Flaming Gorge Trip

This trip was interesting from the start. First off I had mixed feelings about going because I was unsure of my kids and being on the river with what I was picturing in my mind to be severe rapids. I mean what kind of mother takes small children in a boat on crazy water?!

I was finally convinced to go and we packed the motorhome and our truck and set off. It was actually really nice because Greg had both kids and Artie (our cocker spaniel) in the motor home with him and I had The whole truck to myself. I mean Moxie was in her kennel in the bed but basically I was ALONE . Peace and quiet for a 4 hour drive.. YES PLEASE!! It was glorious, I listened to my book the whole time and the only person I had to feed snacks to was me. (I think that was secretly my favorite part of the trip) Anyway back to the point, We started driving and were in the canyon and I was behind Greg when something strange caught my eye. A SUV in the oncoming lane was acting weird. It lost control and veered right for the bed of my truck. How it missed me is a miracle. It then over corrected and flipped. Rolling several times. I watched this all through my side and rear view mirrors. It was my greatest fear I was watching unfold. Many people stopped so I kept going to get to a spot where I could call for help because the signal in that area is awful. I was able to call it in and get help coming and to this day I wonder what the outcome was. Did help get there in time? Were they ok? I guess I’ll never know.

We continued on without incident to camp. We had the dinner assignment that night and I was ever so grateful that I had spent time before we left making the majority of the meal. Easy warm up and serve Fajitas! I even made and brought with me fried ice cream! We eat better out camping than we do at home ha ha .

The next morning was River Time! We had to pick up our rafts by 8 am so the morning was a blur packing our cooler and getting everyone dressed and out the door on time but we made it. I wanted to debut my new Family Picnic Cooler from Thirty – one but Greg was skeptical. I think because it was pretty and didn’t look sturdy enough to go down the river.

The time came and we all got loaded into the rafts and we set sail for adventure! I ended up being in a separate raft from Greg and looking back I will never do that again. The kids and I were in a raft with my brother and sister in law and their kids and we had a great time. A few small rapids, working together to paddle and singing songs it was a blast.

Meanwhile on Greg’s boat things were a little different. He ended up getting thrown out not once but twice. He got beat up pretty bad and once I finally laid eyes on him I could tell he was hurting pretty good. Thankfully (or not) all of this happened where I didn’t see because my boat was so far ahead of his. We were almost done with the river at that point and I was grateful.

The rest of the day was pretty chill but that was a different story the next day. So the little town we were staying next to was having a big 4th of July Celebration on Saturday. They had a car show and vendors, bouncy houses, the works. Well we had decided that we wanted to go to the car show because we love going as a family. We are all car nuts. So we went and it had a really good turn out for cars. I was quite impressed by all the cars that showed up. They also had a large sandbox with toys for the kids to play in. Of course that’s were Wesley wanted to hang out. So I let him play while Illa and Greg saw the cars. After they were done looking at the cars they joined Wes and I at the sandbox and the kids played while Greg and I chatted on the railroad ties that lined the sandbox.

As we were talking Greg and I noticed a commotion at the front of the sandbox. One of the cars that had been parked on the incline by the sand box was rolling towards it. I’ll be honest, it took me a hot minute to process what was going on . The lady that was driving the car laid on the horn and hollered out ” I HAVE NO BRAKES!!” As the horn was blaring and she was yelling this the car crossed over the railroad ties and into the sandbox filled with kids. MY KIDS. The car hit an older gentleman, knocking him down and running over his legs. As this was happening three men ran forward to try to stop the car and Greg went running towards our kids. He gently tossed other kids out of the path of the car. The car was finally brought to a stop by hitting one of those large Excavator sand toys and the help of the gentlemen. When it finally stopped it was 2 to 3 feet away from Illa and Wes.

Greg and I grabbed the kids and got the heck outta there. We got a few yards away and I bent down to ask the kids if they were ok. Illa just nodded blankly but Wes teared up and said ” Mommy that car scared me!” It scared me to. I mean Greg and I were RIGHT there and yet even being vigilant it could have been so much worse. I’m forever grateful that both the kids are ok. The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful compared to all that .

There was a fireworks show that the town put on . It was really good. The kids loved it. I admit I loved it to . It was a good ending to a crazy day and trip.

I’ve never had ALL of us at some point in such a short amount of time be so close to an accident or worse. It made me really look at our family, the love we share, the fun we have, the little things that make us all crazy. It’s funny how you view it all differently when reminded that it could be gone in the blink of an eye.

Till next time

~ Laura