So Many Adventures Your Head Will Probably Explode

For the 4th of July (which just happened to be our 2 year anniversary!) Seth and I took the week off and headed up to Island Park, Idaho for a few days of camping and fly fishing. Since we were so close to Yellowstone, we spent a couple days up there trying out all the many rivers we had heard so much about. Sadly, we didn't catch a whole lot (I think it's still pretty early in the season up there...) but we had a good time. I think the pictures can tell the rest of the story...

First we dropped off Gracie so Grandma and Grandpa could watch her. Apparently she really likes to sit in the crib (and play with those white spinning circles).

My first Yellowstone fish. A brown on the Firehole River. Woohoo!

A view of the Buffalo River at sunset next to our campground.

Catching big fish is easy. I went for my smallest fish ever... a 3" shiner minnow on the Buffalo River.

The resident fire making pro. Also the resident wood chopper.

Typical lunch... remember those Guacamole & White Bean Wraps I told you about?

Seth with his first Yellowstone fish. A brown on the Gibbon River.

There's no fish in the Upper Gallatin in case you're wondering.

Seth with the biggest fish of the trip... a huge brown from the Lower Gallatin River.

Tight loops... that's what fly fishing is all about. And fish.

Warm River butterflies... there were a ton of them!

We were also able to hit up the Madison, Henry's Fork, and Rainy Creek. The Madison kind of kicked our butts, Henry's Fork produced some nice little browns (and a view of a ManBearPig or two and a Great Blue Heron), and we took the cutthroats by storm up at Rainy Creek. It was definitely an epic trip and one we hope to try again soon.

Happy Anniversary Seth! I love you and look forward to many more years together!

Well I Guess We Might as Well Watch the Fireworks

So this is the last installment of me and Seth's anniversary week extravaganza...

After we left Lava Hot Springs, we headed up to Idaho Falls to stay at Seth's parents' house for a couple days. We originally planned to go camp up by Bear Creek so we could do some fishing, but our dedicated camping vehicle was acting strange, so we thought it best not to tempt fate.

The good news is Seth's parents live somewhat close to where we wanted to fish so we just stayed there. I wasn't going to complain about staying somewhere comfortable with good company. Plus Idaho Falls has a killer fireworks show so spending the 4th of July there wasn't so bad.

The day we got to Idaho Falls, we changed our plans a bit and decided to go fish over at Burns Creek instead of Bear Creek (it practically sounds the same anyway). Daddy Hanson came with us and was nice enough to take us out in his truck so we didn't have to beat up our car on the dirt roads.

I'd read in an Idaho guide book that there was a place called Reed's Dairy in town that made icecream out of potatoes, so of course I made Seth take me there on our way out of town. To my disappointment, they no longer made potato icecream, so I was forced to eat the regular stuff. It was terrible.

I'd been up in the general area of Burns Creek before, but had never followed the Snake River quite as far East. It was a really beautiful drive and the Snake River was filled to the brim. We got to our fishing spot later in the afternoon and began to slowly make our way up the little stream to fish. There weren't too many easily accessible spots with the canyon being so steep and brush-choked, but Seth and his dad each caught a large Cutthroat in the 16-18" range. It was a really pretty place, but not so good for fishing. I guess we can cross that off our list of places to check out.

That night we went over to visit Rachel and Abraham. Rachel is always so entertaining to me. She's just so passionate and animated... whether she's happy or sad. And she always has great stories to tell. Abe showed off his new "motorcycle hair" that Tessa gave him. He looked uber hip and stylish. He'll probably be on the cover of GQ next month, so keep your eyes open. Oh and we also got to see one of Nick's wonderful paintings.

The next day Seth and I went out on our own to Cottonwood Creek. We stopped at a tiny country store just before we got there, in the town of Kilgore, so I could use the facilities. It felt like we'd stepped back in time. Or into a horror movie.

