I will have to admit that out of every camping spot I’ve ever had in my life, under the Twin Falls Temple takes the top spot. The kids all slept like babies. And I got to watch the sun rise behind the temple. By the time all of the kids woke up, we were all pretty happy with our first day of CYOA.
Day two started out with a quick stopover to Target, where we brushed our teeth and washed our faces for church. I was thinking the kids would be bummed on getting cleaned up at Target, but they thought it added to the adventure. We got some breakfast in the food aisles, grabbed our church clothes out of the trunk…and headed to our three hours of church.
Don’t let this picture deceive you. They were awful!
This picture is a bit more telling of their behavior.
This was during the prayer…but was also a frozen moment of the wrestling that was taking place right before the prayer.
While at church, the kids asked around and heard that Twin Falls was the “Niagara of the West”, and was just a few minutes away. We were literally in flat country, so we were a bit perplexed. But we drove, and started going down a crevice, and we couldn’t believe Twin Falls!
It was awesome! The falls were massive, powerful, and a huge surprise to us!
Thanks locals.
The kids wanted to head north to the Ice Cave the lady at the gas station had told us about. We drove…and in the middle of nowhere — we saw the sign that said C A V E.
We turned in.
We drove up to the sketchiest place ever. It looked like an old ghost town with a bunch of peacocks running around. We walked into the “shop” (a run down building that housed every taxidermy animal you could think of — including two headed chickens). There was a homeless-looking man (the son of the now-deceased owners) ready to take our payment. I thought it was all a little odd, and when I saw that he was watching a Netflix show about a perfect murder, I got the creeps. The kids really wanted to head into the cave, so we decided we were just going to make the whole thing fast.
There were dead rats, it was pitch black, and at the end there was a sign that talked about how this cave has housed moonshiners, runaway slaves and murderers. I looked at the kids and said, “Kids…we are just a mom and four kids. This is creeping me out so badly! Walk fast, and let’s get the heck out of here.” As we rushed out, I kept recreating the perfect opening scene to a horror movie in my mind, and this was it!!!
We jammed out of there.
As we drove away, we all started asking where the ice was? And the lady was so right about the City of Rocks…how could she be so wrong about the cave? About ten minutes later, we came upon a huge sign that read “I C E C A V E S!” Are you kidding me!!! We went in to their front shop and it was great! We told them we had mistaken the other cave for theirs, and they said it happens all of the time, and smirked as they asked if we liked it. They said the original owners were great, but ever since the son took over, it had gotten really sketchy.
We ditched out on caves all together, and just got out of creepy dodge.
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The kids were divided in where to go next, but we ended up heading to Sun Valley, Idaho.
The town was idyllic. It was bustling with people, the perfect weather, and a beautiful setting. A lady in a sports shop told us about the opening night of the symphony at the base of the ski mountain. Obviously we headed there next. I dropped Scout and Navy off to get spots for us. I was so proud of my little mini me children, as they got the second to the front spots with our blankets. We hung there for a bit, but decided to go to the back, where all of the children were playing during the symphony.
Soccer, headstands, and goofing off while Beethoven was playing in the background.
It might have been a perfect moment in our lives.
I asked the kids what we wanted to do next. We could stay, or drive on. They chose to drive on.
We drove up and over the mountain ridge of Sun Valley, and came over to see the most glorious valley below.
It was so breathtaking, we had to get out to see and admire the scenery.
Have I mentioned that the kids and I are having such a good time…I hope it never ends!
As we drove on, we got to a place called Smiley Creek. Right before we pulled in, we saw a gang of Raccoons! Pippi has had a weird obsession with raccoons lately, so we were all beside ourselves with her good fortune! We drove around to see them three times because we were all freaking out so much! Pippi was love drunk after the event, and just kept saying, “Never in my life!” She didn’t finish the sentence, which made it all that much funnier. We tried to stay in Smiley Creek’s teepee, but they were booked. As was EVERY SINGLE OTHER PLACE FOR TWO HOURS! WE saw so many great towns to stop in, but there was nowhere! So we drove.
As it got dark, I pulled over to make everyone’s “spot” comfy. What became a tradition on the drive was everyone getting comfy (with seat belts still on), we would say family prayer, I would drive on while listening to this year’s primary CD, and the kids would gradually fall asleep one by one. It was perfect.
But this night…even though those elements were perfect, the drive was psychotic. I came face to face with a wild goat and her baby, many deer, a cow, two fox, several raccoons and about four narrow detours over the course of three grueling hours. There were more hairpin turns than I can count, the fog was crazy thick in some spots, the animal hazards were frightening, and I literally white knuckled it the whole way. It was literally exhausting. I drove about 30 mph most of the way, because I just kept thinking about my precious cargo in the back. I only encountered a few cars the entire way, so when I started seeing other cars, it was a relief. I finally pulled up a dirt road, and stopped the car. At that moment, I was so grateful for a trusty car, for a safe drive and for cell phone reception so I could tell Micah all about it. After retelling my crazy night, I unbuckled each of the kids, created my own spot, and passed out until morning light.
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