wrapping it up!

hubby took boys to the river. it certainly is hot enough to go, but i just can't go-the amount of people going to the river these days is obscene. it's not locals anymore-our beautiful river spots are in guide books now-our poor river is getting over crowded with sacramentites, bay area folks and marysvillites too!-the impact is devastating. she needs a break-so i'm choosing not to be one more body. plus-why on earth do i want to go and try to enjoy a spectacular river spot as if it were a public pool-remember, i'm a hermitess. jeez at least people don't wash their hair at the public pool-once again-STUPID PEOPLE!

i wanted to wrap up our road trip today. after we left our campsite in yellowstone, we headed to a cabin in island park, idaho. that my bonus sister kim found-it was great-besides the rodent inhabitants. there was an old cemetery next to the cabin-my kind of place. here's a pic of the cabin obviously not taken in the summer. we had 11 family members staying here!

i believe it was the targhee creek that was moving past the side-very cold and refreshing. i saw a weasel drinking out of it one morning-very sweet. we were only about 12 miles from west yellowstone the small historic town next to yellowstone national park. my dad was thrilled as he spent 5 summers there as a redcap for the union pacific railroad-where visitors to the park came in by train. he was 15 when he started. he had his own cabin made from an old box car and the stories he had to tell were amazing! the old depot is now a museum and the curator was tickled to talk with my dad and they gave us a ride in the old restored 193? yellowstone bus that used to take the visitors from the depot to the park.

the town of west yellowstone was a lot of fun. it was decorated with painted bison everywhere.
liam and i got up early one morning and drove to quake lake-a place where a devastating earthquake occurred in 1959(?) it was real creepy. a lot of campers were buried alive there and there is a great feeling of unrest. we continued our journey and pulled over to this beautiful river spot that had a small diner. we were hungry! we were in fly fishing country-check out the sign at the diner:
the diner had stuffed fish all over the walls and they only took cash-no credit cards and no atm-this was nostalgic for me. but the problem with diner food anywhere is there is not much of a choice for us veggie eating folks. not that i never eat of the flesh-but i NEVER eat diner flesh. here was the special of the day-probably the special of the day all over small rural american diners:

our days were spent visiting family in idaho falls- the younguns helped move grandma's stuff-she is turning 99 this fall and has finally agreed to move in with my aunt -n- uncle(at the farm)- we had a family picnic on the farm-4th of july. i spent time looking at old family photo albums and walking into the old potato cellar smelling in good memories. carey and my bonus brother edmund got their first fly fishing lesson from my dad, the kids also had fun swimming in the irrigation canals, liam had a blast plowing thru the farm fields on a quad(driven by my cousin toby)-and everyone just sort of did their thing. all in all it was a wonderful trip-the boys are enjoying-right now-as i type-biscuits and -no not gravy- but my aunt georgia's homemade gooseberry jam(gooseberries from their ranch in montana)-thanks georgia!

the above photo is the old gas pump on the farm.

on our way home we stopped off at my birthplace-american falls, idaho. and it still is a "one" stoplight town(we counted it.). we went to the cemetery that sits above the snake river to visit my grandparent's grave on my mom's side. we also hit the rockland pharmacy to have a coke in honor of my grandpa who went there everyday to have one. the old soda fountain is still there. unfortunately the inside pics are on my film camera. but here is the sign.

i'm bummed that the kids didn't get to try "clover club" potato chips-they are no longer made-these where a childhood favorite of mine. carey made the observation that californians seem more friendly than idahoans-strangers that is. like if you say hello to a stranger in california they say hello back. but in idaho-they just look at you suspiciously. hmmm. i did not notice this but it sure is good to be home. i've lived in 9 states so far. i call california my home now as it's the state i've spent the most years in. funny-i never, ever thought california would be my home. life is funny.