Recently the family (Melba, Kevin, Carolyn, Alex, Sterling, Chelsea, Brandon (coming soon), and Morgan) took a long overdue trip to Island Park, ID. My family had a cabin not too far from the Hogge compound where I would spend weeks out of the summer, every Thanksgiving, and several Christmases. It had been years since I'd been up there so for me the the entire trip was a euphoric trip down memory lane mixed with gratitude for being able to breathe Island Park air again.
The trip was full of fun and relaxation. On Thursday (July 24), after sleeping in, Melba, Carolyn, Alex, and I took a trip past all of my local childhood memory spots and then to West Yellowstone. Before leaving for West, Carolyn and Alex took me down the road to show how to get to the rail road bridge. On the way Carolyn spotted a huge "moose", or was it a huge piece of wood shaped like a moose? I'll never tell.While in Yellowstone I had high hopes of seeing a herd of huge buffalo, some sparring bull elk, or a pack of wolves on the prowl, but no luck.
We saw a few chipmunks, which were pretty amazing, an eagles nest, and a lone buffalo. The buffalo was old and rugged looking so even though we didn't see any other big game, I was satisfied. The Old Faithful Inn, Old Faithful itself, and Yellowstone Park were beautiful and fun as usual. Something new that I hadn't done was the IMAX presentation on Yellowstone. I had always wondered why someone hadn't sent a camera down Old Faithfuls' throat to take a look at what's down there. It turns out they had, back in 1983. I guess I should read more.
On Friday, Kevin, Chelsea, Brandon, and Morgan arrived. We were all anxious to get the boat out on the lake. After pulling the boat 300 miles, spending a small fortune on gas, and getting stung in the leg while making the craft sea worthy, it broke. The shifter wouldn't allow the boat to switch out of reverse.
What nerve! Morgan was the only one who got to wake board. On the plus side, Morgan is quite the wake boarder and gave us all a good show. The rest of us spent the day diving off the boat dock. It was a lot more fun than it sounds. I found out that what Morgan possesses in wake boarding talent she lacks in diving skills. We spent a good while working on it and I'd say she has a good dive 50% of the time. The rest of the time she does a belly flop/dive hybrid thing. It's really quite impressive. I'm sure she'll get it someday. (good luck Morgan)
We were able to get the boat running forward long enough to take us all on a trip around Bill's Island and quite far out on the reservoir. One thing I've always loved about boating is it's always good for memories and pictures even if all you bring home are greasy fingers and a sunburn.
On Saturday the family introduced me to the traditional Hogge family swimming spot at the railroad bridge on the Buffalo river. Having had a chance to wade in the river earlier in the week I had my doubts about the sanity of anyone who would willingly submerge themselves in such devastatingly cold water. After being called a sissy, wuss, and wimp by all in the family, including my loving wife, I went for a swim.
In my defense, the water wasn't as cold that day as it was just the day before, I swear.
Anyway, the river was a blast. We had a leisurely 200 yard float followed by swimming, rock throwing, rock skipping, and pole tossing competitions. I won the swimming competition by cutting Alex off and edging Brandon out of the lead at the last second. Brandon can throw a rock really far, accurate, and hard so he's probably the David of the group. Though he was the first to hit the pole, Kevin was close several times and should probably share rock throwing champion podium space. Well done. I consider all of us winners in the round rock skipping event and none of us could be considered winners in the 20 foot pole flipping competition. We all stunk at that one.
Sunday services were fun for me. I had forgotten to bring Sunday clothes so I got to attend church in one of Kevin's golf shirts, shorts, and flip flops. To top it off, I hadn't shaved in over a week. I was looking pretty scraggely. I can't help but feel like someone (ALEX) should have reminded me to bring Sunday clothes.
Other items of note, the company was good, the food was awesome, and we watched at least 5 movies.
Alex and I want to especially thank Grandma Hogge for making the cabin available for use to the family. We all had an excellent time and look forward to going again to renew and create more lasting memories.
