This year's summer break has actually felt like a typical summer break, filled with all sorts of adventures and lots of time away from all responsibility. Travis & I have been so blessed to be able to get out and travel the country in our newly camper-shelled Toyota Tundra. We decided to help our friends out (Sarah & Cory Smith) and tow their boat up to Butte, Montana for them. Since we were going to be all the way up in Montana, we decided we might as well check out Boise and then head back down to Fish Lake for the Annual Heeb Family Campout, and then back up to Provo to spend sometime with friends all within a 2 week period.
On our way to Butte, we stopped in Provo and visited with the Wells and Blasucci's. Travis hadn't seen his new niece and nephew so we stayed with them for the night and also dropped off Lily with Sarah and David for the week.
Next day we traveled to Idaho Falls and met up with some friends, Wyatt & Mindy, for dinner. Wyatt just recently bought the exact same Tundra as us so we had to check it out.
That night was arrived at Sarah & Cory's house in Butte around 10pm. The next day we went for a drive up into the mountains to check out the gorgeous scenery and of course the wildlife which happened to be elk this time. That evening, Cory and Travis went fishing on a raft down the Big Hole and caught tons of fish. In the mean time, Sarah and I had a girls night and watched a movie and went out and played volleyball with her friends. I had been wanting to play volleyball for awhile now and ended up having to go all the way to Montana to get my fill. :)
The next day Sarah & Cory had to work a little since one of the trailer homes was being delivered. We had fun trying to find the sewer line for the trailer. I know that doesn't sound like fun, but you had to be there. It was pretty funny. Anyway, that afternoon we went to Silver Bow for buffet salad bar and pizza and then went for an ATV ride up in Cory's hunting grounds. It was absolutely gorgeous up there! We shot off a few rounds of our .22 and Cory's .40, and we also spotted a bear! It was amazing! I'd never seen a bear that close! At first we thought it was a cub, but looking back, we were really far away and the bear does look pretty big in proportion to the tree. Very cool stuff. That night we watched a drive-in movie, Year One, which turned out to be pretty crude, but funny as well.
Our last day in Montana we spent up at Georgetown Lake. The lake is exactly the kind of lake I would LOVE to have a cabin on. It was absolutely gorgeous! Forests, rocky peaks in the background, blue blue water, fishing & boating...it was amazing. We spent the day on the boat watching Travis and Cory fish and just enjoyed relaxing outside. That night we headed back to Sarah & Cory's and played the classic Pegs and Jokers, girls won, of course.
Sunday we went to Sacrament to hear Sarah & Cory speak on patriotism and then packed up and headed for Idaho. It was so nice spending time with good friends that we have already missed having around at home. So we left Butte and took the scenic route through Missoula & McCall and can I just say it was totally worth it! Idaho is so beautiful as well! It is definitely different from Montana, but still beautiful. It has dense forests like Oregon and then high desert rolling hills/mountains. There are tons of rivers and streams perfect for fishing and rafting.
While we were in the Boise Idaho area, we checked out a couple ski resorts, camped out the 3 nights we were there, saw Lucky Peak State Park which has a sandy beach for its shore, went to Cabelas, Tucanos, Boise Temple grounds, a boat store to learn more about the fish/ski boat we want in the future, and we checked out neighborhoods for future reference. We decided that we really like Boise and would love to live there someday.
Our last afternoon in Boise we headed back up the canyon to go white water rafting down the South Payette River! It was a blast! I was so nervous and yet excited all at the same time. I'd never been white water rafting before and was so afraid to get tossed out! We did Class 3 & 4 rapids and had an amazing time. I would totally do it again and hope we get to in the near future with some of our friends and/or family!
The next day we headed back down to Provo to get Lily and on to Fish Lake for the Annual Heeb Family Campout. The camping trip was pretty fun filled with games, canoeing, geocacheing, hiking, biking, and fishing. The geocache this year was at Fish Lake High Point. It was a fun 4wheel drive trip up to the top and then an awesome hike over huge boulders to the cache. Took us awhile to find it, but of course we found it. Mom and Dad bought a canoe this year so we all took turns riding out in the canoe. The fishing wasn't so hot, but Travis and Dad did get out on the water in their float tubes and gave it a shot. The newborn babies came for the trip and did really well. Everyone got a turn Ooooing and Awwing at them. :)
For the 4th of July, we headed back down to Provo for the Stadium of Fire show and for Jacob's baby blessing the next day. We all ate at Tucanos, of course, and then Travis & I headed over to Tyler and Amy Hendriks' to watch fireworks from their boat out on Utah Lake. It was nice staying with them and Lily had a buddy, Sadie, to play with the whole time too!
Jacob's blessing was adorable and it was nice being in church with the whole family. That afternoon, Travis wanted to get in some fishing to make up for the lack thereof at Fish Lake. So he got all suited up for fly fishing the Provo River, made his first cast, snagged his line, and then BROKE his rod trying to get his hook out! That's what he gets for fishing on Sunday...luckily the $450 rod has a lifetime warranty. :)
We stayed until Tuesday morning and had some additional fun at 7 Peaks Water Park and Wake boarding/Water Skiing on Utah Lake on Monday. Travis was hilarious to be with at the water park since he was just as vocal as I was about not wanting to go down the scary water slides. Wake boarding was fun, especially since I got right up and did pretty well for going only once last year. Travis is a natural at Water Skiing and even Wake boarding. He did great for not having skied/boarded for 2-3 years!
So in summary here is a list of the fun things we did: hiking, 4wheeling, ATV ride, movies, fishing, volleyball, boating, games, white water rafting, Tucanos, Cabelas, boat shopping, canoeing, float tubing, biking, geocacheing, 7 Peaks, wake boarding, and water skiing! Now that is a summer vacation!
And then I have to mention that my leisure time has been filled with reading a few chapters here and there in Harry Potter #7 (the last book). I finished reading #6 on our trip, just in time for the movie to come out. It was soooo good! So of course, I had to start reading #7 to remind myself what happens in the end. :) I still think I'm weird for liking Harry Potter so much, but all well. I like it; she's just such a great author.
