Day 23 and 24: Island Park, ID and Heber City, Utah

Day 23: Island Park, ID

Another double post. Hopefully this won’t become a habit.

After our exciting hike to Mystic Falls we let the kids sleep in and miss their 6:45 zoom calls. They woke up about 7:30 and we started school around 8. Today we had so many technical issues. We were having issues with our printer and WiFi. The school was having issues with Zoom and the main application the kids’ work is distributed through. This is the first day we had major technical issues which really isn’t too bad given we have been at this for over three weeks. It is still frustrating though. Hudson was also completing his reading assessment, on top of all the other work he had to do. He didn’t want to do it, and from what I could see of the test, I didn’t blame him.

Jordan was also having issues and was switching networks for every call. He had a couple of disappointing phone calls (related to something he had been working on, not his actual job; don’t want scare anyone), so by the afternoon we were all just kind of… done. I had told the kids we would drive into town to see what we could find. We found a cute little place called The Parlor at Mack’s Inn. They had beer and ice cream which was perfect for this lightly stressed family.

As we sat enjoying our afternoon treat, Lucy said “Is that a horse in the river?!” Jordan looked and said “No, that’s a moose!” We gathered our things and ran down to a little dock on the river to watch the moose, one male and two females, as we finished our ice creams and adult beverages. Did you know the plural form of moose is moose? I googled it.

This afternoon was such an unexpected surprise to a somewhat frustrating day. It was so nice to watch the kids play in the river as Jordan and I sat on the dock enjoying a few minutes to ourselves. The water was so clean and clear you could see straight to the bottom. We saw tadpoles, fish, what we think were stork (we have no knowledge of birds), and of course, the moose.

Back at the trailer, we grilled chicken. As we were grilling Lucy decided to climb the tree next to us. She is such a strong and determined girl. She made it all the way up without a single hand from either of us. Hudson was inside. I’m not sure what he was doing. The more I learn about Hudson I realize he needs some down-time or he can get very cranky. I’m the same way. I can be very social until I feel like I hit a wall and then I must retreat and recharge. Sometimes I think it’s odd that we can have different standards for children than adults. For example, my first inclination was to go get him and tell him he should be outside with his family, enjoying the beautiful weather, and climbing trees with his sister. Then I thought of all the times I have snuck away from the same family to catch thirty minutes of reading alone and decided he probably needed the time to himself.

This was our last night in eastern Idaho and we are still surprised by it. Eastern Idaho is gorgeous. I can’t comment on the rest of the state. When Jordan and I talk about “the future,” we love to flesh out different ideas about what we might do, where we might end up. This particular evening I said to him, “you know, when you retire and the kids are gone there is no rule we have to live in Houston. We could live anywhere.” Then we planned on having a cabin in Idaho for our summers where our grandkids could come visit and a condo in Houston for the winter. You should hear how many “retirement plans” we have!

Day 24:

The day started for me about midnight. We had such a lovely time the evening before that I didn’t take care of a few things I should have. They were keeping me awake so I hopped out of bed and tried to tackle them. One of them was a third grade science project. I wish I was kidding.

Hudson has a “States of Matter” project and he needed five examples of each state of matter. We were supposed to cut off or print pictures. He made a list of the items he wanted to include and I was going to search for pictures on the internet because I didn’t want him to. Kids and the internet terrify me. Well, I didn’t do that the night before and I knew we were short on time trying to get out of town. So I was up at 12:30 trying to print off photos of milk, oxygen, a Camaro and other examples. But the printer wasn’t working. Then, I tried to edit some fall fundraiser flyers online, but the internet was down so I wasn’t as productive in the middle of the night as I was hoping for.

This morning was hard. Virtual schooling is hard. I’m not that great at managing it all. Hudson has a lot of work. He can do a lot of independently, but he’s only 8 and needs guidance. His work load is so much that I feel like Lucy isn’t getting what she needs from me. I think our teachers are amazing and doing the very best with the parameters they have been given by the state. We have always been thoughtful about our kids’ education and have taken it very seriously. I’m trying to remember that nine weeks won’t make or break them in life, but virtual learning isn’t working for at least one of my children and it’s hard to witness.

After a hard morning of school, we left Idaho around 11:30 heading for Utah. We were in the car for about seven hours, but no one seemed to mind. About an hour from our RV park we stopped at a Target and loaded up on groceries. We were able to put the cold items in the fridge and freezer and then stopped by a Chick Fil A to grab a quick dinner. We haven’t eaten fast food too much this trip, but tonight was necessary.

We made it to our campsite and after we did the required outside maintenance I went inside to find that the fridge door had come opened during our drive and Greek yogurt was all over the floor! Worse than that, an avocado had rolled onto the floor. It was dark so I didn’t see the avocado and when I extended the slide it was squished sending green goo everywhere. Luckily, we laughed about it, cleaned it up, and settled in for the night.

We are looking forward to exploring Utah tomorrow. We are in the Park City area for the next week so if you have any suggestions, please send them my way!

Until next time…

Sarah