Island Vacation

Guest Editor: Hubs Taylor

Last week, we enjoyed a little island-time right here in Idaho.

"What?" you say. "There are no (substantial) islands in Idaho."

You'd be wrong - it's Island Park, where the Henry's Fork of the Snake River begins. We stayed at the glorious St. Clair cabin, right next to the river, which has been in my mom's family since back in the Miocene Epoch, or possibly later. I get my dates mixed up.

After trips to Costco and Winco, we went homeco and packed enough food for a month-long voyage at sea. Upon arrival in Island Park, we came to the realization that we would each need to increase by a pant-size if all the groceries were to be consumed. On a side note, we did run out of beer.

We weren't alone in our vacation fun. Joining us there were Nana and Grandpa T, and the Ritchie Family: Mark, Cindy, Silva & Rio. We even had a visit from the Ybarrandos.

In any event, there were many activities to pursue: Canoe trips from Henry's Lake Outlet & Big Springs down to the cabin, fishing, golf outings at the exclusive Island Park Resort(wearing of flip-flops encouraged), biking and scenic drives into Yellowstone Park.

Of course, it wasn't all fun and games. Amy and Cindy decided to get tough and create the Island Park Women's triathlon. This tortuous event had the triple-threat challenge of Canoe, Golf and (leisurely)Biking. We didn't have any realtime stats to compare, but I'm fairly certain they won their class.

Additionally, Grandpa T was hellbent on improving his handicap, so when Mark & I joined him on the golf course, he even kept score. Now that's gamesmanship. Needless to say, his intimidation tactics did nothing for our short game.

Finally, in the most grueling event yet, many of us took turns in the great Gloria hunt. For those of you unaware of the sneaky & speedy talents of our hound Gloria, you would shudder at the grim prospect of tracking her across acres of swampy terrain full of moose, skunks and grizzly bears... yes, we did in fact see several moose.

A few of the many highlights from the trip were when Charlie caught 2 Raineys (that's rainbow trout to you non-fishing types) right off our dock - He was so stoked! Also, the firepit was a hit, with Charlie, Silva, Rio & Cole all setting records in the amount of marshmallows eaten in one sitting. Each evening at the cabin, we put together great feasts, complete with desserts(Many thanks to Amy, Mom, & Cindy!). While in Yellowstone, we saw Buffalo from 8 feet away (we were in our car), stopped by to see Old Faithful blow off some steam & even took a tour of Geyser Basin at West Thumb on Yellowstone Lake.

All in all, we had a grand time in Island Park, enjoying the natural beauty of the area while also enjoying the amenities of the cabin and the inclusion of friends and family.