burn out week....trip to Slate Creek

So, our friend (and Assistant Manager of Housekeeping here at The 'Fish) Jodi decided that this week, being her last week here at Redfish, was going to be "Burn-Out Week." She has had a random adventure every day this week and plans on continuing thru Sunday night, as she leaves to go back to school at BYU-I on Monday morning.

Tonight was the random trip of the girls get-together. It started with a group of 4 of us wanting to go to this cave that Jodi thought she saw with her folks when they were here in Stanley exploring. So, she thought it would be fun to go and see what this cave was all about, and to see if, in-fact, it really was a cave. Well, plans changed at the last minute and we decided to go to Slate Creek (a suggestion from our G.M. Jeff.) It was a great last-minute change, cause it ended up being a blast. Eight of us girls ended up going and caravan'ing past Lower Stanley to Slate Creek.

We have had rain off and on for the past few days, so the dirt roads were kinda muddy and in some places there were HUGE mud puddles.....I LOVED the really big ones! My poor little trooper of a Honda Civic handled my torture very well, and she had quite the mud-bath to show for her adventure at the end of the evening. We, girls had a great time hiking and exploring. Above are the pictures that I was able to get. I still need to see if I can poole all of our photos and put them together in an album online, cause the other girls got some great shots!!

We explored the out buildings and the mine itself...which used to be a working silver mine. It is such a cool area, and there are so many things to explore. Lots of dug-outs and lean-to's all over! We went after we were all off work, and by this time it was starting to get dark earlier in the evening...so it is definitely somewhere I want to go back and spend the day. There are many cool things to explore and check out!!!

It was a wonderfully random, burn-out week adventure!! I will miss Jodi and Rachelle...our partners in crime with random adventures! :)

random adventure to Alturas Lake

Sometimes you just want to get out and drive. Today was that day for me. I had some time before my late afternoon work shift started. So, I got in my car and drove. I started in the direction of Ketchum and Sun Valley because I know there are lots of places that would be a fun and random adventure. I listened to music and opened my windows and sunroof...it was an absolutely gorgeous day!! Another beautiful day up here in the Stanley wilderness. =D As I drove, I decided to go to Alturas lake and check out the area.

This trip, like many others, came with a small detour on the way. If I see an interesting sign or possible fun spot along the way...I stop and check it out. Well this time my detour was Lake Perkins. So I found a spot to park my car and got out and explored. An amazing little path was right before me and I just walked and enjoyed the sunshine, and the random forest noises. The small path divided and reminded me of an old poem that we had to read in school, the one by Robert Frost and the phrase popped into my head, two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both. And like in the poem, I stood there for a minute and took in the view and the beauty that this little random adventure had to offer. I knew that either would get me to the same lake, just different views. Well, the path I chose had a gorgeous view!!! Very peaceful and well worth the detour!

I took my time returning to the car and then headed up the road to Alturas. This is where I found my happy place. I don't know why, or why this place...but something about this spot spoke to me and made me just let it all go. I sat there for a while, just thinking and listening to the waves of the lake and watching the cute little couple kayak from my side of the shore to the other side of the lake where the rest of the party seemed to be. The lake was interesting to watch, and three tones of water were visible and for some reason there were many little things that caught my attention. After the kayakers left, there was no one in my immediate area, and it was so peaceful and serene. I could have sat there all day! It was absolutely incredible!! A definite happy place was found at Alturas Lake =D

the folks' visit to Redfish

Mom and John were able to come up for a short visit. They wanted to check out camp-sites to possibly come back up in September and camp in the trailer. So, we toured around Redfish and they got to see where I am working and living for the summer. We also went to the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery in hopes of seeing them release the fish in the morning, but we got there too late; but we did see some of the Sockeye in the holding tanks. It was a short, but great visit!!

a visit to Petit Lake

I made a quick drive to Petit Lake this afternoon before work. There are still places close by that I haven't seen, so I made a goal to at least make some quick trips to see what they are all about. So, today's choice was Petit Lake which is just about 30 minutes outside of Redfish towards Sun Valley. The weather was beautiful and the lake was peaceful! Hardly anyone was there and it was nice to have the lake almost to myself....except the family of water-skier's and the picnic'ing family. It was a great afternoon and a beautiful spot to visit!

water football

We have had days of rain and thought that we could find a really muddy field to play some mud football. But when we got to the ranch, the fields weren't muddy enough...but the sprinklers were on part of the rolling hills off to the side of the driveway into the ranch, so the group decided to play water football instead. I sat the game out because my equilibrium was off (having felt like I'd been kicked in the head...thanks to this stupid migraine) and I sat on the fence with my camera and enjoyed the sights of the game. It was such a beautiful scene with the mountains and the setting sun in the background. Thanks to Del and his wife for letting us come to their ranch and play!

water slide and a hay ride

So, this is what we did for Family Home Evening with our singles group tonight. No, unfortunately this isn't us....I forgot to take my camera so this is a pic from the May Family Ranch's website. I think it's kinda an old picture because the slide now is much longer and sooo much fun!

The May Family Ranch is awesome!!! It is on Hwy 75 between Stanley and Challis and is where we had our single adult activity tonight, and we all had a blast!!! The May's own the Ranch and they are in our ward in Stanley and they (and the guests that had the whole Ranch privately reserved this week) were kind enough to let us come and partake of the waterslide fun! We did get some pictures because Sis. May was down at the bottom of the slide taking pictures of us as we all came sliding down. So, hopefully we will be able to get a few pictures from her to remember the fun evening.

After the sun went down behind the mountains and we all got chilly, Bro. May offered to take us on a good ol'fashioned hay ride...modernized of course, because he pulled us behind his really cool old-school John Deer tractor! It was awesome! We had a little mechanical problem...some lug nuts fell out of one of the front tires on our way out of the ranch so we all went on a scavenger hunt down the road to find the three that had become missing :) hahah! It was pretty comical, but we still had a good time and Jodi saved the day...she ran back to the ranch and got her tool kit (that her dad, the mechanic had given her I assume) and she came back with the wrench to help fix the tire with the found treasures from the scavenger hunt! :) It turned out well and we all had a great time.

a girls play day

It's been fun having the same day off as Karen and Laurel...we can always find something to do and it makes it more fun because we have friends to share it with. So one day we decided to take our day off and drive to Ketchum, and Hailey. We didn't make it to Sun Valley, cause we had too much fun elsewhere :) We walked around town, went to the bookstore, the Goldmine (a fun second-hand store), a couple of apparel stores to possibly find shoes (but had no luck with what we were looking for....spendy stores!), a really neat bead shop in Hailey where I found beads to make a "tribute to Redfish" necklace, and just drove around a bit to see the sights and find something interesting to do. One of the funniest things we did was in Hailey as we crossed the street....goofy enough that I had to get some pictures, plus it was music in the streets of Hailey day so we had to stop and listen for a bit before we made the journey back to the mountain wilderness of Redfish Lake Lodge and our jobs the next day.