Grants Pass, OR to Salmon, ID

Royce: Growing up I spent quite a bit of time in Salmon, Idaho with my parents and my dad's family. Some of the best times I had growing up were in Salmon, on summer and Christmas breaks. Unfortunately, after my Grandmother passed away my visits stopped. Last summer, I took a week off work and convinced my dad to meet me in Salmon so he could take me around to all his old haunts and tell me all his stories about growing up in rural Idaho in the 30's-40's. It was a great trip and it was nice to spend time with my dad with just the two of us. After the trip was over I really thought I should take April up to Salmon so she could meet my extended family and hear all my dad's stories.

We decided this was the perfect time to do it and it tied in well with a trip we had planned with Tyler and Nicki to Montana. Dad and I drove to Boise where we met April at her Aunt's house and we headed up to Salmon. We spent the next 5 days going to see family and visiting the various places that my dad lived with all 7 siblings. Some, like the picture below, are hard to believe.

The only downside to the whole trip was that since I was there last summer, two of my dad's brothers had passed away. This put a somber mood on the trip sometimes; I had really wanted April to meet Uncle Ray, my childhood 'crick' fishing partner. Uncle Bob had passed too, but April had had a chance to meet him a few times in Oregon.

Aunt Evalyn and Uncle Gordon were kind enough to provide a room and good meals for all of us. Uncle Gordon took April and me on a punishing 9 mile hike along the middle section of the Salmon River to look for elk horns. He is a hardcore horn hunter. I don't know he can be in such good shape at his age. Amazing.

I am really glad that we finally took the time to do this trip. It was one of those kind of trips that is easy to put off until it is no longer an option. It really justifies doing what we have done, with quitting our jobs and and realigning our lives to more important things than work and chasing material items.


April and Dad in Stanley, Idaho


Dad and his family lived in this cabin for a couple of years