Day 1: Bad Cough, Big Falls, Big Fish

Unfortunately our big trip started off with a trip to the ER. Blake had a croupy cough so we took him into the Driggs Hospital before we left town. They gave him a breathing treatment, some steroids, and tested for strep.

It was pretty interesting for me because as we were checking in, the registrar said, "You've been here before," to me. She was right. 12 years ago, the summer that I met Jeff in Driggs, I was admitted to the hospital because I had Clostridium Difficile Toxin. In fact, they put Blake in the exact same bed that they put me in when I came to the ER that first time: bed #2 as you can see above. It was from that bed that I called Jeff (who I had only gone on a couple of dates with) and asked him to give me a blessing. He ended up staying with me most of the night. We loved each other from the very beginning.

Anyways, Blake felt better after the ER visit and we started on our way.

We took the long way from Driggs, ID to West Yellowstone, MT; via the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway. Along the way we drove through Marysville, ID where Jeff's Grandma grew up. You may remember that I recently posted about her funeral in June. It was in this house that she grew up, the oldest of 7 children:

Our first stop was the Lower Mesa Falls. They were magnificent, I can't believe I hadn't seen them before.

Our next stop was Big Spring. This was pretty fascinating because it really is an actual very big spring that comes up from the ground at a constant 52 degrees F. A huge spring in fact. Enough to make a whole river come out from it. You can see part of it in the left side of the photo below.

From this bridge, people come to feed the huge trout that hang out where the spring starts flowing into the river. Mostly the ducks like to eat the bread though. We even had a muskrat come out to have a snack.

Around the far side of the spring, is an old cabin built by a 4'11" German immigrant around the turn of the century. He built this tiny house that produced electricity powered by a waterwheel. This enabled him to have electricity in his house for a stove and lights and running water.

Here is Johnny Sack's cabin - and me:

Our next stop was the famous Mack's Inn in Island Park. This Inn is along the same river that comes from Big Springs up the road. Kristy, Jeff's mother, used to work here as a teenager in the summer. About 15 years ago the historic old lodge burned down but they still have a few of their longtime attractions: namely ice cream and boats.

Just a bit of wisdom we learned from this adventure: paddle boating in a river is extremely difficult. I remember trying this in Belgium on a smooth lake and it was easy. When you have to work against a current it gets very hard. At least it is hard on the way upstream:

The ride downstream, on the other hand, is pretty fun:

I love this photo. John and Kristy had taken the boat for a test run and then John had gotten a business call. This just proves that when you have a cell phone your office can be anywhere; even a paddle boat at Mack's Inn.

Our work out deserved a reward: Ice cream.

And finally we arrived in West Yellowstone at our condo that we rented for our stay. 3 bedrooms + 2 bathrooms + our own food = much better vacation.