Red River Hot Springs

This weekend we met up with Grandpa Claude, Aunt Cassy, Uncle Tahoe, Lola and Amelia for an adventure at Red River Hot Springs in Elk City, Idaho. We woke up at 6:30am and were on the road with coffee in hand at 8am. It was a beautiful sunny day, the kids napped and woke up cheerful as we passed by farms and fields of green and bright yellow. The further we got away from home the more relaxed we became. Every bus we passed the little man shouted out "cool bus!" aka 'school bus'. We met up with Grandpa Claude in Grangeville and had lunch at the Mexican restaurant, picked up a few last items at the grocery store then went on our way to the "resort". Which was an amazing drive down Mount Idaho, winding around and following Clearwater river which was packed with fishermen and kayakers. We stopped once to get a couple of pictures and take a peek through Dad's binoculars. Our first order of business, after getting settled in our room was to go swimming in the pool. The kids loved it, Adrian felt 10 years younger and I was just completely happy. While we were swimming Dad went in search of where we would do some exploring later on with the kids. When he got back we set up the BBQ next to the pool and started dinner which was steaks and pasta salad with chocolate chip cookies for dessert. The lodge ran the generator for a few hours in the morning and a few ate night so it was like camping in a very amazing tent. We were the only guests there and we really enjoyed it. After we got back up to the room Cassy, Tahoe and the cousins showed up! It really got exciting then. Shamus was so excited to play with the girls. That night after the kids went to bed Grandpa stayed with the kids in the room and we four went down to the pool and hot tub for a night dip. It was really nice to know the kids were safe and it felt like we were on a double date. Something we have not done in a long time. Thanks Grandpa! The next morning, Grandpa made camp coffee, we ate cereal and then went swimming again with all the kids and Grandpa, too. Afterwards, we all got ready and went to check out the spot Grandpa picked out for us to do some gold panning. Cassy, Tahoe and Lola biked down with Amelia and Shamus in the bike trailer. We didn't find any gold but the mosquito's found us. We had fun playing in the creek though. After gold panning, we went up to the lodge and made sandwiches for lunch then put the kids to bed for naps. Cass and I cleaned up the room then napped ourselves. The men went out and hiked a couple of miles through deep forest to see the old mining mill of Elk City. When they got back the kids were just starting to wake up. There is an old Cabin that was probably built in the early part of the 1900's, that we went to explore. We found a couple of mushrooms and a penny from 1953. We went swimming again and then grilled burgers for dinner, pool side. We also helped out some fellow swimmers who accidentally locked their keys in their car and made new friends. We decided to start a fire and roast our marshmellow's and have s'mores (which I am craving as I write this story). Then headed in for the night. The next morning we got packed up and decided to head in to Elk City for fathers day breakfast. Unfortunately, there was only one restaurant/gas station/mecanic shop open and we decided to get drinks and snacks for the hour long drive back to Grangeville where we had breakfast and enjoyed our last moments together. It was so great to be able to make these memories, we love you and can't wait to do it all over again.