Courtney's Blog July 27th, Day 22 of the Epic McFarland Journey!

On our way out of Oregon, we head to a series of waterfalls that Adam had been to during one of his business trips. There is one large waterfall that has a park and some hiking trails. We see how busy the park is, because it is Sunday, and realize we may not be able to get a parking spot. God was good as usual, and we got a pretty nice spot. We walked to the bottom of the falls and it was gorgeous. Abby told me it beat everything else we've seen thus far and was her new favorite site. (wait till she sees Niagara!)

We decide to hike up the first path to get to a bridge half way through the waterfall. It is a short hike and the kids fight the entire way. Gideon wants to be the yeader (leader) and he is going too slow for Abby who gives him the occasional shoulder poke to speed up. Gideon also got pebbles in his shoe. You know where this is going, right?

We get to the bridge and it's gorgeous! We stand right in the center of the bridge, suspended in air in front of this waterfall. Gideon looks down and sees the pennies in the water.....so, again, you know where this is going. This time, he wished "God, please give me an instrument to make music". A little less specific this time, but still, a mixture of santa and prayer...

We look at the second 1 mile steep trail to the top of the waterfall. Adam tells us that he had trouble doing it last time, so we decide to pass on it this time. We hike back down, stop by the gift shop, use the restrooms and we're off!

Leaving the park we saw a lot of other small waterfalls that were just as pretty despite their size. We head into Idaho.

I know how you're picturing Idaho. It's the same way I pictured it. A vast farmland with tractors and a farmer in over-alls with wheat in his teeth. It is, and is NOT that. There are these beautiful rolling fields that look like they were drawn in a cartoon movie because they are so perfectly shaped. The colors are deep yellows and greens which bounce off the bright blue sky. And those clouds. They're back. All around gorgeous scenery. The "vast" part, though? True. Miles and miles of no one and nothing. Except other cars.....

Adam is getting a bit.....of cabin fever... Let's just say, if he's not driving, he is immensely bored. This leads to strange outbursts. When we were making our way through the vast open expanses of Idaho, Adam decides to have some fun with the truckers. Everytime you pass a trucker, they look down at you to see if they can see girl boobs. At least, that's what I assume. Well, Adam decides to give them a surprise. He is in the passenger seat. Everytime we pass a trucker, he lifts his t-shirt up and presses his slightly hairy nipple against the window for the trucker's viewing pleasure. After awhile, I think the truckers started warning eachother because they stopped looking. Don't worry, the kids were both asleep. Anyways, we start to pass this car of teenagers and Adam breaks his pattern and shows his nipple to them too. The look on the girls face...I cannot begin to explain the horror. They laughed and tried to shake the traumatic picture out of their heads. They let us pass them. We move quickly to avoid having to pass them again.

We drive onward towards our hotel and occasionally pull over to take more pictures of the landscape. The kids sleep through most of the afternoon. Eventually, we come upon a "Historic Overlook" which is a pull-off on the road where you can learn a little about the history of the area, and take some nice pictures. We decide to stop and see. The kids waited in the car while Adam and I explored a bit and read the signs. As I finish reading a sign, I look up. The teenagers are here. I avoid Adam who is far away from me at this point. I know they'll recognize him, but hopefully not me. Or maybe they won't recognize him with his shirt on? I turn and make conversation with a little girl to avoid making eye contact with any of these teenagers. Adam walks up to me. I make him aware of the situation and we both power walk back to the car as fast as possible without looking suspicious. The teenagers didn't seem to notice, but who knows. What would they have said anyways? "Hey man, stop showing your nipple to people" We race out of there and to the hotel...

Summary:

Waterfalls are beautiful, Idaho is not what you pictured, hopefully Adam learned a lesson.

Ended the Day at the Springhill Suites, Boise, ID

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