Our Own Private Idaho

July in Arizona is mis-er-a-ble. It's terrible. The heat is creeping up the thermometer and the monsoon season is starting in as well. Trust me when I say that 110 degrees is not fun - but add humidity to it and it's downright horrible! We decided to spend the 4th of July away from Arizona and in much, much, much cooler surroundings.

So, in continuing with traditions past, we escaped and went to Idaho - Hailey, Idaho to be exact. We packed up the kids and left to visit Aunt Mindy, Uncle Jason and all of their kids. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we also had a stowaway in our car. We took my older sister's, Jenny, youngest boy, Seth, with us too. We set off for Idaho and left the 113 degree heat that day at 2 in the afternoon, anticipating to get to at least Beaver, Utah (about 1/2 way) that night. I was hoping to get all the way to Salt Lake City. This would make just a short 4 hour drive the next day.

We stopped in Page, Arizona to fill up with gas and grab a bite to eat. It was a much longer stop than we anticipated. The kids were thirsty and drank quite a bit. Caroline used the bathroom a couple of times during that stop. She was good to go. Owen and Seth made their respective pit stops and they were now good to go.

Somewhere between Kanab and Beaver, Owen piped up from the backseat and said, "Hey Mom, when we get to the hotel or Grandma Grimsley's house I'll go to the bathroom then." I asked him if he could hold it another 20 minutes and we would be able to let him out and use the potty. He assured me he could. As Adam was driving along, in the dark by this time, we were noticing the number of deer on the side of the road. This slowed us down considerably. It took us much longer to get to Beaver than the anticipated 20-30 minutes. In the meantime, Owen fell asleep in the car. Needless to say, a little boy who has had a lot to drink and who has fall asleep equals empty bladder by the time we stopped. I felt so bad - it was totally my fault. I should've stopped when he made the first comment. LESSON LEARNED.

We got to Beaver about 1130 at night. Adam and I had discussed and decided to stay the night in Beaver. What's the ole saying, the best laid plans......yada, yada, yada. We pulled into Beaver and found a hotel. There was a sign taped to the door that read NO VACANCIES! We found another hotel and, yet again, there was a sign taped to the door - NO VACANCIES. At this point in time, not knowing whether we were going or staying, we decided to fill up with gas.

We found a third hotel and there was no sign! We're in luck, or so I thought. Adam got out and went into the office. I waited in the car with the kids. After seeing Adam through the office window I could tell he was debating a matter. I got out of the car and headed in. He told me the good news was they had 1 room left. The bad news it was 1 queen size bed and a smoking room. I looked at Adam and said, "We're going to Salt Lake."

Adam and I debated stopping in Fillmore, just 45 minutes up the road. By this time it was 1230 am on the 2nd of July. After much discussion it was determined that by the time we got to Fillmore (assuming they had a room available) got checked in, settled down and to sleep, we were still looking at the time being 3 am. Instead, Adam called his mom and told her we were coming all the way to Salt Lake. By the time we got there, the kids on the couch, a load of laundry going (all the pee clothes and the seat cover to Owen's booster seat), and to bed, it was around 330 or 345 in the morning. This was much, much, much better than sleeping in Fillmore.

When we awoke later that morning, and got everything back together and loaded, we left Salt Lake and headed to Hailey around 1130. We arrived in Hailey about 330. We let the kids play for a while and they were all excited to see one another. Later that night, Jason, Mindy, Adam and I all went to see Peter Cetera in concert. Mr. Cetera lives in Hailey, and this is his very first concert he has done there in the 20+ years he lived there! Mindy and I were in heaven! We sat next to one another and had a great time singing all the words to all of his songs.

It was a long day and night, but so worth it. We had so much fun just hanging out, going to the antique fair (it is the best ever!) eating yummy food and seeing one another.

Oh yeah, did I mention that we had brought our bikes with us?! We went for bike rides - that was so much fun - not much exercise involved, but fun anyway. Adam had a blast going on some of the mountain biking trails there in Hailey. He even rode down a couple of the ski runs from Baldy there at the Sun Valley ski resort.

The weather was to die for, especially folks like us coming from 113 degrees. On the 4th of July, it was 65.....for the high!!!!!! It was absolutely refreshing and marvelous. I tried to soak as much of it up as possible fully knowing that I would be headed for the nasty triple digits when we got home. We huddled around under blankets on the 4th and watched the fireworks from Mindy and Jason's front yard. That was great. Howie slept through everything and not one boom or explosion in the sky woke that sound little sleeper up.

We had such a wonderful time. I can't wait to go again next year. So many memories made and such great hostesses. I miss them already but, always look forward to the next time.

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