Vacation!

Okay, I'll admit that I am not a huge fan of all the planning, stress, time off, cost and logistical challenges of a traditional, week-long family vacation. But all of this considered, we had a great time! It has been a number of years since we have visited MY roots in Washington, so we finally planned it and did it!

The first day the plan was to drive to Boise and stay in a hotel in Caldwell, a little past halfway.


The drive went well, with only one stop at a rest area by LaGrande. Then with no warning, somewhere in the middle of nowhere between Mountain Home and Boise the van decided to quit! So, there we were, on the freeway shoulder, at 5 pm on a Saturday, in 100 degree heat, with a van load of family! Quite a quandry for our first day of vacation. So I didn't panic, popped the hood and checked everything I could, and said a lot of silent prayers. Fifteen minutes later it started right up, took us to our hotel, and the next day all the way to Washington without missing a beat. Go figure?! Apparently it was God's will for us to have our vacation as planned!


The first half of the week we stayed with my parents in historic Dayton, WA, where they are enjoying semi-retirement. We also spent time with Amy & Mindy!


With a Population of 2,400, Dayton is located in southeastern Washington, surrounded by thousands of acres of beautiful rolling wheat fields. http://www.daytonwa.com/index.html


We went swimming at the city pool to cool down.


The high dive was great fun!


So was the low dive!


We stayed in a beautifully restored two story home, probably built nearly a century ago.


The boys went through culture shock as we explored historic Dayton, like taking a stroll back in time. http://www.historicdayton.com/ Their favorite place was Dingle's variety - sort of a very small town Wal-Mart?!


The oldest building of its kind still in use today, the county courthouse was built in 1887, 15 years after the town was founded in 1872!


We took a drive in the country to get an up close look at the huge wind turbines.


The scale of these towers, reaching hundreds of feet above the ground into the faster moving air, is incredible.


There are over 200 towers on different sites throughout Columbia County, harnessing the wind energy.


We stopped to view a site where the Lewis and Clark expedition camped on May 2nd, 1806 their journey westward. Near the confluence of the Touchet River and Patit Creek, this part of Washington is rich in early American history.


One evening we went to a local hummingbird farm.


There we were able to view hundreds of the speedy little birds close up!


The next day I decided to take a long bike ride up the Touchet River North Fork to the Bluewood Ski Area.


Dayton is considered Washington's gateway to the beautiful Blue Mountains.


The second half of the week we spent with Paul, Denise & their family in the Tri-Cities.


With daytime highs approaching 100, we spent plenty of time swimming and playing in the refreshing waters of the Columbia River.


I was also treated to a ride on Paul's newly restored Yamaha XVS650ATR! I followed him as he rode his XT350 on a great ride through town and out in the country. VaaRooomba!!


On Friday, we watched some of the unlimited hydroplanes warming up on the river in preparation for the competition on Saturday and Sunday. These prop-driven "boats" spend most of their time above the water's surface, and reach speeds over 200 mph!


We also got to watch an airshow over the river, complete with high speed fighter jets,


...and lower speed prop-planes!


After a great week of sightseeing, playing, and just spending good time with family, it was time to head home. The van decided to quit one time for the return trip, "fortunately" just before a rest area at Bliss, ID! So we took a 45 minute break, after which it started right up and took us the rest of the way home without a hiccup. Apparently it was God's will that we make it back to "real life" in Utah.


Thanks everyone for the great vacation!

Another Snake River Trip!

With some minor arm twisting, I agreed to help with our ward Youth Conference this past Thursday through Saturday - especially when I found out in included whitewater rafting on the Snake River again!


The conference began with a day and a half of service by seven adult leaders and 20 youth at Camp Many Stars, located in the beautiful Star Valley, Wyoming.


The eighty acre camp borders the Bridger-Teton national forest, and is designed to provide a unique, adventure based experience for Downs Syndrome children and their families. http://campmanystars.org/campmanystars/index.php


The camp was not in session while we were there, allowing us the opportunity to help improve the buildings, facilities, grounds and challenge course.


These service projects included finishing repair work on a water line, gathering logs, repairing a fence, leveling a playhouse, clearing rocks from fields, and building climbing walls.


It was hard work, but everyone pitched in and did their part.


We took time out for eating, of course.


On Friday night everyone made their own yummy foil dinners.


We also had the opportunity for some fun games and activities, such as frisbee-500!


This game of "flour-ball dodge-ball" was a big hit!


Nearly everyone ended up with a white flour coating...


from head to toe!


The spiritual-based theme this year for Youth Conference was "Who am I?" There were a number of lessons, devotionals and firesides focusing on this theme.


Saturday we finished cleaning up the camp, and caravanned a little over an hour north to the Snake River Canyon between Alpine and Jackson, Wyoming.


Unlike two weeks ago, this time we came prepared with a permit and reservation to launch.


We arrived at West Table early enough to allow time to prepare the three rafts and shuttle the vehicles to the takeout at Sheep Gulch.


We started our first run at about 10:45 am, on a mostly sunny, 85 degree day.


At times there was a parade of rafts - some private, many commercial - floating down the river.


We maneuvered our boats to create some space between each raft, to allow us to hit each set of rapids just right.


Today the river was running about 7,200 cfs - down quite a bit from the 11,500 cfs when we ran it two weeks ago! This changed the nature and appearance of the river and each set of rapids. Lunch Counter was slightly smaller, but Big Kahuna and a number of other rapids were a much better ride!


We had a number of first-timers in the mixed group, along with some more experienced. It was a warm enough day that nearly everyone jumped in on the slower sections, but it was still wild enough that a couple of people fell in going through Lunch Counter! The young men quickly established the rule that anyone who screamed, would then get "helped" into the chilly water.


We had lunch at the takeout parking lot, then hustled up to West Table again for our second run of the day.


Most people enjoyed the second run a bit more as they knew what to expect, and there was less anxiety due to the unknown.


The air temperature had warmed up more, so we stopped for some cliff jumping...


and more back flipping by Kyle!


After taking out and loading up, we had a snack and were on our way home. Most vehicles were filled with thrilling tales of death-defying rapid-runnning, until most passengers nodded off to sleep. The drivers (still awake) were entertained by the speeding car that flew past us just north of Riverdale, only to be pulled over by a Franklin County Sheriff's Deputy a couple miles later! Busted...


Everyone made it home safely without any major incident.


Special thanks to Lacey and Tyler for their great job planning months in advance.


Their logistical and spiritual preparation definitely showed as everyone had a great time and agreed that it was a great success!
*To download any pic's you see here, just click on this link to take you directly to the Photobucket album: http://s593.photobucket.com/albums/tt20/mattshoe/2010/Youth%20Conference/?start=all