Zach continues his father's tradition of being the Willes Family Cat Tormenter.
The crew at Idaho City.
The Troy Willes Family after day at Boise Zoo in Julia Davis Park.
Sunday July 27th -- This week's installment also comes from Boise Idaho -- where the weather is cooler and the home cooking is mighty good.
Monday - July 20th
Monday was the last full day that Grant was in town. After the usual late breakfast and start time, we all went up to Idaho City. It was an overcast day, so that kept the temperatures down just a bit. The drive up was very nice. It follows the Boise river and then some tributary creeks on up into the mountains. Once we got up there we walked down one side of the main street and decided to eat at Calamity Jane's Cafe. Not the prettiest presentation, but pretty tasty grub. Monday is a slow day for tourism, so Idaho City wasn't very busy -- but that was nice because we didn't have to watch the kids quite as closely. We had a good time walking around and reading signs and looking at buildings -- you know, the usual Idaho City activities. We found a Idaho City Musuem that had some interesting exhibits and artifacts.
The funniest Idaho City moment came as we were passing the back side of the Sherriff's Department Building. A couple of Sherrif's SUVs were parked in the back. Beside one of them was a couple rotund deputy's that were looking into the car. As we got closer we realized that they were trying to break into it with a coat hangar! It was obvious that they had locked their keys in the car and were now trying to get in. Todd secretly snapped a photo, and they glanced at us with embarassed looks as we walked past.
After our walk around, we got ice cream at the local parlor. As we got our ice cream and were sitting down, a large, bearded man and his pre-teen daughter came in and started joking with the staff in the ice cream shop. Todd struck up a conversation with him and found out that he is the owner of the local old-time photo shop. Not only that, but he is the winner of the national quick-draw pistol competition that they had in Idaho City last fall. Pretty cool.
On our way home we found a spot by the pretty creek and let the kids wade out and throw rocks into the creek. Katie and Emma rolled up their pants and walked across without getting too wet. Just as katie was coming in to go home, however, she slipped and fell in up to her neck. We didn't bring a change of clothes, so she borrowed some of Kevin's - since Anna came prepared for the kids to get wet. We actually got off kind of easy because Claire and Zach were asleep in the van the whole time we were at the creek. A fun time was had by all. Dinner that night was back at grammy's.
Tuesday - July 21st
Tuesday was Grant's last day. He had to leave early afternoon to fly back to Lodi. Thus we didn't plan any big events for that day. Instead, Troy and Grant took the kids to the local park for a bit in the morning. Just as we came home a big thunder and rainstorm started rolling in from the west. Grammy's neighbor, Tippy Thomas, was concerned about losing the apricots on Grammy's tree to rain and hail, so she brought out some sheets and the guys helped shake apricots into blankets. We collected three large buckets of apricots that way. Not all of them were ripe, but that only takes a day or two anyway. As a side note, a stranger stopped by a couple days later asking if she could pick some apricots from the tree and make jam. In payment, she promised to give Grammy some of the jam. Sounds like a fair trade.
After most of the rain stopped, Grant and Troy took a couple hours to clean up the front yard and bushes. The big yard is a lot for Papa Willes to try to keep up with. Grant and Jason took the rental car back and then flew back to Lodi. The rest of the day was spent getting ready to leave for Grampa Rogers' funeral and camping.
Wednesday - July 22nd
Wednesday was Grampa Rogers' funeral. Rachel and the Willes Girls stayed a little while at Grammy's and packed up the car. Everyone else had to leave early (10:00) in the van and the truck to get to Gooding around noon. We all travelled in our Sunday clothes and made it in good time.
Despite the somber occaision, the Rogers clan had a good time getting re-acquainted before the funeral started. I had to look at some of my cousins two or three times to figure out who they were -- based on my memory of what they looked like a few years ago. As the funeral proceedings started, they invited family into the Relief Society room for the family prayer. There were too many to fit, however, so they had to move the family prayer into the cultural hall instead. Lisa Rogers said the prayer. After that the coffin and family moved into the chapel for the funeral service. Granpa's brother Bob spoke, Aunt Deanne sang. Then Grammy (Kay) spoke and Todd and Anna sang. Finally, the bishop of the ward spoke and then all of the Grandkids and Great Grandkids (of all ages) got up out of the audience and sang 3 verses of I Am a Child of God. There were a lot of people up on the stand. Not everyone sang, but they were all willing to get up and lend their support.
The funeral then proceeded to the cemetary. Uncle Monte dedicated the grave. It was a hot, sunny day in Gooding. The cemetary was well-kept and many of the graves had flowers and mini rose bushes besides the headstones. After everyone left, Grandpa Rogers was buried next to Grandma.
