Wigtons Go West Day 7

Today, we left our beloved Yellowstone National Park and made our way to Hailey, Idaho, where my great uncle and aunt live.  

We met interesting people at the rest stops at times.  This guy had a Newfoundland Water dog who was a giant drippy mess of love.  Newfoundlands can pull eight people in the water, he said.  We were right next to EBR-1, Atomic Museum of which Ben's step-cousin is the curator*!

A little down the road, after we passed Butte City, we stopped in Arco for lunch at Mountain View RV Park's restaurant.

The first thing you notice when you go in is the ceiling. The owner/cook/waitress explained that the original owner's kids wanted to start this project and began it while their parents were gone one day.  Customers love to come back and find their dollar bill, she said.  Each one was signed by customers.

While we were waiting, she let the kids go play putt-putt and horse shoes outside.  The food was very good.  Three out of five of us had pulled pork sandwiches.  They are famous for their smoked potatoes and I can vouch for the smoked potato salad. 

I stapled our dollar near some foreign money so we'll be sure to find it again some day.

By dinner time we made it to my great aunt and uncle's.  They have a beautiful ranch home in Hailey that they have made their own.  They may be far from family, but they have clearly established roots in their area.  They are very close with their neighbors and my uncle was even the grand marshall of the local parade one year.  Raymond (my maternal grandma's brother) is a retired principal and Sharon a retired speech therapist.  His mom is my 102 year old Great Grandma Grosvenor (who just moved back to IA, btw).

They had funny signs here and there that made me laugh.  This one says, "Dull women have immaculate houses."  Uncle Raymond said Aunt Sharon is the "sharpest woman I know." :-)   Below is Jake, he was there for a doggie slumber party and belongs to the neighbor.

My Aunt Sharon likes hats (and shoes, cowgirls, miniatures, Lewis and Clark and other things as well).  I love her hats! 

The kids had a ball playing with their dog, Mozelle, and Jake.

We enjoyed dinner and breakfast with them, soaking up as much family time as possible.

  

Aunt Sharon's Fairy Garden (she also has two Gnome gardens)

There were interesting things to look at every turn.

Proof that rock collecting runs in my family (these are Raymond's).  I get it honestly from both sides.  Two weeks ago, when we moved, the packer said, "Hey look, a box of rocks." Yup.

We have found kindred spirits and are so thankful to be within driving distance of them!

*  Ben's Aunt Lisa and her family live in Idaho Falls, which we drove through, and we tried very hard to work out a visit with them, but it was not meant to be on this trip.  We are looking forward to seeing them and catching up soon!

Summary for Global Thinkers Pained by Excessive Detail:

Hours logged on the road thus far: 47.5

Miles so far: 2198

States we were in "today": WY and ID

Running total of states: 9

Sanity Status:  The kids struggled with not being able to do activities in the car due to winding roads again and I was achey from a virus I came down with that day.  Yellowstone wiped us out!  We were all so thankful to have some comfort and fun at the Grosvenor's.  

Mood: Overwhelmed with love for my family and eager-pants...let's get to OREGON!!!

Major Incidents: 0 

Brief summary of the day: 277 miles in 9 hours means lots of beautiful mountains and winding roads.  Though much of it was desert, we also passed Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve that had miles of volcanic rock on either side of the road and other points of interest.  We had a great time with my family in Hailey, ID.