Yampa River State Park
Our first stop, just a short 5 hours from home was Yampa River State Park just outside Hayden, Colorado. The nicely kept park includes a visitor center, kids park, and plenty of mosquitos in June. The adventure was off to a great start!
Flaming Gorge, Pt 1
Night #2 was spent at Flaming Gorge NRA, the first time we were able to visit. Since we were still on the way north, we explored a nice beach and made plans to come back near the end of the trip.
Lava Hot Springs
We spent two great nights in Lava Hot Springs Idaho. Just outside Soda Springs and not far off the Oregon Trail, LHS offers adventure for the entire family. We managed to take in the large water park, and Brenden did his first white water tubing trip.
Ice cave
On Father's Day I had the chance to choose our destination, no questions asked. I was able to fin a random ice cave in the middle of nowhere. A short drive through the small town of Grace, ID led us to the Niter Ice Cave.
A short walk down through the mud, followed by an ever darkening 1/4 mild hike underground. It was really cool, cold even. A little spooky, but very fun.
Twin Falls
We ended up in Twin Falls due to an abundance of rain in the central Idaho mountains. Our rest & recovery day also marked the halfway point of the trip, so it was good to get caught up on things.
Shoshone Falls
As we rolled in to Twin Falls, we took a short detour to see the impeccable Shoshone Falls. Even though the water level was quite low, the falls are very impressive and worth a visit if you're anywhere near.
Sandy, UT
My better half has a large contingent of family in the Salt Lake Valley, so on our way south we opted for a quick one night stay to catch up. It's always great when all the cousins, aunts, and uncles have the chance to hang out.
Flaming Gorge, Pt 2
For our daughters 5th birthday, we decided to head back to Flaming Gorge and rent a speedboat for the day.
We also added a pull-behind tube for the afternoon, so after making it all the way to the dam & back, we hit the open water.
Overall the entire setup performed great. There is no doubt that we'll be spending plenty of time with the GX-Minnie combo in the future.