Family Reunion, Sundogs, and Texture Trees

Every two years Janet’s family gathers together to celebrate and visit.  Since it’s a fairly large family the reunions are usually held in state parks so people can camp, kids can play, and groups can gather and visit with each other.  This year it was held in the Boise National Forest in an area with the unfortunate name of Rattlesnake Campground. Fortunately, we did not see any snakes with or without rattlers.

The trip started off with a flight from Atlanta to Boise on Southwest Airlines.  Sadly, due to unforeseen circumstances we got to the gate just as the plane was pulling away. That is something nobody wants to see but I was a little surprised at how badly some of the travelers acted about it. It’s 2015, we all know that you’re supposed to be at the gate way early. We messed up, not Southwest. To be honest, they did a great job of switching things around and getting us on different flights so we made it there and only one hour behind schedule. They gave us great customer service.

The mountains were beautiful, tall and majestic covered in Douglas Fir and Lodgepole pine trees. The elevation of these mountains is about 5,000 feet and they are quite steep leading down to the Middle Fork Payette River.  They are something to be experienced since capturing them on a camera never seems to do a mountain justice.

View from the Campground

 While relaxing along the river bank I looked up to see a huge sundog. Sundogs are created by the sun reflecting on ice in the clouds and they produce a halo that can appear to have all the colors of the rainbow. Now that’s a beautiful treat.

Sundog

 We took a hike up the mountain side on a trail that quickly became nothing more than a deer path. I love hiking these types of trails. They make me feel more connected with nature. As we hiked we heard water and headed towards it. We found a few places where the river cascaded down the rocks and deadfall making some beautiful waterfalls.

Waterfall

One thing I love about nature is all the textures. Some of the hardest looking surfaces can be very soft while some softer looking textures are hard as rocks, sometimes they actually are rocks.  I really like the texture on this tree. I imagine it will influence the texture on a pot very soon.

Pine Tree Bark Texture

 I love finding flowers in the woods. I can identify some but most are just a mystery although they may resemble a more cultured flower that we know from our home gardens. This wild rose was an exceptional treat.

Wild Rose

For fun on Saturday night a group of us went down to the Starlight Mountain Theatre in Crouch, ID to see the play Cinderella.  This is an outdoor theater with some very talented and hard working young actors.

The trip was too short and the flight too long but it was made better by the good humor of the flight attendants including one who sang to us. That was really fun.


Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery by Lori Buff