Memorial Weekend 2010

 

Normally for this weekend we usually take off for our first camping trip of the year. This year however we decided to go to Arco to visit some very good friends of ours. We headed out Friday night after work and as we drove down and looked at the mountains we figured we made the right choice to not go camping this year because from what we could see the mountains were either getting snow or rain.
So our friends had some fun activities planned for us and we couldn't hardly wait to get started. Saturday started with a hike up to the Natural Arch (which is located just a short drive behind their home). It was a good hike to start the year off. I was a little nervous taking Brooke because I didn't want to have to carry her, but she did really well and when she wanted a piggy back ride there were lots of kids that wanted to take her, so it worked out really well for me. Oh and as a side note this year on our hike we got SNOWED on, of course we can never go on a hike without having the weather be nasty!!

The kids at the start of the hike.

Doesn't she look HAPPY!

The Natural Arch

After the hike we went to the EBR-1 museum. This is out by the INL and Arco was the first city powered by atomic power/energy. This was a really neat little museum. The kids enjoyed seeing all the old instruments that were used in the early 1900's.
On Sunday we went to the Mackay mine hill and drove all around looking at how the miners lived and worked. I really loved this ride, not only was it beautiful, but I realized there is no way I could ever work in a mine. They had some old buildings you could go into, however they weren't very safe. We even saw the old Anderson Family Home Site. I was kind of excited to see that even though I'm sure there is no relation. But they still have the Anderson cabin that is in good shape there. They say the cabin was used for the newlyweds of the family.

The mine entrance

The kids inside the mine.

The mine tunnel.

The kids at one of the structures.

Just a beautiful view.

Anderson cabin.

Monday it was time to pack up and come home. But we had promised the kids we would take them to the Shoshone Ice Caves. So we decided to take a different route home to see the Ice Caves. The caves were really neat and the kids really enjoyed them. It was only 30 degrees inside the cave so the kids were glad we make them bring their sweatshirts, however at the end of the cave Brooke started complaining of being cold, but she still did good.

The kids at Shoshone Ice Caves, don't they looked thrilled.

It was a great weekend we got to visit some great people and go do some exploring that we never would have done if it wouldn't have been for our friends. Oh and I even found my 300th geocache this weekend!!