If you've read my blog for more than a couple of months, you know that our business keeps us hopping all the time. Especially from the end of May to the end of September. By the end of August, we are pretty tired and can become a bit desperate to escape the never-ending pressure of our day to day, labor-intensive work load even if it's just for a little while. Around the first part of September, Rob actually marked a full week on the calender with X's and said he was taking a vacation, with or without me. I don't think he really meant he'd take one without me, but as he started imagining what he really needed in order to recover from the summer, I realized it just might be without me!! He wanted to get away from all cell phone coverage. I really like cell phone coverage. He didn't want computers or anything to do with work. A week without my laptop?? I don't think so. But the clincher was this: he wanted to TENT CAMP. In the wilderness. Quite possibly at a place that didn't have running water. Or flush toilets. I like flush toilets even more than I like cell phone coverage. In the past, I probably would have just bucked up and gone along with it, but the more I thought about it, the more I knew I just couldn't do it. I've tent camped plenty of times in my life and have had great experiences with it. But the thought of planning and packing and setting up camp and washing dishes in the river and sweeping pine needles out of a tent did NOT seem like a vacation that would renew and refresh ME! I'm finding that the older I get, the more stubborn I'm becoming about my own needs. That sounds selfish but if I don't take care of myself, I really can't take care of anybody else. So, I just said no. I wanted Rob to do whatever he needed to recover from the summer and he wanted the same for me so we came to an understanding. He and the kids were going tent camping from Monday-Friday and then I would meet them at the cabin and spend the weekend in Paradise. The three of them did all of the planning and packing and had a great time deciding where to go and what to do. I didn't feel the least bit guilty about any of it and didn't pack so much as a tent pole. They pulled out of town on Monday, September 21st with everything they needed for a week of fun:
I went home to a quiet house and enjoyed the silence.
TUESDAY-THURSDAY:
The week went by really quickly and I actually accomplished quite a bit around the house. One of the reasons I didn't want to go away for an entire week is because I knew what would be still waiting for me when I got back and I would rather just take the time to catch up on everything and THEN relax. Not that I will ever catch up on everything, but I made a lot of progress! I even spent an evening with my favorite mother-in-law, getting her new laptop up and running and connected to the Internet so she can finally read my blog!! They even made my favorite dinner- homemade noodles- to pay me for my time. I would have done it for nothing but I'll never turn down homemade noodles!!!
Friday came quickly and I headed up to Garden Valley in the morning to join my family. They had spent the week playing, fishing, swimming and 4-wheeling in a pretty little campground past Silver Creek Plunge. They were all happy and filthy and ready to spend the weekend at the cabin. The first thing they wanted to do was to show me where they had camped all week. I was ready to relax and have fun so we took the 4-wheelers and went for a nice, long ride. . .
Zach had been riding my 4-wheeler all week and had to make the switch to one of Grandpa's bikes. . .
No problem. . .
Gloria had been riding the smaller ATV all week and was ready to sit back, relax and let Dad do the driving!!
(I realize she isn't wearing a helmet and would like to acknowledge for my mother-in-law's sake that she wore one 99% of the time she was up there. . . honest. . . )
It was a beautiful ride up to Silver Creek. . .
Rob had been pretty concerned about camping in this area because he found out they were closing the road about 8 miles before the plunge and the only drivable road into their campsite was a long, long way around. He was able to pass through all week but when we went by on our way up, they told us we'd have to go around on the way back because it would be impassable to ATV's as well as cars.
We decided to go anyway. . .
It's such a beautiful drive that it was well worth it. . .
As we got closer to the Plunge, we stopped at a few places so the kids could show me what they did all week. . .
This is where Gloria caught a fish one day that they grilled and ate for dinner!!:
They spent quite a bit of time during the week exploring this place:
It almost made me wish I had been there. . .
This is Silver Creek Plunge. I've been here many, many times over the years and Rob and the kids had fun swimming here during the week. It's a natural hot springs with a sandy bottom. Very nice!
We weren't in any kind of a hurry so we took our time looking around. . .
. . . and eating ice cream, of course. . .
The next thing they wanted me to see was their campground. They took some pictures with a disposable camera that I have yet to get developed but I tried to pretend that I was there as I took pictures of the things they experienced without me. . .
They had a beautiful spot and really had a great time. I'm so glad they were able to relax and play together for 4 days. Rob really needed it. . .
The kids needed it, too. . .
They were even camped right next to a fairly decent outhouse!!
