The summer before I started 10th grade our family took a trip to Idaho and Yellowstone Park. My Dad made friends with a man who was doing some contracting work for the Power Co. He took him fishing and deer hunting. This man owned several cabins in the Idaho Wilderness. He flew a plane and the only way into his property was by plane or packing in. No roads. He took my Dad and Mom to his cabin to fish for Salmon. Then he hired Sandra to come to work for him as a secretary for the Summer. Then he invited the whole family to spend a week at one of his cabins in Idaho. I think this was the last big trip we took as a family. We stopped in Pocatello to visit family and then we were off to Yellowstone. Dad had taken the scouts to Yellowstone so Doug had been there and of course Mother had been there as a young woman. We stayed in a cabin at Old Faithful one night and drove around to see as much as we could. It was so interesting. I had never seen anything like it. The sights and smells were so unusual.
We also stopped at a place called “Craters of the Moon”. It had acres and acres of black lava. Very weird and very interesting. I remember it being really hot. Then we drove to a small town somewhere in Eastern Idaho and parked the car at a little airport and waited. Soon in the early morning we heard a plane and when it landed it was our host. We couldn’t all go at the same time and I don’t remember exactly how it was handled but Doug, Kathryn and I were taken to a cabin and there we found Sandra. I don’t remember if Richard stayed with us. Mother and Dad were taken to another location and we were left by ourselves. There were people there to cook for us and entertain us. The best part was that they were almost all young people (boys) our age or just a little older. One of the young men was the son of Dad’s boss. He had been hired for the summer. It was really fun we hiked and just sat around enjoying the mountains. Of course the boys liked Kathryn best and I was just the little kid.
Then it was time to go. We flew out and all met up at the airport. Then we headed to Jackson Hole, Wy. Dad wanted to see one of his Missionary companions who lived near Jackson Hole. They had a dairy farm and a family of girls. One of the girls was my age. We got to talking and I thought it would be really cool to change my circumstances and move to Wyoming. We decided to approach our parents. My Dad said I could but I would not be able to come home for visits not even Christmas. He also said I would have to learn how to milk the cows and do other farm work. I thought it sounded like a big adventure. But the idea kind of got shot down. I have often wondered how my life would have changed if that idea had been fulfilled. We went camping with them and we really had a fun time. Then it was good by to the Hurd family and we were on the road again. I think we went back to Pocatello before we went home. I remember showing Aunt Vera all my mosquito bites.