We walked into the dimly lit store and I wandered around the dusty wood shelves of food for a moment, trying to find the bathroom. I didn't have much time to waste so after a minute or so I asked the folksy couple up at the cash register where the restroom was. "Follow me, I'll show you where it is," the woman said, and walked out the front door. At this point I started to wonder if she was planning to smother my face with an ether soaked rag and drag me out back to the shed to chop me up. We walked around the corner of the building to a long dirt road lined with red antiquated one-room cabins. "There, " she said, "that building down there with the old wash bin on the porch, it has a bathroom in it." "The one way down there on the left?" I asked, a little confused. "Yeah that's it, the light's to the left of the door when you walk in." "Ok. Thanks."

The restroom was in a little utility type cabin about a block or so down the dirt road. I stepped up on the porch as a middle aged couple in one of the cabins across from it stared at me. I opened the squeaky screen door half expecting someone to jump out at me, and stepped up into a dark room. The floor was noticeably slanted and I questioned whether it would collapse if I were to walk across it. There was an old washer and dryer in front of me and I could see a shower stall in the back room. I was looking around for a light when I remembered the lady telling me it was to the left of the door. I flipped it on and walked into the bathroom on the right. There was no lock on the door so I tried to hurry as fast as I could for fear some crazy hillbilly or axe murder would barge in on me at any moment. I did have time to notice a sign hung up by the lightbulb on the ceiling that said, "Please Do Not Remove Lightbulb." I guess lightbulb thievery is big in this town. I'm surprised they have electricity. And plumbing.

I finally make it back to the car and Seth says, "I just about left you. Figured you were gone for good." That's what happens when you have to walk a mile to the bathroom. And get this.... Seth tried to buy some drinks in there, you know to be polite and repay them for letting me use the facilities. Turns out they didn't take plastic. Can you believe that? Who carries cash these days? Honestly. This is 2009 Grandpa, get with it. Cash. HA!

We got to Cottonwood Creek about a half hour later. The area was just littered with wild flowers and pine trees and green fields of grass. The creek was surrounded by willows so we had to bushwack our way in to the good spots. It reminded me of my days back in 'Nam. Carrying my weapon over my head to keep it from getting in the mud and tangled up in the branches... my boots getting stuck in the smelly black sludge... Charlie, I mean mosquitoes attacking me from all sides. It was intense.



When we finally got to a nice open hole with some decent casting room, we were pretty excited. We could see a bunch of little Brookies jumping and rising for mayflies and other bugs. I cast out my line and just missed one on my first shot, but cast again and got him. String 'em up. Seth was rigged up by that time too and proceeded to catch a few as well. Then they stopped jumping. And they stopped biting. I figured all our prisoners had told their buddies to lay low because of imminent danger. It was time to find another hole.





We walked through the willows and swampy area for a bit longer and found another nice spot. We ended up staying there for quite a while and caught several more fish. I think we had about six total. Then it was time for lunch.




We packed up and drove around for awhile until we found a good spot to build a fire and relax for a bit. We parked on the side of the road and walked through the wild flowers and trees to a spot where a big pine tree was growing horizontally. Seth smashed down a place for me to sit at the base of the tree and set up a small picnic consisting of sliced peaches, potato chips and juice. Then he went off to clean the fish. I sat there for the next half hour or so just looking at everything that was going on around me and snacking on my little picnic. There were big bumble bees flying around to all the flowers, black ants crawling on my boots, and birds singing way up in the trees. I wondered if they realized I was there at all.




Soon Seth was back with the fish and before I could bat an eyelash, he had a fire built. He'd wrapped up the fish two-by-two in tin foil and as soon as the coals were ready he threw the fish on. When the fish were done, we continued our little picnic and relaxed there underneath the pine tree watching the skies darken on one side of our view and the sun shining on the other. Isn't that romantic?




After lunch Seth said we needed to make sure to bring some fish home for Mama Hanson so we went across the road to a different section of the creek. The holes on this section of the river were too close to fish together, so we split up for the next little while. Seth let me stay at this really nice deep spot where I caught four more Brookies. I don't think he caught any more fish after lunch, but he took a hit for the team letting me have the good hole, so he basically gets half the credit.




