Idaho

Idaho

Our first trip to Idaho and it was a success! It was a whirlwind trip over four days driving from Garden Grove California to Jerome and Wendell Idaho. Allison was a trooper, handling the 13 hour drive with only a few frustrated outbursts.



We stopped at the McDonald's in Wells NV to take a break from driving and Allie had her first Happy Meal!



Terry, Allie and I went to Wendell Idaho for the Memorial of Terry’s Papa. It was a beautiful military ceremony performed gravesite at the Wendell Cemetery. There are events in our lives where ritual can cement the moment in time and memory, this was one of them. Each funeral or memorial I have attended has been just a little bit different, usually depending on the person whose life we were remembering. This memorial was no different brothers and sisters reminisced about the child he had been and friends spoke about the man he was, then the military rituals pulled the whole thing together showing the citizen that he was.  It was a beautiful sunny day as we said goodbye.

After the service we all headed to The Farm, an ancestral farm that has been passed down through the years from Terry’s Great Grandparents. The house is quaint with all of the charm that a farm can produce. There is a guest house that appropriately named the Cozy Cottage, an outdoor patio complete with a hanging bed and antique farm equipment found in the fields surrounding the house tacked up on the walls. Hamburgers were grilled and Iced Tea was made, we all sat around picnic tables’ setup in the front yard underneath shady tall trees.  Kids ran around chased by small happy dogs. There was a tire swing set up and all of the kids had turns flying through the air. Allie loved it!

The next day we all went to a local park set in the middle of corn fields and cow pastures, very different from the parks at home set in between houses and freeways. There we had another picnic with fresh fruit, meatballs and ambrosia salad. I just love ambrosia salad! The park was perfect for flying kites, just enough wind to keep them up but not too much to blow all the food away. A Pirate plane kite, Red Baron kite, and a Bomber kite flew through the air randomly attacking one another. As the food was getting put away the family genealogies came out, these volumes hold family histories going back hundreds of years. So many people and all of them connected, all of them family. As the afternoon wound down dogs and babies got tired and we all quietly slipped away, to homes and hotels.

After a few naps Terry and his cousins decided that they wanted to see a little bit more of the area, so three cars caravanned to the Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls ID, it is an impressive mass of water falling 245 feet over a rim 1000 feet wide. The viewing area for the falls faces west and we arrived in late afternoon. The sun was winking at us over the falls, it was a breathtaking vista.

Ending a great weekend with new family ties we slipped way early in the morning to start the long drive home. We had a wonderful time and hope to do it again soon.

Enjoy all the rituals and natural wonder around you … Right Now!