So here's the deal. I had no idea that Yellowstone National Park had roads that opened and closed during certain seasons. Ignorant of me? Probably. But the fact remains that I was blissfully unaware of the closures until the day before we were planning on loading up the family for our Spring Break Roadtrip. Did this stop us from taking a trip? Absolutely not.
Pretty cute kids, if I do say so myself.
Next thing you know, it's Monday morning and all we had planned to do was to drive out to the Mammoth Caves, but along the way we passed Malad Gorge.
It was a pretty incredible sight. This photo pictured above was taken less than a mile from the interstate. It's worth pulling over for.
Then on to the caves. I must admit - I was a bit skeptical once we arrived.
This was the scene. Junk cars and peacocks. Everywhere. I tried to cover-up what I was thinking (Where in the heck have you led your family, Brettni!) in an effort to keep the kids excited, but I was concerned...
Luckily, the kids said they had a fun time walking into the deep, dark abyss. It was just the four of us armed with two propane lanterns. I was kind of creeped-out and felt like I needed a bath after we left.
Here is where I tell you that BLOGGER FRIENDS ARE THE BEST FRIENDS! I didn't have a clue as to what to do next. But I knew a blogger that lived in Idaho, so I messaged her an S.O.S. and she saved us! Karli, the blog writer at September Farm, said McCall was her "absolute most favorite place in Idaho," and people, I now know why. We drove to McCall and were swept away by the beauty of the city and the kindness of the people that call that fine place home.
Our view from the car on the drive north from Boise to McCall. It was dark and late once we arrived, but we woke-up to a fresh batch of soft white snow falling and nothing but white for as far as you could see.
Next thing you know, it's Monday morning and all we had planned to do was to drive out to the Mammoth Caves, but along the way we passed Malad Gorge.
Then on to the caves. I must admit - I was a bit skeptical once we arrived.
Here is where I tell you that BLOGGER FRIENDS ARE THE BEST FRIENDS! I didn't have a clue as to what to do next. But I knew a blogger that lived in Idaho, so I messaged her an S.O.S. and she saved us! Karli, the blog writer at September Farm, said McCall was her "absolute most favorite place in Idaho," and people, I now know why. We drove to McCall and were swept away by the beauty of the city and the kindness of the people that call that fine place home.
On the night of our arrival, I mentioned to our hotel concierge that while Brad and I had seen some deer walking through town, our son wasn't able to spy any of them. He recommended that we go to Hap + Florence Points to take a sleigh ride through an area where wild elk come to feed. The next morning, there was another fine lady, Jessica, that called and scheduled a time for our family to see the elk.
People, this was incredible.
The elk were all around us. Probably twenty or so that encircled the sleigh to fed off of the hay bales we were using as seats and triple (or more) close by. If you ever get the pleasure of traveling to the McCall area, reach out to these people and check this place out!
We made our way back into town and went for a little stroll through the shops and around Payette Lake.
While in McCall, the restaurants we visited were Lardo's Grill + Saloon, TJ's Cutting Edge Cafe, The Salmon River Brewery, + The Pancacke House. While we enjoyed the service and meals at each of them, my top two favorites were Salmon River Brewery + Lardo's.
We called Best Western Plus our home for two nights and we highly recommend using them. The family that manages Best Western also runs the wild elk feeding tour that I mentioned in the last post. They were such great people and the wife, Jessica, is from the Portland Area.
We loved you, McCall! Can't wait to see you again.
Brad picked up a scrumptious pizza from Martolli's for supper on the night we arrived and we took the night off: we stayed in, watched tv for too long, and slept in late the next morning. But before leaving for home the next morning (today) we made a quick stop off at Sister's Bakery. #BecauseDoughnuts
Spring Break 2016 is a wrap! #BrumfieldsBreakInSpring
