Buttermilk and Berries

Doesn't that sound delicious? No, we didn't make buttermilk; this past weekend was a family camping trip to Buttermilk Campground in Island Park, Idaho! Several families went and we had a reservation at the group campground, which had a central campfire/picnic area surrounded by campsites. We had a much needed snack after our tent was up and we were settled in! We felt a little pressure to get the tent up ASAP because there was a lot of rain in the forecast.

It worked out well to have the families all together. The kids had lots of playmates and formed a sort of herd exploring the wilderness of their imaginations together. This picture is less than half the kids that were there!

The communal area also had a large open spot, which was perfect for yard games.

The first night had continuous rain all night! I was a little nervous about water leakage, but we were all dry come morning. Because we were the only family in a tent and awoke with the sunrise after all that rain, we were the first to be at the communal area in the morning. We had already had breakfast, played cards, and gone for a hike by 9 am when we came back to camp and started to see others emerging. We found a nice trail by the lake, but it made our shoes and socks pretty wet.

John was able to clear the camp fire of damp wood and ash and start a new fire when we got back. It felt good to sit around the warmth and have a hot drink. (It had gotten down to the 40s at night with the rain.) Notice the line of shoes and socks drying by the fire too! Lots of layers and footwear changes on this trip.

And when it warmed up, we had a couple of friends that brought boats along! We even towed one up there for them. And we discovered that this little girl LOVES boat rides! She eagerly went on at least three different rides over the weekend and declared the one with two rides the BEST DAY of her life.

The campground had a boat ramp for the Island Park Reservoir, which joins up with Henry's Fork River. It was very pretty: some areas had lots of trees, some were bare, some older houses with community boat docks, some newer mansion-cabins with elaborate decks and yards, all within the caldera (volcanic crater) providing "mountains" all around.

It apparently warmed up enough for some brave souls to get in the water to ski! To each his own, I guess. I did take off my jacket, but I wasn't about to get in the water!

We took a sunset cruise the second night, but there weren't really enough clouds to make a spectacular sunset. The main thing was that Owen finally decided to ride in a boat! And riding up front in shorts was chilly enough to warrant him putting pants on afterwards. 

Nothing a few smores can't fix first... His favorite spot of the weekend was tending to and staring at the fire. A little firebug, just like his Grandad!

This is the trail leading from the boat ramp to our campsite. Can you tell my subject was distracted? Let's just say there was a lot of al fresco bathroom-ing done while camping! 

It poured again the second night. We had a break in the rain just long enough to have breakfast in our tent and pack up everything before it started up again. Good news is that this might become an annual thing; fingers are crossed for a camper next time. See ya next year!

Lastly, June means strawberries! Ours are just starting to turn red. I've had a couple of diligent helpers picking weeds and scaring off hungry robins. They actually found the first two red berries, so they were rewarded with their sweet finds. As Owen said, they are so much better than store bought!