Clark Reunion 2009 - Island Park, Idaho

Unlike the Sweet reunion, we don't have a Clark reunion every year. However, this year the stars aligned and we were able to be together for a really enjoyable week!

I have 3 brothers. No sisters, just bros. Here we are on the last night there. I think it's the only picture that was taken of the Clark kids. Too bad because I'm in my PJ's! In order of the picture: Carrie, Michael, Darren, Curtis. In order of oldest to youngest it goes: Darren, Michael, Carrie, Curtis. We all have lots and lots of gray hair.


Mike, Kim, and their girls (Courtney and Camilla) flew here from Indiana. Before we went to Island Park we had a few days to hang out. One night we went to Silver Lake by Brighton ski resort. It's a fun little walk around the lake and the temperature was about 25 degrees cooler up there! SCORE!







A few days later we all caravan'd it up to Island Park Idaho. Thanks to my parents, they hooked us up with the most amazing cabin! Each family had their own bedroom and bathroom. There was plenty of room to roam and plenty of places to play. Our cabin had a private boat dock. We hadn't even unloaded the cars and the "kids" (some parents included) were already swimming!




As everybody was hanging around the water, we saw a weird bird fly into the water. It wasn't until we got a closer look that we realized it was a bat! My brother saved the bat from the water. It was all I could do to keep my kids from touching
the bat! They couldn't understand why I was freaking out...Rabies, Race for the Cure!



Here's the back of our cabin, from the perspective of the boat dock:


Now turn around and here's the view of the water from the boat dock. Straight across the Island Park Reservoir from us was Bill's Island, which is I guess why they call this place "Island Park".


Now look Left from the dock:


Now look Right from the dock: This picture is courtesy of my brother Darren


That first night we were entertained by Darren stories. I didn't even know Sam was taking pictures of us but I like this picture because we are all laughing so hard.


A huge shout-out to Fern and Russ for letting us borrow their canoes and suburban for the trip! They were well used!


In fact, we are thankful we came home with both canoes because one almost got away! Sam told us we should pull them onto the grass and we all balked at him because they were tied to the dock and so why should we pull them out of the water? Well, at some point in the late evening hours one canoe did get loose and float away. Darren and Sam had to take a 1am canoe ride all over the reservoir until they found it somewhere around 2:30am. Sorry Sam, we'll listen to you from now on! Maybe...

The next day we ventured into Yellowstone National Park.

Our first stop was the Painted Pots. Who doesn't love boiling mud?




Darren took this picture, with his polarized sunglasses in front of the lens. I like it because you can see deeper into the water.


We got to Old Faithful about 10-15 minutes before everyone said it was supposed to erupt. We were starving for lunch but didn't want to miss it so we waited....and waited....and waited....I swear we waited for 45 - 50 minutes until it erupted. Sheesh, that geyser should be called "Sometimes Faithful!". We managed to have fun while waiting, we always do.
Then by the time the geyser erupted, we were so busy getting pictures I honestly don't remember much about it. Good one!





Later in the day we did some hikes and took pictures at observations points. It was such beautiful country! The best part: The temperature never passed the low 70's. If you know anything about me and my feelings regarding hot weather, you'll know that I was a happy camper in Island Park/Yellowstone! Darren took the following pictures - I need to give credit where credit is due!





Sam took these pictures:





Our last full day there we just hung around and did whatever we wanted. It was my favorite day. Very relaxing and enjoyable!

Cameron just chilled with sunglasses over his eyes and fingers in his mouth. He was happy.


Our good friends, Traci and Daryl Bateman, have a cabin in Island Park and they just happened to be at their cabin the same week we were there. So we called them and hung out with them! They took us to a place called "Warm Springs". We fed the fish.




Then we went to a little cabin built by Johnny Sack in the early 1900's. He was only 4'11" so everything is pretty small. The boys are standing by a statue that shows how tall John was. I don't know who that crazy lady is in the background! ha ha ha!


Then Traci had to use the outhouse, but it was locked.


Later that evening we hung out and enjoyed our last night at this beautiful cabin! We even had a little campfire and did some S'mores! Sam and I even took a canoe ride late at night. It was so peaceful and beautiful.






I know this blog post is long, but I can't believe how much fun this vacation was! We stayed in such a beautiful cabin, had our own boat dock, 3 canoes, lots of room to run around in, and lots of great conversation. My only regret is that now it's over!

Darren took a lot of pictures I really liked. I'll put those in a separate post...