As Dad's birthday approached, we talked with Jeff and Tonya to help plan out something a little extra special for his big 70th! This all started back in March, with the first thought being a trip to either Mackay or Down River to be with Dad on his birthday and do whatever HE wanted to do! We talked this over with him in April, and he decided he wanted us to all meet up in Mackay and do some bike riding and have a nice family barbecue. We decided that we would leave here on Saturday and drive straight through to Mackay and stay through Monday, leaving on Tuesday. So we headed out, arrived Saturday night, and planned out some fishing on Sunday morning.
Sunday morning arrived and we scooped up Dad and headed off for Copper Basin. It was still very early in the summer, and the rivers and streams are usually high and dirty, so we figured East Fork of Lost River was our best option since it is a spring fed creek that doesn't vary much in flow. It was a nice day, if not a bit cool, but the water looked pretty good, and we managed to catch a few fish. Dad had a great time fishing and wandering down the stream, and Indy also had enjoyed her stay as you can see...
After fishing there for a while, we decided to head back home where Mom had been readying the barbecue and some special guests had been arriving. But, not so fast... we had to stop to fish Corral Creek a little bit!
A few bites later, but no fish, Dad spotted a beaver dam that looked like it might be good fishing! But, we had to drag him back to the truck to get back to his barbecue!
After we arrived at home, Dad found his sister Cherie waiting for him at the house to help celebrate! We hadn't seen Cherie for quite a while, so it was great to see her again!
Jeff and Tonya originally planned to be here at that time as well, but got held up for a while, so we decided to do some more fishing! Se we headed up below the Mackay Dam to try our luck!
Kristina grabbed her rod and was hitting the water hard. Everyone got a few nibbles, but didn't manage to land anything.
Dad had a great time trying though!
We headed back home once again and fired up the barbecue. Jeff, Tonya, Wyatt, and Tina arrived and we all had a great time eating and catching up. As the evening progressed, we built up a fire and enjoyed nice night.
Monday came, and we loaded up all of our bikes and headed for Challis. We were headed to the Land of the Yankee Fork State Park where there are a bunch of trails and ghost towns to be enjoyed. We rode up the trail and had a great time exploring.
After our ride, we came back to the trailhead and had some lunch. Jeff and Tonya did an EXCELLENT job of packing all of the fixings for a picnic lunch. After lunch, we headed over to Challis Hot Springs to do some swimming and to relax the muscles tensed up from wrestling motorcycles up the trail. It was a great day, and I think Dad had a great time.
We headed back home and got ready to head out the next day. We had a great time visiting with everyone and being there to help Dad enjoy his 70th Birthday!