The funeral re-convened back at the church for a meal of Ham and Funeral Potatoes. There were some family that were not able to go to the reunion, but they made it to the funeral, so we got to see even more of the family than the planned reunion would have brought.
After all that wrapped up, we met Rachel and kids at the Twin Falls Best Western. This hotel came recommended by Aunt Lorie Ann. It had a great indoor pool, and a nice breakfast the next morning. The Willes Kids swam for a while and then ordered Pizza for their dinner. After dinner they went back to the pool and were joined by the rest of the cousins that were at the funeral earlier. It's always fun times in the pool. We let them swim until 8:30pm. After that it didn't take them long to fall asleep.
Thursday - July 24th
Nobody, except maybe for Papa Willes, was in a big hurry to get to the campsite, so after a good continental breakfast at the hotel, we all went down to swim until about 10:00. After that we loaded up and went over to the Twin Falls Temple open house that just happened to be going on during July and August. It was a good experience for the kids (and adults). We watched a little intro video in the neighboring chapel, and then went with our guide into the temple. Zach wasn't happy about the white booties they made us wear, so he walked through with just his socks. The temple was of course very nice inside and out. They used nice marble on the floors and light wood (Tiger wood) accents and trim. Emma's favorite part was the huge chandelier in the celestial room. Claire liked the Telestial room with the mural of the Shoshone falls and the snake river valley. Katie said her favorite room was the sealing room with the eternity mirrors. Zach's favorite part were the chaise lounge chairs in the hallway where he climbed up, layed down and pretended to take a nap. (I guess they looked comfortable.)
After the temple they filed everyone back into the neighboring chapel where they had the cultural hall decked out as a reception center with a few exhibits, and even some cookies and punch! It wouldn't be a Mormon function without some "refreshments".
Before leaving for Lava Hot springs we stopped at Perkins for lunch. Not much different than Denny's. Up until now Troy had been driving the van (Moby the great white van) around with the Lassigs and Austin as passengers. Rachel was driving the Buick with the kids and was ready for some adult companionship for the last leg of the trip. We tried to put Troy in with Rachel and let Todd drive the Van, but Moby decided otherwise. The van has a tendency to stall while idle, and decided to really give Todd a workout. After Moby stalled several times while trying to get out of the parking lot, Todd parked it again and gave the keys back to Troy.
The most exciting part of the journey occurred a few miles down the road. As we were getting close to Pocatello there were a couple of loud thumps under the front passenger seat. Troy thought that he ran over a rock that flipped up. When we got to Pocatello we looked under the van at the wheel and found a bungee cord hanging under there, and removed it. Thinking we had found the source of the bumps, we headed out again. As we came down the hill from Pocatello, however, there was suddenly a very loud "thump thump thump" on the wheel well. We pulled over quickly, realizing that our tire was falling apart. Rachel was in the car behind us and pulled over with us. We were able to find a jack and tire iron in the back of the Buick (after unloading everything from the trunk), but the tire iron was the wrong size. After a few minutes, Papa and Grammy circled back around and found the Tire iron for the van in the back of it. In the meantime, Uncle Dan arrived with his truck and trailer - but he didn't have a jack and tire iron that fit either. Anyway, we finally got the old tire off and the spare on, and 45 minutes later continued on our way. Anna and I have "fond" memories of many Willes trips with auto troubles. I think it wouldn't be a true Willes roadtrip without a breakdown of some kind. We arrived at our pretty little campsite above Lava Hot Springs around 8:00 and setup camp just before it got dark. It's a good thing it gets dark so late around here. Also - we owe Uncle Monte for loaning us pads, tents and sleeping bags for the whole Willes crew. The campsites were very nice, and included covered picnic tables, firepits, latrines and running water faucets. There was also a group campsite which we should get ... next time.
Friday - July 25th
Friday was Lava Hot Springs Day. After a hearty breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon, we went back the 7 mile dirt road and 9 mile paved road to check out the town and swimming pool of Lava Hot Springs. (Papa went with us, but Grammy stayed back to relax at camp). There's a short little stretch of minor rapids of the Portneuf river that goes down under main street. There are shops in the town that rent tubes by the hour and then people float down and walk it back up. It's the original natural water slide park. We ate lunch at "Ye Ole Chuckwagon." The girls had authentic western recipe... chicken nuggets, of course. Much better grub than Denny's.
