Hunting for Trees in the Idaho Wilderness

My alarm blares at me at 6:30 AM. I hit snooze - for the next half hour...

In a subconsious state, I hear Pops coming down the stairs and I know what he's up to. My door cracks open and I moan, "I'm awake," before he has a chance to say a word. Suddenly my alarm goes off again. Ok. I'm awake - really.

As much as I despise getting up in the morning, I wouldn't sleep through Christmas Tree hunting! I piled on layers of warm clothes and we all piled in the subby. Our neighbors, the Nichols, were parked by the curb waiting for us. We were off - almost.

We stopped at the park and ride by the freeway and grabbed Grandma and Grandpa. And we called Chad and Shallen to tell them we were on our way. Then we were off!

Grandma and Grandpa

Chad and Shallen

We drove through Sardine Canyon and entered into "my territory" - land of the Aggies. Except, I wasn't awake to comment on anything. I practically slept the whole ride as we made our way up to the wildernesses of Preston, Idaho.

After passing through a quaint little town, we soon transitioned to dirt roads. Closer.

We parked and the subby's skipping engine shut off. Let the hunt begin!

It was a most lovely day! Not too cold - all I needed was my coat and boots. The snow was super fluffy and "dry" so nothing stuck to you! I was pumped. After much debate, my mom and pops decided to head up the hill, and me and Jord followed. My boots are two sizes too big, so I trudged up the vertical "hill" with much difficulty. Of course, there was everything BUT worthy Christmas trees. We cut across the mountain side in hopes of spotting a tree. Note: I have never been whacked in the face by so many oncoming branches in my life!

I was tripping every other step and nearing face plants more often than not - I prayed that I could live to make it to my next step. I managed to jam my fingers between two branches, in which I was stuck. Later, I found myself lodged between two logs in which my boot was stuck! I came this close to losing my eye on another occasion! I slipped, I was whacked, I was slow...but my brother is the kindest kid out there, and waited for me! I love him. :)

We began crossing a grassy-ish hill, dappled in snow. It reminded me of Lord of the Rings. I was undoubtedly a hobbit. My boots were too large for my body. Jordan was Gandolf because he had a walking stick and had a huge coat that I judged worthy to be a cloak. Mom was Gimli, because she could be. And dad was Aragorn because he is the master tree tracker. Later, we changed him to Legolas because the saw in his hand resembled a bow and arrow...and that way Gimli and He were allowed to fight. :)

With no good tree in sight, we began trudging back up the road. I bailed when the cars were in my view. My family went ahead. I hopped in the subby, layed on my pillow, and crashed. I woke up, attempted to read a book that my roommate lent me, and realized that since I wasn't moving, outside was terribly nippy. Me and Jord cracked open some lunch.

Hark! Just then, Uncle Chad appeared from around the bend dragging a tree behind him! The first success! Suddenly! My mom and dad appeared from around the bend dragging a tree behind them! Then Suddenly, Tammy appeared from around the bend, not dragging a tree behind her - she came to ask my dad if he would go help Troy drag their monstrous tree out from the wilderness. We had all scored a tree at last!!! And they were Bee-U-Tee-Full!

Dragging in the tree

Our awesome tree.

We strapped them to the top of our vehicles. Classy, but nice. ;) Haha.

Our tree is a monster! It's huge now that we have it in our house! But it is a wonderful shade of green, emits a lovely smell of pine, and makes me happy inside.

Now, no matter where I go, whether at home in Logan, or at home in North Ogden, Christmas time is here!