By the time we got back to Idaho Falls we were pretty tired and didn't really feel like going into town to watch the big fireworks show. Our fish picnic hadn't been all that substantial so we were both really hungry and decided to stop and get something to eat. There were several roads closed and it ended up taking us so long to find something to eat that it was time for the fireworks to start by the time we got our food. So we figured, eh, what the heck, might as well watch the fireworks.

We took our bag of burritos and drove down a random street and parked by a bunch of other cars that had had the same idea (I don't know if they had burritos too). The Idaho Falls fireworks are synchronized to music that plays on the radio, so we cranked up the tunes and watched the show. I have to admit it was pretty fun. Maybe one of these days we'll actually get up the nerve to brave the crowds and watch the fireworks from the bank of the river. We'll try again next year. If we feel like it.

The next day was Sunday. We took our time getting up and ready and then drove around town for a bit. Seth showed me the Tautphaus Park Zoo and even drove by twice so I could see some animals through the fence. Like we're gonna PAY to see them! By the way, Cory, if you're reading this, we drove by your childhood home. Your mom said to say hi. Ok not really.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Collette and Marty's house. They showed us the chickens and turkeys they got this year and the fancy new fence Marty built. They also had a few kittens around that were really cute. So if you're in the market for a kitten, I'm sure they'd love for you to have one!

The whole family came over to the Smith home that evening and Collette made us some delicious chicken and corn on the cob. Mama Hanson brought some killer potato salad and Rachel made some cookies for dessert. So good.

After dinner it was finally time for our vacation week to come to a close. So sad. We did manage to squeeze in one more activity though on our way home. We stopped near Malad at Deep Creek Reservoir and fished one more time. Neither of us caught anything, but it was still beautiful watching the sunset. It turned out to be a really great trip.

Happy Anniversary!

Guess what!? July 4th was me and Seth's 1 year anniversary! Wahoo! Can you believe it? We pretty much spent all last week celebrating, so it might take a couple posts to tell you the wonderful awesomeness of it all.

At the end of our little honeymoon last year we stopped at Lava Hot Springs and floated the river on tubes. So, Seth planned a three day trip there this year. He originally wanted the anniversary trip to be a surprise, but I accidentally saw where we were going from a charge on our bank account. I kept mum about it and played dumb until Seth slipped up and mentioned renting a house there while we were sitting by a stream filtering water on our backpacking trip. But still... that didn't prepare me for what he'd planned. Picture the cutest little house you've ever seen, and that's where we stayed!

We got to Lava last Wednesday afternoon and drove to the address we'd written down. We went past the main part of town and up a little hill until we came to this small log cabin-esque house. We met Kathy, who ran the place and she walked us through showing us where things were kept and how they worked. After she left we continued our exploration through the house and marveled at how beautiful it was.

The house had a small patio/deck out back with a brick path that led to a grill and some bikes. One set of french doors on the patio led to the master bedroom and another set of doors led into the kitchen/living room area. In the living room there was a comfy sectional couch and flat screen tv on the wall and big windows all around so we could see out into the street and enjoy the views. The kitchen had granite counter tops and dark tiled floors with really nice appliances. We even had a table... with place mats! Even Gracie seemed to like the place and spent some time sniffing around and exploring every nook and cranny.

Although the fridge was stocked with ice cubes and coffee creamer, we thought we might want more of a selection of food, so we rode the mountain bikes down the hill to the grocery store. I haven't been on a bike for awhile and I was amazed at how unstable I felt on one... especially going down such a steep hill. I'm pretty sure by the end of the trip I had the brakes worn down to little nubs. Anyway, we picked out a couple steaks and some corn on the cob for dinner and a few other snacks, and headed back to the house.

We decided to do a little fishing before dinner so we drove up past Lava and turned onto the Old Highway 30. The road follows along the Portneuf River for a few miles so we drove along until we found a place that was easily accessible.

The river looked alright, maybe a bit dirty and was pretty slow moving. We noticed there were quite a bit of mosquitoes out so we doused ourselves in bug spray and headed down to a spot that looked fishable.