PS. This is Alex writing now... in my defense on the church clothes, we were rushing to get packed and going mainly because Sterling was 3 hours late in getting everything done. Plus, I was just so darn excited to go that I just nagged him along until all he wanted to do was throw in a shirt and shorts and go. All in all, we were still able to worship the Lord on the Sabbath, even though Sterling may have looked like an investigator.
We saw a few chipmunks, which were pretty amazing, an eagles nest, and a lone buffalo. The buffalo was old and rugged looking so even though we didn't see any other big game, I was satisfied. The Old Faithful Inn, Old Faithful itself, and Yellowstone Park were beautiful and fun as usual. Something new that I hadn't done was the IMAX presentation on Yellowstone. I had always wondered why someone hadn't sent a camera down Old Faithfuls' throat to take a look at what's down there. It turns out they had, back in 1983. I guess I should read more.On Friday, Kevin, Chelsea, Brandon, and Morgan arrived. We were all anxious to get the boat out on the lake. After pulling the boat 300 miles, spending a small fortune on gas, and getting stung in the leg while making the craft sea worthy, it broke. The shifter wouldn't allow the boat to switch out of reverse.
What nerve! Morgan was the only one who got to wake board. On the plus side, Morgan is quite the wake boarder and gave us all a good show. The rest of us spent the day diving off the boat dock. It was a lot more fun than it sounds. I found out that what Morgan possesses in wake boarding talent she lacks in diving skills. We spent a good while working on it and I'd say she has a good dive 50% of the time. The rest of the time she does a belly flop/dive hybrid thing. It's really quite impressive. I'm sure she'll get it someday. (good luck Morgan) We were able to get the boat running forward long enough to take us all on a trip around Bill's Island and quite far out on the reservoir. One thing I've always loved about boating is it's always good for memories and pictures even if all you bring home are greasy fingers and a sunburn.
On Saturday the family introduced me to the traditional Hogge family swimming spot at the railroad bridge on the Buffalo river. Having had a chance to wade in the river earlier in the week I had my doubts about the sanity of anyone who would willingly submerge themselves in such devastatingly cold water. After being called a sissy, wuss, and wimp by all in the family, including my loving wife, I went for a swim.
In my defense, the water wasn't as cold that day as it was just the day before, I swear. Anyway, the river was a blast. We had a leisurely 200 yard float followed by swimming, rock throwing, rock skipping, and pole tossing competitions. I won the swimming competition by cutting Alex off and edging Brandon out of the lead at the last second. Brandon can throw a rock really far, accurate, and hard so he's probably the David of the group. Though he was the first to hit the pole, Kevin was close several times and should probably share rock throwing champion podium space. Well done. I consider all of us winners in the round rock skipping event and none of us could be considered winners in the 20 foot pole flipping competition. We all stunk at that one.
Sunday services were fun for me. I had forgotten to bring Sunday clothes so I got to attend church in one of Kevin's golf shirts, shorts, and flip flops. To top it off, I hadn't shaved in over a week. I was looking pretty scraggely. I can't help but feel like someone (ALEX) should have reminded me to bring Sunday clothes.
Other items of note, the company was good, the food was awesome, and we watched at least 5 movies.
Alex and I want to especially thank Grandma Hogge for making the cabin available for use to the family. We all had an excellent time and look forward to going again to renew and create more lasting memories.
PS. This is Alex writing now... in my defense on the church clothes, we were rushing to get packed and going mainly because Sterling was 3 hours late in getting everything done. Plus, I was just so darn excited to go that I just nagged him along until all he wanted to do was throw in a shirt and shorts and go. All in all, we were still able to worship the Lord on the Sabbath, even though Sterling may have looked like an investigator.
2 comments:
I just want you to know that I thought you swore. I was reading where Alex wrote where she said she was so DARN excited to go to Island Park, but it looked like the other word, and I thought, what???? Alex doesn't swear, then Ty looked at it and showed me that it said DARN, so i was so happy about that. so anyways, that is a long comment.
i think you will have to get used to the being late deal...if sterling ever says he will be ready by 3...just count on him being ready by about 5 or 6 :) sounds like you guys had tons of fun and we love your blog!!
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