The swimming pool was a lot of fun. They had two big water slides that Emma, Katie, Austin, and Kevin could go down, and a large shallow area where the small kids could play. There were a lot of people there -- some of the Rogers contingent included -- I think we all had a good time. Zach even took a little nap on a pool float for a while near the end. Rachel kept moving him to keep him in the shadow of a nearby lamp. We got back to camp in time for dinner and the reunion auction.
The big dollar items at the auction this year were a hand made patchwork quilt made by Janice that went for $83 and a couple of pies that Deanne made. The shirts that Rachel ordered did not arrive in time, but we still sold 20 of them for $20 each! Todd and Anna donated two parkhopper tickets to disneyland, which Linda bought for $95. Reports are that they made a record $1200. After the auction ended, the girls had fun handing out glow bracelets that Rachel picked up at the Dollar Store. Zach went to bed with his bracelet still on. The second night is always better. Everyone slept a little better on Friday night.
Saturday - July 26th
Saturday morning after breakfast with the clan, we packed up camp. Katie and Emma had fun playing pictionary with their second cousins of similar ages up at Aunt Lorie Ann's campsite. Anna and Todd and boys (including Austin) got up early and drove to Twin Falls for a big air show that happened to be this weekend. (They said it was hot out on the airfield, but they had a lot of fun nonetheless.) Anna gets extra kudos for surviving camping AND the airshow all day Saturday while being big and pregnant. The AZ Willes family boarded Moby and Grammy and Papa drove the pickup to Pocatello Wal-Mart to get a new tire. We ate lunch while the new tire was being put on, but we still had to wander around Wal-Mart for another 45 minutes before they had it ready for us. Next stop was in Gooding where we stopped to get things from Grandpa Rogers' house. We got dinner at Dairy Queen -- where they still strongly believe in Fry Sauce. Rachel said it brought back memories. On our way out of town we drove by Grandpa's farm house and told the girls stories of when their Dad and Aunt Anna were little and went to visit cousins there. We finally made it back to Boise at 9:30 pm. Whew!
Sunday - July 27th
Church with Grammy and Grandpa again. Troy's highlight was making stonehenge out of playdough while in the nursery with Zach :-P Grammy made a yummy roast and pototoes for dinner. That evening the kids helped grammy make snack mix and then played games until it was time to get ready for bed. Postnote: Zach's new word for the day is "What?". Claire called his name and he responded with "What?". Over and over and over again. He even managed to throw in a "godfather/mafia" tone to it near the end of the. "Whuuuutt?"
Sunday July 27th -- This week's installment also comes from Boise Idaho -- where the weather is cooler and the home cooking is mighty good.
Monday - July 20th
Monday was the last full day that Grant was in town. After the usual late breakfast and start time, we all went up to Idaho City. It was an overcast day, so that kept the temperatures down just a bit. The drive up was very nice. It follows the Boise river and then some tributary creeks on up into the mountains. Once we got up there we walked down one side of the main street and decided to eat at Calamity Jane's Cafe. Not the prettiest presentation, but pretty tasty grub. Monday is a slow day for tourism, so Idaho City wasn't very busy -- but that was nice because we didn't have to watch the kids quite as closely. We had a good time walking around and reading signs and looking at buildings -- you know, the usual Idaho City activities. We found a Idaho City Musuem that had some interesting exhibits and artifacts.
The funniest Idaho City moment came as we were passing the back side of the Sherriff's Department Building. A couple of Sherrif's SUVs were parked in the back. Beside one of them was a couple rotund deputy's that were looking into the car. As we got closer we realized that they were trying to break into it with a coat hangar! It was obvious that they had locked their keys in the car and were now trying to get in. Todd secretly snapped a photo, and they glanced at us with embarassed looks as we walked past.
After our walk around, we got ice cream at the local parlor. As we got our ice cream and were sitting down, a large, bearded man and his pre-teen daughter came in and started joking with the staff in the ice cream shop. Todd struck up a conversation with him and found out that he is the owner of the local old-time photo shop. Not only that, but he is the winner of the national quick-draw pistol competition that they had in Idaho City last fall. Pretty cool.
On our way home we found a spot by the pretty creek and let the kids wade out and throw rocks into the creek. Katie and Emma rolled up their pants and walked across without getting too wet. Just as katie was coming in to go home, however, she slipped and fell in up to her neck. We didn't bring a change of clothes, so she borrowed some of Kevin's - since Anna came prepared for the kids to get wet. We actually got off kind of easy because Claire and Zach were asleep in the van the whole time we were at the creek. A fun time was had by all. Dinner that night was back at grammy's.
