White Water Rafting the Salmon River- DUCKY style

On day 2 in Sun Valley we went white water rafting!  I've wanted to do this my whole life so I was really excited and nervous.  We dropped the kids of at a local daycare that they had a blast at (picture a million toys inside and out!) and headed back up to Stanley to the White Cloud Rafting Co.  We had some awesome guides and a TON of fun!

The Crew!!! 

All decked out in our life jackets and sunscreen!

Oh yeah, these SISTAHS rock!!!

Waterproof camera, check!

Plenty of sunscreen, check, check!!!

Guide bus ready to go!

We were a brave bunch and with the suggestion from Dad decided to take the river on "ducky style"  {inflatable kayaks!!!} 

We were NeRvOuS at first but we had such a blast! 

Mom and Dad- are the first to put in and practice their synchronized strokes! 

Nick and Nickie- ready to take on whatever this river throws at them!!!

{and that would soon be a LOT of water!}

Chelsae- getting used to her paddles and enjoying the ride

It didn't take long before that trickster of a dad started a water fight! 

Shawnae- Posing with grace

Chris had to be "rescued" by the raft 2X!!! 

The first time was after the first class III rapid that we went through when Chels ran into him with her ducky and knocked him out.  The second time was more serious when he literally ran into a huge rock in the middle of the last class III and WRAPPED his kayak COMPLETELY AROUND THE ROCK!!!  Luckily he was able to duck his head under the water to release his foot which was trapped between the kayak and the rock and then he was swept downstream to the river bank where he was able to get on a raft.

Let me tell you, my heart was pounding as I came upon the scene not knowing at first if someone was stuck under that kayak or not!  Then I saw Chris up ahead sitting on the side and I was instantly relieved!  Two of the guides (and Nick) tried to get the ducky off the rock but they couldn't so they were going to have to go back later that night with special equipment to dislodge it!  Chris was a trooper and rode the rest of the way in one of the rafts.

Jump Rock

I was bound and determined to take a jump off this rock into the refreshing (frigid) water!  Mom and Chels also jumped off and then we got Chris to do it too (just by egging him on a little!) 

We took a break at Jump Rock for anyone who wanted to jump in and also to have a snack of some trail mix and water.  There was a very clever and adorable chipmunk who liked eating our trailmix and apparently knows just the place to be because the guides says that he "dines" with every group!

This is me- can you tell how much fun I'm having???

Mom and dad go through some rough rapids in their tandem kayak

We all survived!!!

A BIG THANKS to mom and dad Graf for planning this trip for all of us!

Red Fish Lake = H.E.A.V.E.N. in Idaho!

I don't know how I've lived in Idaho for as many years as I have and I've never gone to

Red Fish Lake

but I never plan on having another year go by without a visit to this beautiful lake and lodge!!! 

After our day of "blood, sweat and tears" on Mt. Borah we enjoyed a fabulous day of rest!!!  Nick and Nickie (and Shawnae, Lexi and Chloe) stayed at our house and we spent the day snoozing, eating, playing games, and basically enjoying being back in civilization and on FLAT GROUND!

Monday we all met up again and headed up to Stanley for a gorgeous summer afternoon of swimming and relaxing at Red Fish.  I don't know what I was expecting but it was nothing like what it was!  There is a huge, beautiful lodgpole marina with covered cabana type picnic areas and tons of docks to jump off from.  The water is crystal clear near the beach (which, might I add , meets my approval for good quality sand- for a lake!)  The water is shallow until the dock area which means that it is PERFECT for the kidlets to play in and then it drops off, which is perfect for ME to jump into!  The deeper water is the awesome aqua green color and the backdrop is the icing on the cake! See for yourself!:

This view is from the docks looking back at the lodge.  The lodge is very nice {RUSTIC}.  My mind was SWIMMING with possibilities though of all of the things I would add- {more deiciduous trees, wild flowers, potted plants, hanging plants, picnic tables with umbrellas, cabins along the shore etc. etc) if this place were mine.  (HEY!  A girl can dream, right???)

It had some really great features though, such as a restaurant, restrooms, bike rentals, convenience store, grill and bar/ice cream, boat, kayak, canoe and paddle boat rentals etc.)

Dad and mom rented a paddle boat for everyone to have fun with for an hour!

We played and played on the beach!

Chloe loved swimming {sitting} around in her comfy little floatie! 

 She was the bravest of the girls and enjoyed the water the most

Nick got Lexi to swim with him and to even jump off from one of the docks into his arms.  Brady tried to be brave and jump off too but he had to have a little help from mom (ie: me picking him up and throwing him to Chris!)

The girls loved the sand and liked to hang out right alongside the water most of the time.

Chris with his "little sis!"

Too much fun!  Time to take a break and....have some ice cream!

Or, in Chloe's case, kick back, relax and take a nap! Look at that sleeping beauty!!!

Meanwhile Grandma and Mom have the comfiest seats of all! 

On the way home we stopped at the Salmon Hatchery.  It was already closed but we could still look into the different pools and it was neat to see the huge salmon in there!  Some of them were even jumping clear out of the water!  It was a perfect evening and the scenery there and along the way home was truly magnificent.

On the way home we had to stop because there were sheep in the road!!!