Like the title says, there are no pictures. I left my camera at home and I don't even try to take pictures with my cell phone. Number one it takes blurry pictures, number two it was mostly dead the whole time.
My mother's family had a reunion near Swan Valley, Idaho. The last time we made it to this family's reunion, Ethan was two and Libby was a tiny baby. It's been a while.
We started our trip on Thursday. We were planning to leave early, but Michael had to go into work for a couple of hours. We rearranged our schedule and decided to leave at 11:30 a.m. What with having children and all, we finally left town at 1:30 pm. Several hours later we were cruising down the freeway, with no towns in sight. Michael saw black stuff flying behind the trailer and it started jumping and jiving so we pulled over to find that we had lost the tread on the tire. Michael changed the tire in the blistering heat. When he put the spare on, we discovered it was noticeably under inflated. We decided to put it on and try limping to the next town 40 miles away, keeping our speed low. Fifteen miles down the freeway the trailer started its dance again. This time it completely shredded the tire, wrapping around the axle and grinding the bare wheel against the asphalt and rumble strip. We got out of the car and just stood there in shock. We unhooked the trailer, made sure everything was reasonably secure, grabbed the repairable flat and headed into American Falls. The people there were incredibly helpful, even if they didn't have everything we needed. Our whole family crashed in the "lounge" and ate popcorn while they fixed our tire. They even let us bring the dog inside. Did I mention it was well over a hundred degrees? It was scorching. They didn't have all the supplies we needed but they sent us back out with a new tire mounted on the old rim plus a new rim. We drove the 25 miles back, changed the tire (Michael was getting really good at it by now, and the jack and I were becoming close friends), and resumed heading to our final destination. It was very exciting for all when we finally reached a portion of the freeway we hadn't traveled before.
We drove without so much as a potty stop and made it to the Les Schwab in Pocatello with an empty gas tank, full bladders, and an entire fifteen minutes before they closed for the day. They were able to put a new tire on the new rim we bought from the other store while the kids ate more popcorn. They also kindly disposed of the shredded rim and tire we were still hauling around. Everybody was tired and hungry, but the kids were behaving like angels. A few minor catastrophes seems to bring out the very best in them. I have never traveled with such calm and helpful kids. It almost made me tear up, and I only ever tear up when I am mad and overwhelmed. We stopped and grabbed some tacos and gas (not at the same place, we didn't need food poisoning as well) and finished our trip to the campground. After setting up camp and eating a few snacks we all crashed for the night.
The next three days were incredible. Most of my mother's family lives close together in Arizona and know each other very well. I don't even know most of my cousins names, not to mention their children's and children's children's names. When we first pulled up I wasn't even sure we were in the right place because I recognized no one. My family was great. They greeted our little family with love and enthusiasm and didn't mind when I asked everyone their name fourteen times. I did not see my kids for the next three days. When breakfast and lunch rolled around I would feed whatever kids were at the campsite and others would do the same. Occasionally the families would all gather for a meal, or an Independence Day parade (lots of kids pounding lids, little girls doing princess waves, and candy to throw. It doesn't get much more festive), or a talent show. Everyone had a ball. On Sunday a mama moose even wandered into camp. Some of the older boys went looking for her, after being told to leave her alone. They didn't listen to us but they sure listened when that mama chased them through camp. No one was hurt, Libby was traumatized (she wouldn't go anywhere in camp alone after that) and the boys learned a tough lesson. Wildlife is incredible but it should be left alone.
Along with all the the great moments we also had a truly terrifying one. Two of the older teenaged girls decided to float on tubes down Snake River toward the (absolutely incredible and beautiful) falls. They had been warned that is was not a good idea because the Snake River is not a friendly river. They decided they would be fine. We were all gathered in camp just chatting when a stranger walked up. He told us he had seen a couple of tubes float past the falls without anybody on them. The girls' little brothers had been waiting for them and had seen the same thing. Immediately upon seeing the empty tube this gentleman (I don't know his name) promptly called the local sheriff and took the boys back to camp. The next twenty minutes were some of the scariest of my life. Some people headed up to the falls while others started walking the densly vegetated river banks. Somewhere in there we said a family prayer. Michael and I started gathering all the younger children in camp into one central area so they could be watched by grandparents while all the other adults went out searching. After we had most of the ducks gathered in, Michael hopped on one of the kids' bikes and went off after a few missing twelve year old boys. They made it back to camp before Michael. My sisters and I joined the other adults looking along the river. As I came around a bend, I saw ambulance with lights flashing, and heard hysterical girl crying. My heart leaped with joy. The girls were on an island in the middle of the river, sobbing. The parents were already there. Both girls were just fine. One had a possible broken ankle but they were both whole. I ran all the way back to camp with the joyous news (although my gave-birth-to-four-kids bladder wasn't too happy with all the jostling). Most of the people at camp had already heard the news and we all just ran around hugging each other in stunned relief. We finally thought to offer a prayer of thanksgiving and spent the next little while comforting the scared children.
We planned on leaving early Monday morning but Sunday night it decided to rain a little bit. Then the rain turned into a monsoon. Tent windows that had been left only slightly open led to soaked bedding. We decided to bug out. We threw all of our soggy things in the trailer and hit the road at 10:30 at night. Just half an hour later, Michael and I were crouched on the side of the road, changing a flat tire on a rural highway. The new tire we had just bought decided to just release all of its air. The good news is Michael and I were really good at changing trailer tires by now. I noticed the jolt killed one of our trailer lights but there wasn't much we could do. Around 11:30 we were passing through Idaho Falls when Michael realized he was speeding around the same time a cop did. We pulled over into the parking lot and proceeded to try to find the right papers. It took an incredibly long time to find Michael's wallet so he could show his license. The cop was very patient. If you have to be pulled over I recommend the police department in Idaho Falls. The cop was so nice it was almost pleasant. She told us we were clocked 8 MPH over the posted speed limit and we had a tail light out. Then she added, "I'll be honest with you. Tonight I'm just looking for DUIs." Michael promised he hadn't been drinking, she had him get out and "jiggle some wires" to try and fix the tail light, cautioned us that we were probably going to get pulled over again before we reached Boise for the tail light, and sent us on our way. We made the rest of the trip without incident and finally crashed in our own beds at about 4:30am in the morning. The trip had its ups and downs but I would do it again in a heartbeat (but I might just buy a new trailer first).
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