Theresa's Trivia: Kopczynski Reunion, Part III

No worries that I was the oldest person attending the Kopczynski reunion. I vowed to myself that I'd hike, bike, walk, kayak with all my younger siblings, nephews, and grandkids. The first morning we were there, Karen suggested that we hike to the Secret Pond and then enjoy the Shaver's gardens.

According to Karen, the son of this property owner studied Botany and has plans to continue to develop the family property into lovely gardens that for now at least one can walk through and enjoy with no restrictions. We enjoyed visiting with this woman who was tending to the garden and especially fussing about the peonies because they were not blooming yet!

The Secret Pond is a short hike off Warren Wagon Road, but well worth it look at the view.

I hiked up to this pond twice more, once with Duane, Paul, PJ, and Colin and then again with Allan and Connie, Bradleigh and Karen. The young boys were quite adventuresome and led us to an old logging road and they delighted in boulder climbing and showing us just how much fun getting off the trail can be. Karen was surprised by a snake and happily took one of my walking sticks to shake the ground before she took another step.

The next day Dale, Karen, and AnnMarie, planned a more aggressive hike for us to tackle. We drove to Boulder Lake Reservoir and began a 2 mile hike up and up.

Beginning at the reservoir

Dale was confident we would eventually reach a high mountain lake so he did a little scouting while we women waited and rested. He came back and helped each one of us do a little boulder scramble, including AnnMarie who has packing Kennedy on her back.

At the top - Boulder Lake

Look at the view - it was so worth the effort! I'm proud of my effort - being a 65 year old hiking with the twenty-somethings and my sisters who are all younger than me!!

I hauled two bicycles down to McCall fully intending to ride one and share the other with my sisters. The Johnson place proved to be a great starting place for a great bike ride on Warren Wagon Road. The reunion headquarters was just 3 miles from town, and the road to town mostly flat, with a paved section for bikers and walkers along Warren Wagon Road. The day of this hike Duane and I rode our bikes into McCall and ended up on the east side of the lake where a nice lady at a bike shop suggested we ride back, not on Highway 55 with all it's traffic, but on the back streets! So much easier and safer.

Friday we sisters did a little retail therapy and found a delightful consignment shop called the Dandy Lion. We each bought some slightly used clothes! Marilyn loves to shop for her surrogate grandchildren and even Amanda found something for the Baby Kuhlmann. Marilyn insisted that I buy a new beach hat, but that was not to be - the shop where this picture was taken had several, but I was not about to pay over $30 for a new hat!!

Saturday morning Allan and I got up early and drove with Duane to Upper Payette Lake so he could shoot some pictures.

He took a lot of pictures and delighted the whole group with a slide show at the end of every day. One night he stayed up late to take pictures of the stars. It's a great picture viewed on a big computer because you can see the entire Milky Way. I don't know if one can really see the effect on a little picture on this blog. I saw him doing a little research on the Internet before I went to bed - the conditions have to be just right, including a clear sky and no artificial light.