June 28, 2025 | Day 9
Saturday, June 28, 2025 | Day 9
Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Idaho
Today is Johannes’ 15th birthday! He is the third oldest of our children’s twenty-one cousins. Happy Birthday, Johannes!
This morning we parked at the North Shore Picnic Area at Redfish Lake to have breakfast. After we ate, the kids spotted a tire swing at a campground playground across the street. We went over to play while Jonny stayed to troubleshoot an issue with the van’s sliding door. The door has an electronic mechanism that seals the door, but it hasn’t been working properly so there is a little gap and we can see outdoors even when the door is closed. Thankfully it still locks, but we are concerned about what will happen when we hit really hot weather or rain, and how the misalignment might create more issues. Plus, it’s quite noisy when we drive because the door jiggles around. Anyway, Jonny disassembled the door panel to access the door’s motor, and he fiddled with some fuses, but wasn’t able to solve the issue.
While at the park we met siblings Harper (4), Parker (6), and Deckert (8) from Meridian, Idaho. The kids played tag and hide and seek. Deckert told us some funny jokes about bagels, and Xiomara and Harper played mermaids. We ended up hanging out with our new friends for over 2 hours, up until they had to eat lunch and drive home.
Xiomara found a piece of wood at the park which she used as a cell phone the remainder of the day. She’s been “talking” to Harper, letting her know where we are and what we are doing, always with an “I love you” and “See you soon” tagged on at the end of the conversation. It was very sweet to see them connect so quickly and effortlessly.
We spent the afternoon relaxing at Redfish Lake. The water was chilly but it was super scenic and relaxing. At the beach area we chose by the North Shore Picnic Area, the water is shallow for a long ways from the shore so motorboats are forced to a different part of the lake, allowing the water to be calm for paddle boarding and wading. Xiomara was very excited to see that a couple was getting married just down the beach from where we set up, and she waited patiently all afternoon until the ceremony started to see the bride’s wedding gown and the bridesmaids dresses. Unfortunately I did not get a photo of the dresses, but I did snap a picture of the ceremony site.
Before heading back to our campsite we walked to Redfish Lake Lodge for french fries and soft serve ice cream.
For dinner we roasted veggie hot dogs over the campfire and boiled corn on the cob on the stove in our van.
The kids were so exhausted they were asleep less than 10 minutes after turning out the lights. It’s 12:40 AM now as I write this. Time to admire the stars before I climb into bed.