we hit Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery.  It took us about an hour to get there, down some seriously windy roads, but it was cool.  We got to see the itty bitty fish inside, and then there were just a few tanks outdoors with fish in them.  But the ranger let us feed the outdoor fish.  Cool!    

The fish just after we threw some food in their tank.  Holy cow were they excited to get some food!  If you planned it out right, you could actually get the fish to splash someone.  Ah, the simple pleasures!            

There's also a trail where you can hike and fish (if you've brought your gear, which we hadn't).  Such a nice, cool way to spend a day that was reaching towards 100.  We spent about three hours at the hatchery.  We ate our picnic lunch, spent time indoors and out with the fish, and then did just a small portion of the hike.  A very nice day!