Aaron, Murphy, and I headed north from Utah Lake State Park into Idaho. Our destination was Castle Rocks State Park. We were excited! This park had great hiking trails, biking trails, and really cool granite rock formations. This was our first time camping in Idaho, and we were looking forward to experiencing a new state, new geography, and new experiences.
Unfortunately, we arrived during peak wildfire season. There were fires in California, Utah, Idaho, and other states. The views were very hazy, and sometimes, we could not see anything but smoke in the distance. We knew there were mountains around, but we just were not able to see them very well. This picture was of one of the clearer days.
The second morning we were there, Aaron was on a work meeting, I had just woken up, and Murphy was really ready to go outside. I hurriedly slipped on my shoes put the leash on the dog, and stepped out of the door. I did not remember that when we had leveled the camper the day before, we added a temporary third step because that side of the camper was quite high. I missed the improvised step, twisted my ankle and hit the ground pretty hard. So much for enjoying the hiking and biking trails, now I was nursing a sprained ankle.
Hopefully we can visit this state park again and actually enjoy what it has to offer. The only photos I was able to get were from the truck as we were leaving and heading to our next campground a bit further north in eastern Idaho.
Next Stop…Juniper Campground
Juniper Campground was very aptly named. There were juniper trees everywhere. We had a one week stay planned at this county run campground. I was starting week two of the ankle injury and was spending almost all of my time in the camper with my foot elevated trying to use it as little as possible. I needed it to heal! I have a cruise to Alaska with my mom, my older brother, and my sister-in-law coming up in a few weeks. So minimal walking and weight bearing was my plan.
Murphy kept me company for most of the week while I was nursing and babying the ankle.
We had only planned on staying for a week, and then we had planned on spending two weeks in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. About mid-week, Aaron found out he needed to take a three day trip to Dallas, Texas for work. Since Juniper was close to Idaho Falls regional airport, we decided it would be better to stay there for a second week. We looked, and the campsite we were at was not available for the next week, so we drove around the campground looking for other available sites. They had two loops of sites that were first come first serve only. We spotted a couple that we really liked and decided that on moving day, we would claim one of them.
Shortest moving day we have ever had! The site was better than the one we had the week before. We were closer to the Snake River, had more room for the dog to play, and more privacy. My ankle was healing some, and I started to slowly walk on it a bit more each day.
While Aaron was gone, the dog and I took short walks exploring the cliff overlooking the river. It was good to get my ankle moving, and the pup needed to run and sniff and explore. The pup and I found an almost complete deer skeleton. The skull was missing. We saw a partial rainbow during a sunrise on a stormy morning. We really had some beautiful views!
Murphy also found out that he really like playing in sprinklers! There were two of them in front of our camper, and when they came on he would run back and forth between them playing in the streams of water.
Aaron got back from Dallas, and we enjoyed the rest of the week at Juniper Campground.
Our two week, two campsite stay at Juniper came to an end. We assured the camp host that we would return, and headed northeast into the Caribou-Targhee National Forest.
Wandering Cindi 