We spent the past 9 days up in Soda Springs. The road was finally given the "all clear" with the following guidance.
- "The road is muddy and is capable of swallowing up 3/4 tun pickup trucks. A few were."
- "If you get stuck, be prepared to walk in. there is no one available to help you get unstuck."
- "A few oil pans have suffered as a result of poor judgement and even poorer ground clearance."
Given the above guidance, we were a bit worried that our Lexus wouldn't make it into camp. We considered buying a new SUV (Tahoe or Sequoia) with more ground clearance and overall girth the day before heading up, JUST to increase our chances of getting in. That's how bad Lina wanted to get into Soda Springs. After a 36hr. scramble at various dealerships, we decide to save our pennies and rely on my extraordinary off-road driving skills to get us in. It was dicey in some spots, exhilarating in others and down right gnarly in a few. Needless to say (this post as evidence) we made it in - issue free, which is more than we can say for the AT&T truck which needed a backhoe to pull it out.
The river was at a massive scale...certainly the highest I've seen it; and according to Lina, the highest in her relatively recent memory. We failed to capture photos as we were rarely without kid in toe and preferred to stay away from the usual vantage points; some which typically are dry and accessible to walk on were now under water.
**We'll add some photos to this post, once others contribute them**
The weather couldn't have been better, warm mornings and cool nights.
The kids would wake up around 6:30am and play in their PJs until about 9am, which is when we'd gear up for our morning "Bear Hunt" (one of the kids favorite books - We're Going On a Bear Hunt). The "Bear Hunt" would lead us down through camp, over snow banks, across decks and past cabins until finally reaching a massive (by kid's measurement) puddle on the road at the base of the meadow. Let the rock throwing and foot splashing begin!
Adding to the fun, there were still a few rather large piles of snow scattered around camp. Miles and Amelia would climb, slide, kick, toss, poke and taste snow.On our first morning in camp, we stumbled upon a little critter. We heard some squeaking and thought, at first, it was coming from a baby squirrel or chipmunk up in the Big House rafters or a nearby tree. We were surprised to see, laying on the Big House deck a small bat. Sean (caretaker), squeamishly, covered the bat with a paint can until it could be properly placed into some nearby and out of the way buck brush.
It was wonderful to watch Miles and Amelia tromp around together. All week long, best friends and Miles took such good care of his sister. He was quick to make sure Amelia got to do everything he did.
Miles and Amelia on the "buggy".On Sunday( day two), our friends and Amelia's Godparents Sean and Christine Carmichael and kids came in for the 4th of July and stayed a few days past. It was a great visit and the kids as well as the parents had a great time playing together. Sean and Christine's kids (Loren and Nicky) are so wonderful to Miles and Amelia. They played and showered them with attention all day/every day. One very special moment and one which we think speaks volumes of how sweet their kids are was when Nicky helped calm Miles during a splinter extraction by Doctor Dad. Miles had been playing on the deck and somehow got a splinter. It was a pretty severe one. The splinter was long, think, crossed the whole width of his thumb. It was almost poking through the skin at the spot where it would exit. Miles was shaken. I got a headlamp, introduced myself to Miles as "Doctor Daddy", introduced Christine as my helpful assistant "Nurse Christine" and told Miles we were going to pull the splinter out. Nicky, who had followed Miles in from the deck, kept Miles calm. Nicky kept coaching Miles - "Miles look at me. Don't look at your finger. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, now breathe out. Take a deep breath and breathe out. Look at me. Take a deep breath....". Nicky kept pulling Miles attention away from what I was doing and in that he kept him calm and collected. It was a big help and we thanked Nicky several times.
Sean and I decided to clean out the pool so the kids could swim in it. Rather than fill it to the top, we only filled it high enough to cover 3/4 of the pool bottom (which is angled). This way the kids could wade in to the deep end or splash around in the shallow end.
When not in the pool, we'd escape from the heat by going down to the lake to wade, kayak and play with some Cedar kids.
We has two partly cloudy days, with only one of those raining for about 60mins; a welcome reprieve from the sun. After the rain, Miles and Amelia went out on the deck to jump in puddles which collected around the deck; the biggest in a trap used to cover furniture.
...playing with water in the pool, at the lake, on the deck, as a snow mound or mud puddle, you'd think that was enough...you would be wrong. Miles and Amelia found and feel in love with the water spigot in the meadow. Is it a drinking fountain? Is it a sprinkler? Yes, Yes.
The End!
