24 Years Together

We didn't make big plans for our Anniversary this year, because we were both going to be busy on our actual Anniversary weekend, but then plans changed, and we ended up celebrating twice, which was magical! For our 24th Anniversary, I present 24 photos of how we casually celebrated quite contentedly!

The first weekend of April, the weekend prior to our actual Anniversary, we went camping down the Salmon River by Panther Creek. We took the trailer and camped right along the creek. It was absolutely beautiful weather, and we enjoyed our overnight trip tremendously! 

After we arrived on Saturday afternoon, we drove about 5 miles up the canyon, hillside, and over the ridge to reach Panther Creek Hot Springs. I read that the best time to go would be the springtime when the hot spring source would be mixed with the spring water runoff to make the water a more soakable temperature, which is why we decided it would be a good spot for our April Anniversary destination this year. Neither of us had been there before, and we were both happily surprised about how easy it was to access. There's a pullout for parking, and we walked about half a mile to find the hot water source that comes right out of the rocky hillside. The hot water trickles down the rocks and flows into a stream called "Big Creek". There used to be a hot pool right on the rocky hillside, but the wildfire there about 10 years ago washed it out. We walked downstream from the source for about another 3/4 of a mile and found a man-made small dam with a large soakable pool that we sat in for a long time. It was quite lovely!  

The hot water source as seen from the access road above. 

Where the hot water comes from

Part of the rubble on the hillside around the water source

It flows down the hillside to this stream "Big Creek"

The dammed creek created a bit of a waterfall

The dammed edge next to the rocky wall
created a nice soaking pool.

After we soaked, we drove back out, enjoying the views on the drive. We changed our clothes into dry ones when we got back to the trailer, and then we drove down along the Salmon River to eat dinner at the Ram's Head restaurant. 

On Sunday morning, we drove back up to the hot springs, and soaked in a few smaller pools that are much closer to the hot water source. We decided we liked the deeper pool further downstream that we'd soaked in the previous evening more, but this was a much shorter walk to reach! After soaking that morning, we relaxed back at the trailer for a while before heading back home. It was a wonderful first camping experience for this year.

The following weekend, our actual anniversary weekend, I took one of our boys to a Dr. appointment in Idaho Falls on Friday, and then Josh was scheduled to drive an all-day track meet in Montana on Saturday, and I was going to the track meet with my friend Whitney to watch Kanyon and her son Sean. However, after the track team left early that morning, they received word that the track meet in Hamilton was cancelled due to snow. Josh texted me after they reached the top of Lost Trail Pass that they were on their way back. Whitney and I hadn't even left yet, thankfully. Josh and I we decided we could make last-minute plans after all for our anniversary. I looked at several options that were all unavailable, and ended up renting a little AirBnB cabin near Darby, Montana. After Josh got home later that morning, we left for our spur-of-the-moment trip. 

We drove up to Hamilton for a late lunch at Nap's Grill, and walked around and shopped at some of the cute stores downtown, and then we drove back to Darby and checked into the super cute cabin!

We had both packed books, and we basically sat and laid around all that evening and the next morning reading. The cabin was in a quiet, remote neighborhood. All the views from the windows were gorgeous with the surrounding trees, and it started snowing that evening, which was so inviting. It felt so cozy inside, and it was truly a magical experience. Josh dreams of one day owning a mountain cabin, so he was especially happy. 

We woke up the next morning to a soft blanket of snow outside. We slept in, and lounged around all morning. We made our own breakfast in the cute, tiny kitchen and then stayed as long as possible before we needed to check out. 

For days, weeks, and months afterward, we both reflected on how much we enjoyed this anniversary tremendously--it was so good for both of us to have unstructured downtime in the middle of a busy spring. We realize that the older we get, the less we need in order to have a pleasant time away, and this weekend was truly the perfect getaway!