Tuesday - July 21st
Tuesday was Grant's last day. He had to leave early afternoon to fly back to Lodi. Thus we didn't plan any big events for that day. Instead, Troy and Grant took the kids to the local park for a bit in the morning. Just as we came home a big thunder and rainstorm started rolling in from the west. Grammy's neighbor, Tippy Thomas, was concerned about losing the apricots on Grammy's tree to rain and hail, so she brought out some sheets and the guys helped shake apricots into blankets. We collected three large buckets of apricots that way. Not all of them were ripe, but that only takes a day or two anyway. As a side note, a stranger stopped by a couple days later asking if she could pick some apricots from the tree and make jam. In payment, she promised to give Grammy some of the jam. Sounds like a fair trade.
After most of the rain stopped, Grant and Troy took a couple hours to clean up the front yard and bushes. The big yard is a lot for Papa Willes to try to keep up with. Grant and Jason took the rental car back and then flew back to Lodi. The rest of the day was spent getting ready to leave for Grampa Rogers' funeral and camping.
Wednesday - July 22nd
Wednesday was Grampa Rogers' funeral. Rachel and the Willes Girls stayed a little while at Grammy's and packed up the car. Everyone else had to leave early (10:00) in the van and the truck to get to Gooding around noon. We all travelled in our Sunday clothes and made it in good time.
Despite the somber occaision, the Rogers clan had a good time getting re-acquainted before the funeral started. I had to look at some of my cousins two or three times to figure out who they were -- based on my memory of what they looked like a few years ago. As the funeral proceedings started, they invited family into the Relief Society room for the family prayer. There were too many to fit, however, so they had to move the family prayer into the cultural hall instead. Lisa Rogers said the prayer. After that the coffin and family moved into the chapel for the funeral service. Granpa's brother Bob spoke, Aunt Deanne sang. Then Grammy (Kay) spoke and Todd and Anna sang. Finally, the bishop of the ward spoke and then all of the Grandkids and Great Grandkids (of all ages) got up out of the audience and sang 3 verses of I Am a Child of God. There were a lot of people up on the stand. Not everyone sang, but they were all willing to get up and lend their support.
The funeral then proceeded to the cemetary. Uncle Monte dedicated the grave. It was a hot, sunny day in Gooding. The cemetary was well-kept and many of the graves had flowers and mini rose bushes besides the headstones. After everyone left, Grandpa Rogers was buried next to Grandma.
The funeral re-convened back at the church for a meal of Ham and Funeral Potatoes. There were some family that were not able to go to the reunion, but they made it to the funeral, so we got to see even more of the family than the planned reunion would have brought.
After all that wrapped up, we met Rachel and kids at the Twin Falls Best Western. This hotel came recommended by Aunt Lorie Ann. It had a great indoor pool, and a nice breakfast the next morning. The Willes Kids swam for a while and then ordered Pizza for their dinner. After dinner they went back to the pool and were joined by the rest of the cousins that were at the funeral earlier. It's always fun times in the pool. We let them swim until 8:30pm. After that it didn't take them long to fall asleep.
Thursday - July 24th
Nobody, except maybe for Papa Willes, was in a big hurry to get to the campsite, so after a good continental breakfast at the hotel, we all went down to swim until about 10:00. After that we loaded up and went over to the Twin Falls Temple open house that just happened to be going on during July and August. It was a good experience for the kids (and adults). We watched a little intro video in the neighboring chapel, and then went with our guide into the temple. Zach wasn't happy about the white booties they made us wear, so he walked through with just his socks. The temple was of course very nice inside and out. They used nice marble on the floors and light wood (Tiger wood) accents and trim. Emma's favorite part was the huge chandelier in the celestial room. Claire liked the Telestial room with the mural of the Shoshone falls and the snake river valley. Katie said her favorite room was the sealing room with the eternity mirrors. Zach's favorite part were the chaise lounge chairs in the hallway where he climbed up, layed down and pretended to take a nap. (I guess they looked comfortable.)
After the temple they filed everyone back into the neighboring chapel where they had the cultural hall decked out as a reception center with a few exhibits, and even some cookies and punch! It wouldn't be a Mormon function without some "refreshments".
Before leaving for Lava Hot springs we stopped at Perkins for lunch. Not much different than Denny's. Up until now Troy had been driving the van (Moby the great white van) around with the Lassigs and Austin as passengers. Rachel was driving the Buick with the kids and was ready for some adult companionship for the last leg of the trip. We tried to put Troy in with Rachel and let Todd drive the Van, but Moby decided otherwise. The van has a tendency to stall while idle, and decided to really give Todd a workout. After Moby stalled several times while trying to get out of the parking lot, Todd parked it again and gave the keys back to Troy.
