June 2020 - Week 4

SUNDAY - Happy Father's Day to Josh! I surprised him with new sleeping bags and his current favorite soda: Dr. Pepper/Cream Soda. He cooked steak on the grill for dinner, and we ate outside at Ed & Kathy's for the first time this summer. It was delicious! Josh taught the lesson at home church (I made him, since he made me teach the lesson on Mother's Day). We watched a video and he discussed some of this week's lesson from Come Follow Me and then he had me read a story that connected it all and also tied it to Father's Day. It was a great lesson! He wanted to get away to relax after working nonstop for 2 weeks, so we decided to go jeeping/tent camping to the Deer Gulch access area again, but in a  slightly different spot. We sat by the river for a while; he read and I journaled. Thankfully the geese weren't around like they were when we went camping there for Mother's Day. We had a memorable, interesting night together! 

MONDAY - We both slept good in the tent, and then packed up everything in the morning and drove the jeep home through back country. We went on Hat Springs Road, drove past his grandparents' old ranch, drove to Sheephorn Lookout and walked around for a bit (by the way, the BEST view from an outhouse is at that lookout!), and then came out on Iron Creek Road. It was a pretty drive that's not ridden on very much. It took us about 3 hours to get home (the campsite is only a half hour from our house along the highway). About an hour after I got home, I drove to town to meet up with John Franson's sister. I rode with her and her family down to Corn Creek, and then I shuttled their van for them back to Salmon while they went on a river trip down the Salmon.

TUESDAY - I worked on the deck for the bulk of the day. I got some stuff that helps lift paint and sprayed it on the two boards closest to the house and also on the steps, where the paint application was the hardest to remove. It sat for an hour, then I began the process of scraping it. It was SO hot outside, so I held an umbrella for shade with one hand, and scraped with the other hand. I worked for over an hour. Some of it came off quickly, but there were a couple of spots that it was really hard to peel off and I couldn't get it all. I came inside all afternoon since it was too hot to work, and after the sun passed the house and I had the shade of the house to cover me, I worked on the deck again. Now that the deck was all scraped as best as I could get it, I began the process of sanding using the electric sanders that we borrowed from our friend Phil. I sanded one quarter of the deck, and it looked so good!  

WEDNESDAY - Josh has never been to Riggins or seen where the Salmon River comes out of the wilderness, so when John Franson's sister asked if we could shuttle her car for her from Salmon to Riggins, we accepted the invitation! I rode with her from Salmon to Corn Creek on Monday, then drove the van back to our house that night. On Wednesday morning, Josh and I started our trip to Riggins. I drove the 12-seater van, and he followed behind me on his motorcycle. The motorcycle only has a 3-gallon fuel tank, so we had to stop every hour or two, which was good for him to keep moving his legs, too. We stopped in Challis and Stanley, and we ate our sandwich lunch along the side of the road while we were stopped for 15 minutes due to construction. My favorite stop of the day was at Pine Flats campground between Lowman and Garden Valley. We walked for about a half mile on a trail and soaked in some hot springs right next to the river. We'd never been there before, but it was nice! There were several pools and waterfalls over rocks and it wasn't very busy. It was a relaxing stop in the middle of our long drive. We changed, hiked back to the campground, and drove on, stopping in Garden Valley, Cascade, and New Meadows for gas. When we got to Riggins, we checked into the motel, then drove the van down the river road. It wasn't very busy, and a rainstorm had recently blown through within the hour, because the gravel road was wet, which helped it not be so dusty. It was probably the best conditions I've ever driven in on that road! I rode with Josh on the motorbike back to Riggins, and watched the sun set behind the mountains and saw the reflection on the river as we drove which was amazing! When we got back to the hotel, we decided to walk down the street to dinner instead of drive, since Josh's butt was so sore from riding all day! We ate at a cute hamburger joint and walked to a nearby grocery store to get some snacks and drinks for the morning. Our hotel room was pretty cheap, but thankfully it had A/C, and we laid in bed the rest of the night, with the cool air blowing on us, grateful for the day's journey in good weather conditions. 

Leaving our driveway

Stanley is so beautiful with the Salmon River
and the looking Sawtooth Mountains!

