More than Just Potatoes

When you think of a week vacation in Idaho, 

you most likely picture setting up camp next to a big ole' spud.

Although, driving through the farm land did make me 

crave a hefty pile Chad's famous hash browns,

we discovered something even better---McCall!

 

We had the luxury of staying with Uncle Clyde and Aunt Marty

in their beautiful mountain home!  

Marty had meals cooked, beds ready and ice cream in the freezer.

They made us feel comfortable and welcome.

We hit the ground running (actually hiking) with a trip to Goose Creek Falls.

I was expecting a "nice scenic walk to the falls," instead,

we got a lengthy steep climb down into the valley! 

We used out fingernails to crawl back out.  :)

 

Here is the river that makes the falls. 

It was quite breathtaking.

 

This is my arm.  Isn't it a fine one?

I was expecting more of me to make it into the picture.

Perhaps Libby felt like I was a bit to sweaty to be in the frame?

Gotta love 4-year old photographers!

 

Ah...here's that silly goose now.

This must be her creek...

Tuesday was our beach day.  

Luckily, those threatening clouds you see in the sky were mostly just talk.  

We were able to swim, dig, float, and photograph at the lake without

any pesky ole' rain bothering us. 

 

Grandma Helen lives in McCall now in a quaint assisted living home.

We got to stop by and visit her.

She seemed delighted to see everyone.  (I think she recognized us!)

She is getting old, but she hasn't lost her sense of humor

or her ability to enjoy life.  What a sweetheart.

 

Wednesday we left the small children with responsible adults,

so we could go play in the raging river.

Do I look ready or what?!?

We did a few practice runs falling out of the raft before we began.

I think it got it out of our system...

 

Cuz...we stuck to our seats even during rapids like these!

 

It was a total blast!

Since Libby can now ride her bike without training wheels (GO LIBBY!)

we went on a mountain bike ride together around the neighborhood.

Cord followed us with Nat and Gage in the ranger to snap a few photos

and give Lib a ride back up the hill to the cabin. 

 

Speaking of bike rides, Cord legs-of-steel Belnap

did a 20 mile ride up to a beautiful lake.  (and back down.)

We followed on the ranger with Granny-B and Grandpa.

We had a picnic lunch and the girls got to try out the new fishing pole

Grandpa gave Libby for her birthday.

 

 

Unfortunately, the fish in the lake were rather sneaky.

The girls didn't do any catching.

So.....that evening it was off to the fishing pond with the men.

And, 

Catch. They. Did.

 

You should have heard Natalie jabbering about it when they got back to the cabin.

She was telling me about giving fish to the eagles, falling in duck poop,

and getting blood on her hands.  All sorts of good stuff!  

A few months ago Cord signed up to do the Mile High Mile.

It is a mile swim in the Payette Lake in McCall.

Ahem.  A MILE?  My word.

If you look closely, you can see a school of yellow hats in the water.

That is the swimmers racing across the lake.

 

We drove over to the finish line and watched them all swim in.

Cord finished in 32 minutes.

Not too shabby.  He got third place in his age group.  :)

 

After the race, we ate a big ole' lunch at the Pancake House 

and then headed out to swim at the mineral pools.

It was full-on gorgeous.

 

The water was like hot bath water.  You could swim in it all day long and not

see one pesky goose bump on your body.  For me?  Heaven.

 

 

 

They brought soft white sand and put it around the kids pool.

It was perfect because the kids could touch to walk around in the water.

 

We also had some relaxing time at the cabin to play games, 

watch movies, and enjoy multiple root beer floats. 

We even got lucky and saw a bit of wildlife...

And became hair loopy by time we got home!

What a beautiful place!  Wonderful family!  And fun memories!

Now I'm in the mood for some fries...