This was their camp spot:
They were the only ones in the area all week so they had the place to themselves. I took a little nap and pretended I was there with them. . . It wasn't the same but it was fun getting to hear all about it and see the things they experienced all week!!
We eventually headed back to the cabin but had to go the long way around. . .
It was absolutely gorgeous!!
I had to take a video of the hitchhikers that rode part of the way with me. It's amazing that these little ladybugs can stay put like this!!:
The road wasn't familiar to any of us but it was easy to follow. . .
It was about a two hour ride back to the cabin where we just hung out and did nothing for the rest of the day. . .
This time Gloria decided to ride with Zach. (Note the helmets, please. . . )
I wasn't too sure about crossing the creek on the bikes, but it turned out to be ok. . .
OK, so it wasn't exactly raging. . .
There were a few spots on the trail that made me and Gloria nervous so Rob and Zach manuevered the bikes around the difficult spots and Gloria and I just walked around them. For the most part, though, it was a nice trail up the mountain. . .
It was a beautiful ride up to Silver Creek. . .
Rob had been pretty concerned about camping in this area because he found out they were closing the road about 8 miles before the plunge and the only drivable road into their campsite was a long, long way around. He was able to pass through all week but when we went by on our way up, they told us we'd have to go around on the way back because it would be impassable to ATV's as well as cars.
We decided to go anyway. . .
It's such a beautiful drive that it was well worth it. . .
As we got closer to the Plunge, we stopped at a few places so the kids could show me what they did all week. . .
This is where Gloria caught a fish one day that they grilled and ate for dinner!!:
They spent quite a bit of time during the week exploring this place:
It almost made me wish I had been there. . .
This is Silver Creek Plunge. I've been here many, many times over the years and Rob and the kids had fun swimming here during the week. It's a natural hot springs with a sandy bottom. Very nice!
We weren't in any kind of a hurry so we took our time looking around. . .
. . . and eating ice cream, of course. . .
The next thing they wanted me to see was their campground. They took some pictures with a disposable camera that I have yet to get developed but I tried to pretend that I was there as I took pictures of the things they experienced without me. . .
They had a beautiful spot and really had a great time. I'm so glad they were able to relax and play together for 4 days. Rob really needed it. . .
The kids needed it, too. . .
They were even camped right next to a fairly decent outhouse!!
This was their camp spot:
They were the only ones in the area all week so they had the place to themselves. I took a little nap and pretended I was there with them. . . It wasn't the same but it was fun getting to hear all about it and see the things they experienced all week!!
We eventually headed back to the cabin but had to go the long way around. . .
It was absolutely gorgeous!!
I had to take a video of the hitchhikers that rode part of the way with me. It's amazing that these little ladybugs can stay put like this!!:
The road wasn't familiar to any of us but it was easy to follow. . .
It was about a two hour ride back to the cabin where we just hung out and did nothing for the rest of the day. . .
On Saturday, we took our time getting up and around and then took another ride on the bikes:
This time Gloria decided to ride with Zach. (Note the helmets, please. . . )
I wasn't too sure about crossing the creek on the bikes, but it turned out to be ok. . .
I took one last picture of my bike just in case it was swept away with me on it by the raging river. . .
OK, so it wasn't exactly raging. . .
There were a few spots on the trail that made me and Gloria nervous so Rob and Zach manuevered the bikes around the difficult spots and Gloria and I just walked around them. For the most part, though, it was a nice trail up the mountain. . .
We were only gone for a couple of hours before going back to the cabin to wait for our company. . .
The Adams' came up and brought Steph so we could celebrate Zach's birthday!!!
We spent the evening just hanging out, playing games and taking pictures of the wildlife:
It wouldn't be Zach's birthday celebration without a Nerf Gun battle. . .
. . . and a cake!!!
It was a nice evening even though we really missed having the Sackett's come for a visit. Kurt had to stay home and take on a last minute event for the business but there will be plenty of other times!!!!!!
On Sunday Rob's plan was to go for a nice, long ride with his dad.
He took my camera and got some beautiful shots:
In the meantime, the rest of us relaxed and played. . .
On Sunday Rob's plan was to go for a nice, long ride with his dad.
He took my camera and got some beautiful shots:
In the meantime, the rest of us relaxed and played. . .
. . . and took more pictures of wildlife!!!
It was a nice relaxing weekend and I think we all really needed it. It was weird not spending the week with my family but we each did what we needed to do to recover from the busy summer. That's a good thing since it doesn't seem to be slowing down much this fall. . .
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