Dream Vacation

Do you have a favorite vacation? One of ours is an annual (well, it's annual whenever we don't have new babies we can't leave behind) rafting trip on the Lower Salmon River. I was lucky enough to marry into a family of river guides. Between Kirk, his brother and sister we can outfit ourselves for a river adventure some people only dream of. It is a unique and amazing experience to spend 4 days away from everything, floating and camping down a beautiful stretch of river. We love to sleep under the stars, run the rapids, fish, eat, and play. There are plenty of fun rapids, but they are mellow enough that we can take the kids. Maren was finally old enough to go this year and made her maiden voyage. Kelli's new Husband, Brandon, also made his first trip.

The girls love to row. We can't wait for the day when the girls and their cousins are old enough to row the 'kids' boat down, with the adults following in the gear boat and kayaks.

Hannah caught the first fish of the trip... on her princess fishing pole. This seemed to aggravate our 14 yr. old friend, Ben. He spent the rest of the trip trying to out fish her. He did pretty well, but she ended up with two fish on her first attempts - a natural. Way to go Hannah!

Our rain gear stayed safely stowed away except for one quick sprinkle as we pulled out of camp on the second morning. Otherwise we had beautiful weather - if you don't count the sandstorm on the second night that forced everyone to sleep in tents and still wake up coated with grit.

River time is great time with cousins, Grandma, Aunts and Uncles.

The river has a special beauty. This is our camp on the last night along the Snake river.

On our drive home, we couldn't help but talk about all of the other rafting adventures we want to plan. Maybe we can go down to Southern Utah sometime and do the Green river through desolation canyon. Maybe the Rogue river in Southern Oregon. Or perhaps the main stretch of the Salmon. Too many fun rafting adventures, too little time.