It’s been spring where we live for quite a while now. The grass is quite green by now, the meadowlarks sing like crazy, and often the weather is mild. Yet just 1 1/2 hours’ drive up into the mountains, our friends there still have 2 solid feet of snow on the ground! To escape from it, they like to drive farther north yet, up to Riggins, which is situated in a canyon that is a hot spot…boiling in summer, of course, but first every spring with early strawberries, warm weather, and no snow. It’s quite a unique place.
For our last outing a while before the Stay at Home order happened, it was a perfect one. Elsie came along for the ride; we drove back along the river to one of the sandy beaches where there are camp sites. The canyon is pretty narrow here, with immense rock walls on both sides. These walls trap the sun – you would fry in the summertime, but in the early spring it sure feels good!
The children got to run around without coats on, dig in the sand and dirt, and trot along with their daddies.
Betsy was content with her toys in the shade. This child is going to sunburn so easily!
Our friend Luke brought along his handcrafted bow and arrows. Much of the afternoon was spent shooting at a tossed pizza box. Eventually they made another makeshift bow of baler twine and bent sticks, so more than one person could practice their archery skills.
The rest of us visited around the fire, and after a while we all had a hot dog roast. I made an improvised seat and table for Davy, which worked quite well. Next time I will bring marshmallows!
As the sun went down, the shadows crept farther into the canyon, and we put on jackets. A bald eagle flew lazily past about halfway up the rock wall. Betsy napped all bundled up in her seat.
The ride home was a long one, since Davy was tired and out of sorts, Betsy had napped too recently to sleep again…and Elsie was wet from a water bottle feud she started. But it had been a perfect day, and we certainly look forward to more leisurely afternoons spent that way in the future. During the colder weather, Riggins is a good place to go – going home to the snow may be a shock for our friends, but at least they get a break from it while there. As it gets hotter, there are always pine-shaded, cool mountain lakes nearby. The main thing is to make it happen…but I’m going to put some effort into it once we can go out again, because it’s so worth it.
The Jolly Jumble 