Let the Camping Begin

This last week, we had our first camping trip of the season. And let me tell ya, it was fantastic (except for that tick I found after we got home. . . a story for another day!). We left on Tuesday and headed up to Ketchum (the kids called it Ketchup!). We stayed at Easley Hot Springs. It was a beautiful place. . . I haven't been that close to the mountains in a long time and I loved it. We got to swim for a couple of hours in the wonderful hot springs before turning in (I'll have you know my kids didn't go to sleep until 9 P.M. or later every night!). On Wednesday, we got up and drove to Mackay to spend the remainder of our vacation. Mackay is very close to Brian's heart, and it was sooooo good to get to go back. I just love it there, and I can see Brian and I living there someday when our kids are grown. We spent the rest of the week there. We went riding on Thursday with all the kids--Brian on the 250, Josh on the 50 and Mike, Luke and I on the 4-wheeler (sorry no cc number for that one!). We rode the Mackay Mining Trail. We went about 16 miles,not to bad for Josh's first trip by himself. He did great and only got knocked off the bike twice. It was amazing to see how they made towns in the mountains like that. Those people had courage!!! Tari and Mom and the kids came up to see us on Thursday night. It was great to see them and we got some good fishin' in too! On our way home on Friday, we stopped at the Craters of the Moon. The boys loved hiking through the caves. I hadn't been there since I was little so it was neat to see it again!! It was a very relaxing trip and I hated to come home, but I am looking forward to the next time we get to go. . . maybe you can come with us!