I Live in the Desert.

My Handyman and I went for a drive down to the Snake River to check out the water levels.   Our snowpack this Winter wasn’t very good so we’re expecting a drought.  The experts say we’ll be out of irrigation water around mid August this year.   We drove to Celebration Park, which is out towards the Owyhee’s, south of Kuna.   It was established as Idaho’s only archaeological parks in 1989.

The area was a wintering grounds for the Paiute Indians.   There are arrowheads, petroglyphs; a unique Indian art dating back 12000 years and other interesting things to see.  We were out in the middle of the desert.  The ground is covered with large lava rocks.  It’s hot.  It’s dry. There isn’t a lot of color except near the water.  The water in the river doesn’t seem too low yet.

There are hiking trails everywhere on both sides of the river.   We crossed the bridge to take a couple of pictures.

No motorized vehicles are allowed on the trails; only foot, bike and horse traffic.    The park is on the Western boundary of the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area.  You’ll see all kinds of raptors flying around.

I took a quick hike around to find some rocks with petroglyphs.

This one was probably the best.  This rock is probably about 6-7 feet tall.

The landscape is barren. The Indians probably wintered here because it is down in a canyon and protected from the wind.  Also the river was full of sturgeon and other fish.

Idaho has so many unique and beautiful landscapes.   The southern Idaho desert has so many places to explore.

We had a great time on this little adventure.  Next time it will be early morning and I’ll be toting my fishing pole.

 

Enjoy!

Girls Camp

I spent 4 days this week at Girls Camp. It was for the Young Women’s program at my church.  The girls range from age 12 – 17.   We went to Steadman’s in Raft River in South East Idaho.  We had Sunshine, Wind, Clouds, Wind, Rain and more Wind.   It was such a great time.  

The first day we got settled and put up tents.

The second day we sent on a hike to The Parting of the Ways.  This is the part of the Oregon trail where the pioneers had the choice to either continue to Oregon or go to California.

Mr. Steadman drove us to a memorial, we then hiked up the bluff to get to the Parting of the ways.  The bluff is solid lava rock.  We could see where the wagon wheels had carved out grooves in the rock.  It was sacred ground.   It brought tears to my eyes and I stood and contemplated the long journey they had been on and the long journey they were to continue.

We talked about how we each of us have our own Parting of the Ways in our daily lives.  How each decision and choice we make could affect 100’s of thousands of future generations.  How would the pioneers lives have been if they had chosen Oregon instead of California?  or vice versa.   We had a moment where we all separated and time to contemplate choices that we have made; were they the right choices?   How can we improve?  How could these choices affect our future?

We hiked back to Steadman’s which was just under 5 miles.

Check out the Steadman’s link above and you can see how beautiful the area is and all of the activities that they have to offer.   Most of us went down the water slide numerous times.

And of course this picture is priceless…  (The Young Women Leaders).  I found out why they wanted me to be the front of the train. 

Some of the brave ones  went down the zip line.

We had a flag ceremony every day.

We had little workshops.

We had craft activities.

We ate all kinds of foods.

Christine was our camp cook.   She did a fabulous job!

We had silly times.

And we had quiet times.

The final night there was a mud football game.

We sang silly camp songs.

 

We did skits.

 

And we gathered around the fire and shared testimonies.

 

It was an awesome week and a great experience.  I love these girls!

 

Enjoy!