Livin' it up in Idaho!

The trip we had been waiting for... a trip we had been planning for 2 years!!!  And it was finally here!  We were going to raft and camp the Middle Fork of the Salmon!  We went with the totally fabulous Idaho River Journeys for this trip of a lifetime and they were top notch, 5 star, and any other top rated business rating you could give.  

We flew out on July 5th with Jill and Kenneth.  We flew from Shreveport because we knew that we wouldn't want to have to drive home from Dallas when it was time to come back. Good decision by us.

so ready!

Since we were arriving early, we stayed our first night in Boise, ID.  It was so pretty and clean.  We got up the next morning and headed to the liquor store for all 10 of us.  Everyone else would be arriving later and we were happy to do it.

We decided to be tourists and head to Sun Valley, ID.  THIS PLACE.  It was like something out of a movie.  Gorgeous. Clean. Mountain air. I can't say enough about this pretty place.  It was like a really boujee small town.  I printed labels and got post card stamps for everyone to send post cards to their peeps.  Here is one:

Neil and Kenneth got the bright idea to go for a little mountain bike experience while Jill and I explored the town and bought a few souvenirs for the kids.

Jill and I found this cute area and then decided we should grab ice cream and come back to sit here.  We each had calls from random numbers (we had the guys phones) and were told to head back to the bike shop.  Kenneth had torn up his leg on the bike chain.

 You can read more about it at the end of this post.
We had to take Kenneth to the ER to have his leg checked.  After dropping them off-we saw this street!!  We went to get Kenneth's prescription in a nearby town and picked them up from the hospital. We found out that Kenneth had to get 28 staples in his leg and then we were all so, so sad.  We were told he was not going to be able to go on the trip.  It was just too risky especially when there's no way off the river except to raft out in some places.

We made our way to Stanley, ID where we would be staying for 2 nights before our trip launch.  It was a cute little western town that was like something from the olden days.  We stayed in little lodge type place that was straight from 1975.  Our trip meeting was here as well as meeting all of the other rafters.

The Earnests and Kyle flew from Shreveport, the Couvs flew from Dallas, and Jenn flew from New Jersey.  The Couvs and Jenn had delayed flights and had to stay an extra night in Boise.  Thank God we all decided to get up there a couple days early because the trip would not wait!

We dined at the Stanley Bakery for breakie

 We headed to Redfish Lake for a fun little outing.  The wind was blowing so hard!

Look at these teenagers

Jackets and hot chocolate in July?  Yes, please!

Our crew!

Jacques and Kyle

 There was a fire ring outside our lodge so we picked up from beverages and the guys lit a fire after our yummy dinner at the local steak house.

We couldn't get over the sky! or our fanny packs.  or the FAB5 shirts my brother made for us

Jenn and me

The picture that Kate drew for Kenneth about his accident!

The night before it was time to get out!  Good looking!

I wrote this for the North Louisiana ladies magazine: Lola Magazine.

Louisiana meets Idaho in the best possible way.

The 10 of us had been planning our trip down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River for over 18 months before we finally set out on the rafts.  We’d seen pictures, slideshows, and heard lots of tales of the Middle Fork.  Nothing could prepare us for the fun, scenery, or sadness we felt on the river.

Like I said, we’d been planning this trip for what seemed like years.  We had been texting, calling, and meeting up about this trip for months!  The anticipation and excitement were high for everyone!  We were so excited to get to have this trip of a lifetime together!

We all had to make sure our kids were taken care of-14 children between us, gear was ordered, and our flights were booked with plenty of buffer.  It’s a good thing we planned the buffer because flights were delayed and a few of our party had to spend the night in Salt Lake City.

Neil, Jill, and Kenneth and I went up two days before everyone else.  We wanted to get a jump start on the relaxation, mountain air, and temps less than 100 degrees!  We started our vacation in Boise (we learned that it’s pronounced BOY-C) with a fun dinner, a little bit of Boise downtown, and trip to the store for our river adult beverages.  On our way to the tiny town of Stanley, Idaho (population 67), we stopped in the resort town of Sun Valley, Idaho.  This fancy little ski town is home to mountain biking trails, cute restaurants, and fabulous shopping.  Neil and Kenneth really wanted to go mountain biking so Jill and I decided to shop, eat lunch, and sight see.  We wrote postcards to the kids and to friends and just had a nice, little afternoon while our husbands biked.  We had just found a scenic lake when we got the text. 