The most exciting part of the journey occurred a few miles down the road. As we were getting close to Pocatello there were a couple of loud thumps under the front passenger seat. Troy thought that he ran over a rock that flipped up. When we got to Pocatello we looked under the van at the wheel and found a bungee cord hanging under there, and removed it. Thinking we had found the source of the bumps, we headed out again. As we came down the hill from Pocatello, however, there was suddenly a very loud "thump thump thump" on the wheel well. We pulled over quickly, realizing that our tire was falling apart. Rachel was in the car behind us and pulled over with us. We were able to find a jack and tire iron in the back of the Buick (after unloading everything from the trunk), but the tire iron was the wrong size. After a few minutes, Papa and Grammy circled back around and found the Tire iron for the van in the back of it. In the meantime, Uncle Dan arrived with his truck and trailer - but he didn't have a jack and tire iron that fit either. Anyway, we finally got the old tire off and the spare on, and 45 minutes later continued on our way. Anna and I have "fond" memories of many Willes trips with auto troubles. I think it wouldn't be a true Willes roadtrip without a breakdown of some kind. We arrived at our pretty little campsite above Lava Hot Springs around 8:00 and setup camp just before it got dark. It's a good thing it gets dark so late around here. Also - we owe Uncle Monte for loaning us pads, tents and sleeping bags for the whole Willes crew. The campsites were very nice, and included covered picnic tables, firepits, latrines and running water faucets. There was also a group campsite which we should get ... next time.
Friday - July 25th
Friday was Lava Hot Springs Day. After a hearty breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon, we went back the 7 mile dirt road and 9 mile paved road to check out the town and swimming pool of Lava Hot Springs. (Papa went with us, but Grammy stayed back to relax at camp). There's a short little stretch of minor rapids of the Portneuf river that goes down under main street. There are shops in the town that rent tubes by the hour and then people float down and walk it back up. It's the original natural water slide park. We ate lunch at "Ye Ole Chuckwagon." The girls had authentic western recipe... chicken nuggets, of course. Much better grub than Denny's.
The swimming pool was a lot of fun. They had two big water slides that Emma, Katie, Austin, and Kevin could go down, and a large shallow area where the small kids could play. There were a lot of people there -- some of the Rogers contingent included -- I think we all had a good time. Zach even took a little nap on a pool float for a while near the end. Rachel kept moving him to keep him in the shadow of a nearby lamp. We got back to camp in time for dinner and the reunion auction.
The big dollar items at the auction this year were a hand made patchwork quilt made by Janice that went for $83 and a couple of pies that Deanne made. The shirts that Rachel ordered did not arrive in time, but we still sold 20 of them for $20 each! Todd and Anna donated two parkhopper tickets to disneyland, which Linda bought for $95. Reports are that they made a record $1200. After the auction ended, the girls had fun handing out glow bracelets that Rachel picked up at the Dollar Store. Zach went to bed with his bracelet still on. The second night is always better. Everyone slept a little better on Friday night.
Saturday - July 26th
Saturday morning after breakfast with the clan, we packed up camp. Katie and Emma had fun playing pictionary with their second cousins of similar ages up at Aunt Lorie Ann's campsite. Anna and Todd and boys (including Austin) got up early and drove to Twin Falls for a big air show that happened to be this weekend. (They said it was hot out on the airfield, but they had a lot of fun nonetheless.) Anna gets extra kudos for surviving camping AND the airshow all day Saturday while being big and pregnant. The AZ Willes family boarded Moby and Grammy and Papa drove the pickup to Pocatello Wal-Mart to get a new tire. We ate lunch while the new tire was being put on, but we still had to wander around Wal-Mart for another 45 minutes before they had it ready for us. Next stop was in Gooding where we stopped to get things from Grandpa Rogers' house. We got dinner at Dairy Queen -- where they still strongly believe in Fry Sauce. Rachel said it brought back memories. On our way out of town we drove by Grandpa's farm house and told the girls stories of when their Dad and Aunt Anna were little and went to visit cousins there. We finally made it back to Boise at 9:30 pm. Whew!
Sunday - July 27th
Church with Grammy and Grandpa again. Troy's highlight was making stonehenge out of playdough while in the nursery with Zach :-P Grammy made a yummy roast and pototoes for dinner. That evening the kids helped grammy make snack mix and then played games until it was time to get ready for bed. Postnote: Zach's new word for the day is "What?". Claire called his name and he responded with "What?". Over and over and over again. He even managed to throw in a "godfather/mafia" tone to it near the end of the. "Whuuuutt?"
Shopping at the Great Boise Mall
Peace out for this week, chickadees! Talk to you soon!
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