Dinner Caveman Style!

Sunday
August 1st, 2010


'When we recall the past, we usually find that it is the simplest things - not the great occasions - that in retrospect give off the greatest glow of happiness".
Bob Hope

Family FUN
is what our summers are all about!
Our adorable boys BEGGED us to take them to the Civil Defense caves just north of Rexburg....

and YES, we obliged and took them!
After church, I got all of the food put in our Dutch Oven and packed the cooler and Tracy and the boys packed all of the Dutch Oven equipment and loaded the car and then we were off!

For anyone living near the Rexburg area,
here are the GPS coordinates to get there.
This is the only marking you get to see and these are the rocks that mark the first turn off that you make.
You will see this pile of rocks 16.6 miles NORTH
from the North Rexburg, Exit.

(GPS coordinates)
Civil Defense Cave
First turn: 16.6 miles from hwy 20 Crooked Rd. (44.104507,-111.804688)
Second turn: (44.144398,-111.763275)
Destination: (44.155346,-111.775673

There is just something about being
out in the desert in the middle of nowhere!

I never tire of looking off in the distance and seeing the Gorgeous backdrop of the Teton Mountain range!

RECIPE

Baked Chicken and Rice
1 cup rice
1 chopped onion
1 chopped bell pepper
5-6 legs/thighs chicken pieces (OR 1 whole chicken cut up)
1 can Cream of Chicken OR Mushroom soup
3 cups water (with 1 to 2 tsp. Bouillon)
Cajun Seasoning

In Dutch Oven put in rice, chopped onion and bell pepper, put chicken pieces on top of this and season well with Cajun Seasoning. Pour water/soup over the top of this .
Cook for 60-90 minutes with 8 coals on bottom and 12 coals on top.

Enjoy!!

As soon as we pulled up,
Tracy got the coals ready for our Dutch Oven and then got our Chicken and Rice cooking, while we went and explored the HARD WAY of the cave.

(when you go in the entrance of the cave
there are large rocks that say
"HARD WAY" and "EASY WAY"
and that is what I mean by we explored the "Hard Way")

Ethan is our little GEAR loving kid!
Half the fun for him, is getting to put on his gloves and headlamp.
I am VERY much enjoying having a little
FULL OF LIFE 8 year-old in my home!

All ready!
Gotta love teenagers...
It was SUCH a hot day (high 80's) and we told Jade that the cave would be cold and that he would want to wear some long pants, and take some gloves.

He was wishing he would have listened to us half way through the cave.

Such fun...

I'm always amazed at the
awesome textures and colors in caves.

Tracy and I had fun "camera dueling"

It's crazy that we came across
these bright white rocks.

My favorite part...
the textures are amazing in this section of the cave.
LOTS of shiny pigment in the rocks.

Gorgeous Textures
of the HARD WAY!

We made it to the end!

This was the view I saw when I climbed out.
Anywhere there is a place to
run, jump or climb, our Ethan does it!

And then my three handsome men
in my life all greeted me!

Crazy to be in a spot
where you can have both of your hands in different temperatures...the cave was cold and the rocks in the sun were HOT.

This was my first time wearing my
newly REPAIRED Garmont Otero hiking shoes.
They were starting to split along the seam, but they still have PLENTY of tread on the bottom to get me a few more years of hiking.
SO, Tracy purchased a boot repair product for $10.00 and put a large band of it all around the toe and front sides of my shoes and VOILA...good as new!
(when he repaired my shoes, he also used this same product to put around the toe of several of his work boots)

One last photo
before we head back to the car...

I love walking behind my men
and watching them walk together.
I LOVE family life!

We had worked up quite an appetite
from spending an hour walking, jumping and climbing through the cave.

Delicious!

This post was titled "Dinner Caveman Style" because we were exploring caves, AND I forgot to throw in our serving spoon and so we had to use my drinking mug to "Dish up" our dinner onto our plates! It felt a little "barbaric" and like we were being cavemen.

I love our folding picnic table
that we can throw in the car along with our picnic and then wherever we go we can eat on a table!
SO much fun!

After eating our delicious dinner,
the kids begged to hike through the EASY WAY.

Ice Covered rock..
LOVE the way it has melted and formed.

The EASY WAY
had us a little nervous at times, but it all worked out, once we got past the point where you had to crawl, it was no biggie!
The kids LOVED Tracy "scaring" them
with making scary noises, or saying things like,
"Boy, I sure hope we make it out of here"

My hubby is the BEST and the best part of all is he is
the most amazing dad in the world to my sons!

Textures and colors of the EASY WAY.
It was quite steamy in some parts.

I LOVE this fluorescent green color
that grows in moist places in nature.

Me and my boys!

All packed up and heading out.

This photo always amazes me that we live in an area where you can be this far out in the middle of nowhere, with no other people, or cars, or buildings.
Just a long dusty road and sage brush.

Tracy being the FUN and AWESOME dad that he is, pulled off at one of the sand hills on our way home and the kids had a ball rolling down the sand hill and playing.

FUN moments in time...
it just goes to show you,
you don't have to spend much money
to have LOTS and LOTS of fun!

SO happy that I have kids that love and BEG us to take them to the outdoors for fun family adventures!