Josh is in a pool above me--I didn't hike
up the slippery rocks to get in that one.

Can you spot Josh?!

We made it to Carey Creek on the other end of the Salmon River!

THURSDAY - We left the hotel in Riggins about 9am. We drove north to Grangeville, Kooskia, and then east towards Lolo Pass in Montana. It was such a beautiful drive--not a lot of traffic, the MPH was a little slower, and the surrounding mountains and rivers were so scenic! We stopped about halfway between Kooskia and Lolo at the Jeremiah Johnson Hot Springs. We walked across the bridge that connects the highway to the trail, and followed a mile-long trail to the springs. We stopped along the trail and ate our lunch on the way. It was a pretty hike! We passed several people on the hike and when we reached the springs, there was only one other couple soaking. Josh and I had never been there before, but it's known for people soaking nude, and that couple certainly was, so we followed suit! ;) We laid in a shallow pool by the river and relaxed, soaking up the sun's rays and listening to the cascading water. After a while, the other couple left and we had the place completely to ourselves...for about five minutes! Then a family with 3 young children came, and that was a bit awkward, so we decided to get dressed and leave. Thankfully, Josh had his towel close by, so he was able to keep it PG while he got out to get mine (which was a bit further away on some rocks!). We got dressed and hiked back out and continued on our way. We both loved that hot springs and it was a wonderful stop to get our legs moving and help with our butt cramps from sitting on the motorbike for so long! We made a few more stops for gas at Lochsa Lodge, the Travelers Rest State Park, Hamilton, and Lost Trail Pass. We stopped for dinner in Gibbonsville at the River's Edge and got some of our favorite pizza there. By this point, even with all the stops, our butts were so saddle sore and we were grateful for a longer break. It was a yummy dinner, and just what we needed to finish our drive home. We'd covered 700 miles in 2 days and saw so much beautiful country! Going on a day ride on the motorcycle with Josh was something I'd dreamed about for years and I'm so glad we made it happen! We were sore for a few days, Josh had a sunburned head, and I had sunburned arms and chest, but we both decided it was totally worth it!

See where my clothes were in the background? That's where
my towel was, too!! Not the brightest move I've ever made...

FRIDAY - For the first time in my adult life, I had my carpets professionally shampooed! I got the living room and the sitting area of the master bedroom done. Josh and Micah helped me move the couches and furniture out of the living room the night before and Josh cleaned his stuff off the floor in our bedroom, too. The appointment was for 9am, and the plan was for me to move the couch in our bedroom after Josh went to work in the morning because he always sits on it to put his shoes on. However, when he left, I fell back asleep and I was jolted awake at 8:45 when I heard her van pull up! I quickly put on my nightshirt, answered the door, and showed her what I wanted and then got in the shower. Michelle and her employee moved my bedroom couch for me, which was so nice! The floor looked so much better when they were done! We've lived in this house for 10 years and it needed to be done desperately! She was only there about an hour, and I was so impressed how quick it was for them for how nice the floor looked afterwards. I want to do the other bedrooms next summer. After they left, the carpets weren't supposed to be walked on for a while, so I went outside to work on the deck. I sprayed the paint remover stuff on the boards that are under the outer railings and worked on scraping it off in the afternoon as Kanyon mowed. Josh and the boys helped me take off the patio furniture and BBQ grills from the deck, too.

SATURDAY - I got up and sanded another quarter of the deck: halfway done with the floor portion! When Josh came home from work, we got ready for camping at Jefferson Lake on Sunday, and then we went to his Grandma's house with Jonah to mow her lawn and get some boxes moved for her. Josh and I looked at our schedule and the weather forecast for the next week, and we realized we needed to finish sanding the deck that same day in order to have enough time and good weather days for the staining. So...I finished sanding the last 2 sections which took over 2 hours, and then we went to town, purchased stain to be ready for next week, and borrowed Phil & Darcy's power washer. When we got home, Josh power washed the deck, railings, and steps. It looked SO good! I hated this deck project profusely, but the transformation was definitely fulfilling!

Haha! Doesn't Josh look THRILLED that
we're accidentally wearing matching shirts?!