The text came from an unknown number since Jill and I had our husbands’ phones.  It said “It’s Neil.  We are at the bike shop-Kenneth cut his leg.”

We rushed over to the bike shop to check out the damage not knowing that we would find a shirtless Kenneth with blood running down his leg and his calf tied up with his shirt.  Oh goodness.  Neil and I went to get the car, we tracked down the ER and headed that way.  Kenneth hobbled inside and with one look by the ER nurse he knew it was bad.

She raised his homemade t-shirt bandage and said “ohhhhh.”  The ER doctor had to consult with a surgeon to see if he needed surgery and just like that the rover trip that we had been planning was over for them.  It was like a shot to the heart for all of us to hear that news.  Our sweet friends were going to be going home after we had planned all this time for memories that would last forever. 

After the ER and a stop at the pharmacy-we headed to Stanley, ID-the site of the Idaho River Journeys meeting.  We had magnificent views in Stanley!  The Mountain Village resort motel was where we stayed-the only place to stay in Stanley.  This tiny town had so much charm.  From the Merc to the Stanley Bakery and mountains everywhere we looked-we felt like me could stay there forever.

The other three couples arrived to a relaxing evening bonfire.  We enjoyed the company and tried to make the best of Jill and Kenneth not being able to go on the river. We went to dinner with 14 of the 21 people going on the trip.  That’s where we met Roland and Patti.  Stay tuned for more of Roland and Patti.

After dinner, we had a trip meeting where we received our dry bags, mugs, life vests, wet suits, and lots of instructions.  We were so excited to get back to the motel rooms to pack! After everything was set-we headed back to the bonfire and that’s when Roland and Patti stopped in.  They hung out with us for a little while just chatting and getting to know us.  Patti sat next to me and I told her what happened to Kenneth.  She was sad for us but headed to her room.  A little while later Roland came back to the fire to offer their home in Sun Valley, ID to Jill and Kenneth!  We were so humbled by their generosity!  This truly set the tone for the entire river tip.

 The next morning, we loaded up, said our tearful goodbyes to Jill and Kenneth, and headed to the river.

We were told there were three types of rafts.  There’s the oar boat: luxury Cadillac type boat where you barely get wet and you don’t paddle.  Princess style.  There’s the paddle boat: 1 guide who “steers” and 6 paddlers and you get wet! And then the “Ducky:” an inflatable kayak that is only for the single paddler.  I knew right off the bat I was going on the oar boat.  I surprised myself when, by the end of the week I did the paddle boat and even did the ducky for 10 miles down the river!

Our first night to camp was simply impressive.  We rolled up to camp to see every tent setup, a dining table (with table cloths) and chairs set-up, a drink station, hand washing stations, and the ever so important “groover” (the toilet).  Wow!  We were so impressed.  I couldn’t decide what I liked more-the river or camp!

The food was spectacular!  We couldn’t believe how gourmet it was-all cooked outdoors.  We had 3 three course meals per day.  Our favorites were the Elevation Coffee Cake and the Ponderosa Plum Torte.  We are still having dreams about the camp food.

The safety we felt on the river was impressive.  The guides knew the river like the backs of their hands and you could tell they truly loved their jobs.  The sights we saw down 100 miles of river are memories I will never forget.  From seeing ancient native American pictographs, Veil falls, and countless waterfalls-the views were astounding.  One of our favorite things to do was to fill up our water bottles from fresh cold springs.  The most delicious water I’ve ever tasted.

We had tons on fun!  The wives had been plotting for months to sneak silly bathing suits in for the husbands.  We settled on cat/taco/pizza suits and they were the hit of the night.  Our guys came up with all sorts of “camp games” that we played in the evenings.  The guides said they had never had any sort of competition!  We started first with tent building.  My husband challenged two guides who set up 60 tents each per week to a tent building contest.  He had never even built these tents.  Next night was the 40 yard dash, and we finished with feats of strength-a giant rock throwing contest.  These Idaho folks didn’t know what hit them with these native Louisianans.

One of my favorite memories from the trip was when we “lazy rivered” on the last night.  This camp had a slowish flow so we were able to jump in and float down to camp.  We did this while singing “Louisiana Saturday Night” in the middle of the canyon! 

All ten of us would highly recommend this river trip.  Take a group of friends and enjoy being unplugged and immersed in nature!