After fishing for about a half hour, we called it quits. Neither of us had caught anything or even seen a fish. In fact the only thing getting eaten around there was us. Despite our precautionary measures, we still got sucked on by a bunch of those dang mosquitoes. But we weren't all that disappointed. We were both pretty hungry anyway, so we just headed back to the house.

For dinner Seth threw the steaks and corn on the grill. We ate out on the patio and had the best dinner I've had in a while. He can cook up a mean steak, I'll tell you what! I may be the regular cook around our house, but Seth is the grill master.

Oh yeah, when we got back from fishing we came in and called for Gracie like we normally do. We heard a meow, but that was it. She didn't come out to greet us or anything. I figured she was just being lazy like she sometimes is and went about my business doing something else. Seth on the other hand began to look for her and couldn't find her anywhere. He called her again as he was walking down the hall and heard another meow. Where was it coming from? He called again and when she meowed again, he heard it coming from behind the washer and dryer. Sure enough that crazy cat had somehow managed to fall down behind the washer and dryer and get stuck. Neither of us could fathom why or how she'd done this. Seth pulled out the dryer and let her out. She was fine other than being covered in dirt and lint.

The next day we got up and rode our bikes down to the local cafe for breakfast. I love small town cafes. The people are always much more friendly than in large cities. Everyone says hi or nods and this morning we even ran into Kathy the cabin owner again. We felt so popular. Small cafes also have great food, despite their traditional homely dive-ish looks. This place (I think it was called Ye 'Ole Wagonwheel or something) was using homemade bread for their toast. HOMEMADE. I've NEVER seen that. It was so good.

After breakfast we rode our bikes over to the far side of town to a small public garden. We strolled along the pathway while I quizzed Seth on all the names of the plants. He still needs a lot of work, but he's getting there.

When we got back from breakfast we called for Gracie again. To our utter amazement and surprise, she was stuck behind the washer and dryer. Again. Why? What the heck was she doing and why hadn't she learned her lesson the first time? I would love to know what goes on in the mind of that cat.

It was starting to get much hotter outside so we put on our swimsuits and sandals and walked back down to town to go tubing. We stopped and rented a double tube from a very bored looking teenage girl and then headed off up to the launch spot.

The first trip down the river is always the coldest and scariest. Of course Seth made me sit in the front. Somehow the rapids always look huge when you're on a tube. But, leaning on our tubing experience from last year, our first run was a success. I didn't hit my butt on any rocks and we didn't flip over. In fact, we managed to run the river probably five times without flipping over or getting any injuries other than minor bruises and scratches. A major improvement from last year. We've thought about becoming professional tubing guides.

We were pretty hungry by the time we got done tubing so we went back to the house and got all cleaned up. Thankfully Gracie wasn't stuck behind the washer and dryer again.

For dinner we went to a pizza place in town that Seth had never been to (he lived in Lava for about 4 months during his ISU days). It took awhile to get our food and we almost died, but the pizza turned out to be worth the wait. Our waiter was some young guy who was pretty much working the place by himself, along with a pregnant girl who we deemed his girlfriend, making pizzas in the back. Yes sir, good pizza and good Coke. We left satisfied and feeling much happier.

After dinner Seth convinced me to go on a bike ride. We found that Lava isn't the best place for bike rides. There are no flat roads and none of them are longer than a couple of blocks. It was still fun though. Seth showed me the apartment where he used to live and we rode up to the top of a big hill that overlooked the town. There was a nice little house at the top of the hill with a good 'spread.' A decent piece of land with a pasture and even some goats! I stole one and was going to take it home strapped to my handlebars, but Seth made me put it back.

The next morning we pretty much just packed up and got ready to leave. I'm still amazed at how wonderful that place was and what a killer deal Seth got! Isn't he the best? I would definitely go back there again.

We did technically extend our anniversary celebration into the July 4th weekend up in Idaho Falls, but that's gonna have to be another post.


I love you Seth! Happy Anniversary!