It is no secret that I love Island Park; the beautiful scenery and
wildlife are just really something else! I'm not much of a camper, actually I
hate camping, so I am extremely thankful my grandparents purchased and built a
cabin in the great mountains of southern Idaho because otherwise I don't think
I would appreciate or explore nature that much! Having an actual bed to sleep
in and bathroom to use makes the world of difference...6 years of girls camp in
the woods taught me that!
This was our second trip to the cabin, we also went over the 4th
of July and that was another great adventure! This time Holli and I were the
only kids in our family able to make the trip and while it was a little sad not
having all of my siblings come with us we certainly were not regretting the
fact that we each got our own bed, or the fact that Mom and Dad let us choose
what we wanted to do the entire time...we were pretty spoiled and felt really
lucky to have the vacation practically all to ourselves!
We left for IP Monday mid morning. We had a really scary hiccup
before we left, so I'm going to detour from the actual post to explain what
happened!
We have the cutest and sweetest dog named Sassy. She is a
pure-bred Cocker Spaniel and we have had her for almost 8 years. We joke and
tease my Mom that Sassy is her 6th daughter, but we all really do love and care
about her. Well Sunday night she had taken a really bad turn, she is almost 10
years old. She was so lethargic and would
just lay on the ground. She wouldn't eat anything, or even look at us when we
came out to check on her. We thought she would not make it through the night;
luckily she did so my dad took her to the vet first thing Monday morning. After
some tests they discovered that she for some odd reason she was not producing red
blood cells. Her immune system was thinking her red blood cells were bad and
was destroying them all. So when that happens your body naturally pulls all
blood and puts it at the most vital organs your heart, and brain. So she was
basically dying a really slow and painful death. They gave her a blood
transfusion and kept her for the week while we left for Island Park. We got
updates every day and Saturday she was able to come home! She is still pretty
weak, but she is definitely acting more like herself! It is so sad to think
that she may be getting to the end of her life, we just love Sassy so
much!
Ok, back to the awesome trip! We tried not to let the news about
Sassy put a damper on our trip and while she was always on the back of our
minds we still tried to just have fun!
When we arrived Monday we were so excited we didn't know what to
do with ourselves! One of our favorite things to do is go for drives looking
for Moose! So while Mom put the food away my dad Holli and I were off hopeful
to see at least one moose, we were lucky and saw 3! A mama and a baby and a
bull moose! It was a great start to the trip!
The rest of the day consisted of lots of 4-wheeler rides around
the cabin, and lots of R&R (mostly mom)
(Bull Moose)
(one of many 4-wheeling adventures!)
(Mama and Baby Moose)
Tuesday we just spent the day around the Cabin! My dad brought up
our bikes again so we decided to go on a bike ride to Mesa Falls! It was so fun
and so pretty! We saw another mama and baby moose! It was well worth the heat
we rode in!
(Hard to see but Mama and Baby Moose!)
Wednesday we went through Yellowstone National Park, another
favorite! We love to go find the bears but we didn't have much luck this year,
seeing as how it is pretty late in the year. We decided to drive up to Cook City and go to the Top of the World! If you haven't done this yet, you really
should! The views are amazing and you really do feel like you're on top of the
world! You can see for miles!
Thursday Holli and I really wanted to go paddle boarding so we
found some to rent and headed over to the Island Park Res. This was definitely
a favorite of the trip! The area we went to was like a beach with sand, and we
were the only ones on the water for most of the day! Holli and I tried out our
best yoga poses and the only one we accomplished was downward dog...paddle
boarding in Island Park is a must if you enjoy serenity and fun! There is just
something about being surrounded by thousands of trees in the mountains. It is
really indescribable!
Friday we packed up and went home! We were so happy to have the
fun week we had and felt really lucky to enjoy the beauty that was created for
us!
School is just around the corner and I am so excited to embark on
my last semester! I just know it will be a great one!
PS: Crazy story! On our way home from Island Park we got a call from my grandma stocking saying a huge windstorm was coming through. We told her we were still driving and would be home shortly. When we got home my grandma called in a panic because the windstorm actually turned out to be a TORNADO! We drove right over to her house to find wheel lines blown all across the fields and roads. A house's roof was blown off, trees fell down, and someones entire shed was blown across the road! I just go one small picture but I have never seen something so crazy! We went to help the people clean up the tin flown all over the roads and fields and it was just unreal how crazy this wind./tornado storm was!
PSS I have been terrible about blogging this summer only because it has been quite an exciting and adventurous one! I will spare you the million blog posts about what I did this summer and just ensure you that it was one for the books! Summer is and always will be my favorite season!
