Over Labor Day, we camped at Black Rock Campground, which is about 45 minutes off-road from Idaho City. It's a pretty area, tucked in next to the North Fork of the Boise River. The fishing didn't look that great, since it's only about 18 inches deep this time of year, but the kids had a blast wading in the river. Good thing...I forgot to bring the fishing poles. But we did catch a little gopher snake!

Going on Labor Day weekend was a bit of a gamble, since we didn't plan the trip in time to make reservations. So we just went hoping to find an empty spot, and we lucked out. There were two spaces with reservation tags on them, but one of them had expired. I think other last-minute campers probably saw the tag and left thinking it was full.

Technorati Tags: Black Rock Campground, Boise River, Breakfast, Camping, Family, Fire Regulations, Geography, Travel,

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Robyn and Alora

What is BASE jumping, you ask? It is an acronym for the following:

B - Buildings
A - Antennas
S - Spans
E - Earth

It seems to me that B, A, and S are a bit redundant and could have been consolidated into simply S for "Structures." That idea was probably nixed because "SE jumping" just doesn't roll of the tongue.

Basically, the sport consists of jumping off of any fixed object with a parachute, and is distinguished from skydiving, which is always from an aircraft. It's one of those "extreme sports" I had only seen on obscure cable shows like "Stunt Junkies" - until this trip, that is.

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This year's Thanksgiving trip turned into quite the object lesson in giving thanks.

Have you ever seen cars involved in rollover crashes and wondered what it was like to be in the car at the time? I know, it sounds a little morbid at first, but my mind sometimes wanders like this when I see skid marks off the side of the freeway. I momentarily find myself picturing what it must have been like to be in the car that was making them.

Well, I may not be able to capture every detail of the experience perfectly, but I can at least relay to you something about what our Car Crash 2006 experience was like.

As the events played out, I think you'll see clearly that God was guiding us through every step of the way. What if we had experienced major injuries out in the middle of nowhere in those icy conditions? What if we hadn't been able to get out of the car? What if the Rocky Mountain Ambulence company hadn't sold a unit for delivery that day to Burley? A million what-ifs go through my mind, and in each one, I see that there was Someone watching over us.

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Our family outing to Warm Springs (near Ketchum, which is near Sun Valley, Idaho) was a very enjoyable one. It's actually not over yet, as I'm writing this from our room on our last night while the kids watch an old Shirley Temple movie.

Bike riding along the Wood River Trail

Fall turned out to be a great time to visit this part of the state. Rain was forecast for both days, but it didn't show up except overnight. There was even a bit of snow overnight at the top of Bald Mountain (only a few hundred yards up the out-of-season ski slope from where we stayed).

The best part of our two day trip was by far the scenic bike riding we did along Wood River Trail. It's a twenty-mile-plus trail that zigs and zags along the river and through the downtown areas, passing through beautiful fall colored trees the entire way.

Technorati Tags: Family, Outdoors, Parenting, Restaurants, Travel,

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