While we were at Hebgen Lake the boat needed to be filled up with gas so Daniel and I went along with my dad, Michelle, Dave, and Mike to the marina. It was not working quite right so a man had to come down and fill up a five gallon tank of gas over and over until our boat was filled up. We had a lot of time to talk to him and found out he was from just south of Detroit, Michigan. We asked him how he ended up in Montana and he said he retired and he and his wife bought a RV and travel to see their kids and stay in Montana during the summer and just work. One thing he said really struck me as he was telling us about their travels and it was that getting an RV and traveling was always "the plan."

You know Daniel and I are pretty practical people but I think we are also dreamers. We have so many dreams and plans for our way future life, things that we just really want to do but that maybe we do not have the means or ability to do anytime soon. They are kind of crazy dreams too, but we talk about them as if they are the plan. I do not know if all of our dreams will come true as they are constructed in our minds at this moment. But in the moment the man at the marina stated that he and his wife were living the dream, following the plan, I decided that we too will live the dream in our future, even if it has to adapt to the circumstances that will come our way in our future or if the plan changes dramatically because we change what we want. Either way I have confidence that if we really want something is our future and work at it then it can happen, our plans can work out, we can live our dreams. How do I know this will happen, because heck this road trip was a dream in our first months of married life and we talked about it as if it were our plan for the summer or 2013, and here we are driving all around the country for six weeks visiting family, friends, strangers, and all sorts of places. Daniel and I work towards our dreams and kind of make them happen while still having real life in between.

Moral of this Reflection: Thank you man at the marina for living your plan so I can hope that we will live ours as well!

Monday through Saturday we enjoyed the lake. I did some wake-surfing throughout the week, but I am becoming more of a wimp because sometimes I don’t want to get in because the water is so cold. Daniel and I both did a lot of reading over the week. I think we both really enjoy reading but haven’t had a whole lot of time to read for pleasure over the past few years (aka our college careers). It was nice to get in a couple good books. We took the jet-skis out for a ride and I am not as fearless as I use to be so I made Daniel take us on a nice calm ride. Later he took the jet ski out for himself so he could have more of a wild ride. We took a family four-wheeling ride with my parents and Stephen and Kallie. It was nice to have a relaxing ride in the beauty of the back trails. We also took a couple of bike rides down to the point and around the main roads. Of course we built fires and had s’mores and banana boats which were just too good.

Just a great picture of me eating breakfast by myself.

Another tradition of sorts is that every year we do something new at the cabin. Now these new things are often not planned and just happen one lazy day when we are bored and need something to do. We often refer to years at the cabin by these unique events. For example there was the year of the triathlon, or the year we swam across the lake, or the year where Michelle performed Fantasmic. Some of these new things hold like friendship bracelets, some things are a one time activity like making fleece blankets. Well this year was no different; this year will forever be known as the year of the trick shots. Stephen brought up his little tikes basketball hoop and ball thinking we could use it for something good. About two hours into the cabin time Dave and Stephen were already plotting all the trick shots that they would do. We spent hours shooting hoops, retrieving balls, and trying again. My trick shot was down the slide while Daniel decided he would do one off the Andrews roof and one juggling all three balls in. The other boys did everything from shooting balls off balconies, to underwater excursions. The video they put together is actually pretty cool and I can’t wait to see the finished product at the end of the summer!

So there you have it. Our week at Hebgen Lake was a dream and it was pretty hard to say goodbye, especially because it was the last time we saw the Hart family before heading for Pittsburgh. It was also hard because we said goodbye to Stephen who will soon leave to serve his mission in Detroit. 

Of course there were tears on the road out from the cabin but a whole adventure was still in store for us so we were off to our next destination-Spokane.

We arrived at Hebgen Lake on Saturday and unloaded everything. The women unpacked while the men got the toys out and into the lake.

            Sunday we went into Yellowstone National Park after church. We had lunch at a little picnic pull-out. There was a buffalo just sitting there not very far away. The sun was so bright I ate with my eyes closed because it was hurting my eyes so terribly. I think I looked kind of foolish.

We proceeded to the Fairy Falls hike. On this hike you can climb up a little ways on a mountain and look over Grand Prismatic Spring. It is so beautiful. We enjoyed Fairy Falls for a while before we headed to Old Faithful. We had some ice cream and watched Old Faithful go off from the Balcony. I know I have seen it so many times but I really think it is incredible. There is so much water and it goes off so high, plus it looks so pretty in the sunlight. I love Yellowstone National Park. It is really so beautiful and reminds me how amazing this earth is.

Saturday morning we had the annual pack everything up, get in a long line, and travel to Hebgen Lake together. It was so fun to be in Idaho Falls for a few days and to see so much family before we left. 

We made it to Idaho Falls and just relaxed on Tuesday. 

The next day we decided to go bowling with my parents. My mom was the official cheerleader while my dad, Daniel and I went head to head. The first game was pretty awful but by the second and third game we all warmed up and were doing pretty well. Daniel got 4 strikes in a row his third game and ended up with 187 as his final score. It was pretty successful bowling.

That night we went golfing with my Dad. We decided to  do a 6 hole short course since we are both inexperienced. It was lots of fun and I didn’t have to hit the ball 20 times to get it near the hole. Around the 3^rd hole it started to downpour on us so we were golfing in the rain. That didn’t deter us, we went along and it was pretty fun to golf in the rain since it was still warm outside and there wasn’t any wind. We both loved golfing and I wish we would have had time to get in another round.

We also got to stay at the new Residence Inn hotel on the river in Idaho Falls since my grandparents had an extra room. It is kind of funny staying in a hotel when you are in your hometown, but it was fun and a pretty view to wake up to each morning.