Friends, Folks, and Snowy Soaks

Leadore School District schedules their spring break in such an unusual way: instead of having a full week off like Salmon and West J both do, they split it into 2 small breaks. They have 2 days off the first week of March, and 2 days off surrounding the Easter holiday weekend. I didn't have to work on Wednesday or Thursday the first week of March as a result--but it was so weird having a "Spring Break" when it wasn't even spring yet! 

Josh had some cemetery training meetings in Idaho Falls that same week on Wednesday, so I drove down with him. The roads were pretty bad due to recent snow falls and wind blowing drifts across the road, especially from Sign City to Idaho Falls. We saw a few slide-offs on the freeway, but thankfully we made it to the meetings okay, just 15 minutes later than our intended arrival time due to the road conditions. I dropped him off at the meeting location, then I drove to Barnes & Noble across town and  sat & blogged for 2 hours, then I took myself out to lunch at CupBop, and went to a matinee at the movie theater. I picked him up right after his meetings ended that afternoon.

From there, we drove to Utah to visit my parents and spend the night with them. My mom had set the table with her finest china, and had made a lovely dinner of poppyseed chicken, salad, fruit, and rolls for us. It was nice! My dad was in a good mood, and we sat around the table (just the 4 of us), talking and laughing for quite some time. After dinner, mom played Scrabble with Josh and I on a giant board that Bryce and Tawna got her for Christmas. It was a nice, low-key evening. 

On Thursday morning, we drove to North Ogden to visit Amanda and Ryan. Amanda cut and colored my hair (it had been 3 months since I last got it done), and she trimmed the sides of Josh's hair too (leaving his curly locks in the back). Ryan wasn't feeling well: he contracted C. Dif again, so he had an upset stomach with diarrhea that week. He was on medication to help, but he stayed in bed the whole time we were there. We took Amanda out to lunch at Freddy's, and on the drive back to her house, she showed us where Ryan's parents were building a house and where her mom's new apartment is. It was so nice to spend some time one-on-one with her. Shortly after lunch, we said goodbye and Josh and I headed back to Idaho.

On Thursday evening, we had reservations at a commercial hot spring in southeast Idaho called Maple Grove. Northern Utah and Southern Idaho had gotten hammered with TONS of snow from recent snowstorms. They received so much snow that week alone that the 3-mile road to access Maple Grove was actually inaccessible on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thankfully, it was plowed on Thursday, but was only a single lane to get there. It could only be reached with a 4WD or AWD vehicle. Thankfully, we'd driven the Acadia, and with Josh's driving, we made it there okay. 

It was a lovely, small hot spring resort right along the Bear River and next to a mountain. It was absolutely beautiful and SO peaceful! The only people soaking were people staying in one of the 7 on-site lodging options. Winter accommodations there include 3 stone houses, 2 yurts, 1 cabin, and a trailer parking spot. We stayed in one of the stone houses, but had to park a little ways away due to the lack of plowing onsite. They let us use large sleds to carry stuff from our vehicle to the lodging. The room was SO nice and cozy, with gorgeous decorations, and had a little wood stove in it to keep us warm. The only downside was that the only bathroom onsite was at the lodge, which was a couple hundred yards away across narrow snow-packed trails from our lodging accommodations. 

The resort has 6 different soaking pools ranging in temperatures from 98 degrees to 108 degrees. We soaked in 3 of them while we were there, and soaked 3 different times: that afternoon, in the middle of the night, and the next morning. Even though the amount of people was limited, I met someone there that was originally from Tremonton who had my dad for a teacher when he was a teenager, and I know his older siblings, so that was a fun surprise. Another fun surprise was the appearance of wild turkeys that roam the place. We watched them walk around the snow-packed trails while we were soaking in the hot pools, which was a first!

Thursday evening soak

Friday morning soak amidst the snowfall

On Friday morning, it continued to snow again, and the resort didn't have access to a plow. Josh drove like a boss on the 2 inches of fresh snow on the steep, narrow, snow-covered road that leads to/from the resort, and blazed a trail for the people after us who were getting ready to leave, but who were freaking out about the drive (all of which were from Salt Lake--one couple had gotten their truck stuck the previous day when we were checking in and one lady was in a big Sprinter van and she couldn't back up without help). After we got back to the highway, the roads were considerably better coming home on Friday than they had been on our trip down on Wednesday. It was a great way to spend my "first" Spring Break: visiting my parents, seeing my best friend, and spending time with the love of my life soaking in some amazing hot springs while snow fell around us!