Sunday, June 28, 2009

Island Park - My Summer Haven

My favorite place on Earth is Island Park, ID where we can enjoy life at my sister's cabin. We got to go stay at that beautiful little place for 5 whole days! (Thanks, Janet & Lenny!) We arrived late afternoon on June 22nd, unloaded the car, and the drove over to Mesa Falls, which is just a short distance from the cabin. The falls are so beautiful! There is a micro-climate on the cliffs that thrives on the spray created by the falls. Becca, Julie and Me with beautiful Mesa Falls in the background. On the way back to the cabin, a small herd of horses wandered on the the road as we were driving. We slowed way down and this one walked right up to the car.
In the evening, I took Ava for a short walk over to the Henry's Fork of the Snake River. It is only about 2 blocks from the cabin. We sat on a rock and watched the fish jump. She was thrilled with this experience.
On Tuesday, we went to Big Springs where Johnny Sack's cabin is located. This is a state park and has a beautiful natural spring that bubbles up out of the ground, and the springs create an amazing river that is the start of a tributary to the Snake river.
The cabin is all hand crafted and is so fun to walk through. My favorite part this time was these unique hat hangers (yes, elk feet).
The water in the river is so clear! There are giant trout under the bridge.
The day we went, this little muskrat was the one we enjoyed watching. He is swimming with a piece of bread in his mouth here.
Ava gives a nice smile with the clear springs behind her.
Tuesday night, we went to Mac's Inn to see a musical and have a prime rib dinner. Nick and Becca love the prime rib!
Ava is hilarious! I love her big eyes. She is so dramatic sometimes! She enjoyed the play and talked to some of the actors.
Early Tuesday morning, Rod and I got up and walked around Silver Lake. It is so beautiful! We saw tons of tracks on the trail, but did not see any of the moose that made them.
This place is a bird refuge, so there are different water fowl that reside here. It was really fun to watch this flock of pelicans feed. The would dive way down and then pop up out of the water. It was like an exotic dance!
The lake was like glass, and the reflection of the mountains, sky, and trees just reiterated the existence of God to me, and that he created everything on the earth for a specific purpose.
There was so much dew that our pants got quite wet as we walked down the road that curves around one end of the lake.
The wild flowers this summer are numerous in variety and amazing in their beauty! The colors were brilliant and we reveled in every scene we enjoyed as we did our hike around the lake. There were also patches of mushrooms and fungus because of the unusual amount of rain.

5 comments:

Allan and Diane said...

Wow-this looks like a glorious place. I have heard alot about Island Park but never been there. Your pictures are beautiful--and not just the terrain. You and Rod and the girls look like you were having such a relaxing and fun time. Thanks for sharing your beauty!

Bethany said...

It looks so beautiful there! Joe would be jealous, too:)

Desert Rose blooming in Arizona, said...

So glad you got to get away with family to such a gorgeous location and spend one-on-one time together away from the hustle/bustle of the world!!! Good for you!!!

Janet said...

Nice documentation of the place. Glad you had fun.

Bob and Becky said...

Karla it was so fun to be on vacation with you and your family. Your pictures allowed me to feel like I was walking beside you. thanks my friend.