Mid-way pit stop at Little America in Wyoming for a picnic.On our drive from Wyoming to Idaho, we were driving straight into one of the most ominous storm clouds I’d ever seen.Within moments we were driving through intense hail. We found an interstate exit where we could hide under a bridge with a few other cars. Nothing like hiding your home under a bridge from inclement weather…
We spent a whole month in Pocatello, Idaho to explore a part of Idaho we hadn’t seen before. For a rather quiet little rural town, we ended up having quite the month.
Our RV Park was also a Mobile home community, and early on the girls befriended a sweet girl at the playground. After that point she was over at our site nearly every day playing with barbies outside for hours.
We took advantage of guest cards at the local library, and the girls work was even displayed for the month after their participation in Lego Club. We checked out local parks, coffee shops, farmers’ markets, and even made it a weekly tradition to visit the fantastic pool on 1/2 price Wednesdays.
We are starting to build quite a collection of library cards.Lego Club creations on display at the library.So fun to see their work displayed with all the other local Lego builders!We love 1/2 price Wednesdays at the local water park!Sisters making no-bakes!A very special care package from a traveling friend we met in Arizona!
During our time in Pocatello we were also able to attend RiverFest, Sagebrush Art Festival, and Harvest Festival.
We really enjoyed the engaging animals at the petting zoo at one of the festivals.We never miss the chance for a free petting zoo.
Mid-month some of our dear full time friends, the Sutors, were also traveling through the area. We spent one magical weekend tent camping at our old boondocking spot in the Grand Tetons. It was great to be back in one of our favorite campsites ever, and introducing it to them made it all the more special. The weekend was just as magical as our first visit.
View from our tent in the Grand Tetons. Brad opted to sleep in the hammock, which one neighbor called a “Bear Taco”. He laughed and laughed and said it was the craziest thing he’d ever seen. We thought that it seemed like an odd, over-the-top reaction to a hammock, especially after the same man spent 8-12 hours erecting an enormous pole teepee nearby.Nothing beats the magnificent sunsets from Upper Teton View.One evening Coral was running around bare-foot, and she started SCREAMING from a bit down the dirt road. I took off at a spring, thinking that she must be really injured based on this blood-curdling sound she was making. Turned out it was our first introducing to this steam-punk cricket/spider that she had almost stepped on with no shoes. After some conversations with camp neighbors and some online research, we learned that these crickets on steroids are called Mormon crickets, after Mormons encountered them as they moved west. They are also an important character in the “Miracle of the Gulls”. Once we saw this one, we began to notice them on hikes throughout Idaho. They definitely had an impact on Coral’s hiking confidence for awhile.Just like our first visit to Upper Teton View, every night all of the boondockers gather around one communal campfire to laugh, swap stories, and take in the views.Sunny was SO excited to “babysit” Calla while her parents went on a long hike with Brad in the Tetons.
A couple of weeks later, the Sutors made Pocatello a stop on their route so that we could spend a few more days together. We shared RV life advice, child-care, and celebration.
The official “Rolling on a Whim” 1 year anniversary party hat! Very limited supply.Calla is obsessed with Minnie Mouse. The girls were excited to share their Disney World treasures with her.Saying goodbye is always tough, but I’m incredibly grateful for traveling friends like these that we get to meet again and again.Plus it’s easier to say goodbye to one set of friends, when the next is arriving just a few hours later!
Very soon after they left, but unfortunately not soon enough to cross paths, our OTHER great full-time RV friends the Berthiaumes also came to Pocatello. It was a surprise to their son, Enzo, that we were meeting up, so it was very fun to surprise him at the campground entrance on the day they arrived!
We also celebrated our 2-Year milestone while in Pocatello.Sunny, ever the aspiring baker, took on the task of preparing an epic RV adventure cake.This was her first foray into the delightful sugary world of fondant.The finished creation featured free, Rocky Mountains with a blue stream running through it, complete with Swedish Fish swimming along the current. Oh, there was also a little bit of cake underneath this pile of fondant and frosting…..Happy 2 Years!Post-cake sugar nap.
