Great story- bad ending

We went boating on Palisades lake on Monday 8/18 with Tena and Gerald. Gerald is still up at Grand Targhee so he met us in Swan Valley. He was so funny when we pulled up- he was in his shorts and a cowboy hat. He's lost a lot of weight and Tena had to make fun of him. We got out on the water and Shawn did some wake boarding, we stopped at a beach for some lunch and then got back out of the water. Shawn, Tena, Hadley and I all took turns on the tube. Hadley loves to ride the tube. She was out there on every ride. I brought my camera but true to fashion, left it in the car. So here are a few with my crappy cell phone camera. This is Shawn, Hadley, and Tena. Gerald's cowboy hat had blown off and Shawn had picked it up from the tube. He had it on his head and that is about the only thing you can see in this picture.

Well right after this picture was taken the hat blew off Shawn's head and in to the water again. Gerald circled around to get it again, missed the first try and then ran over it the second time. This time it sunk. Shawn tried to save it but couldn't dive with his life jacket on. Gerald was none to pleased to lose his hat that he had used all summer but at least it was just a cheap $15 hat.

We found the hot spring that empties in to the lake. I wish we had a picture of this. It is a tiny little area where the hot water comes in to the lake and we were all huddled in this tiny spot trying to keep warm in the cold water. Gerald, Tena, Hayden, Hadley, Hallie and I all crammed in a little spot. Tena had the best spot and she kept laughing telling Gerald "I'd really like to give you my spot but I just can't". Shawn was out in the cold water in his wet suit splashing us. He said we looked hilarious.

It was getting dark and we decided to head back. We were about 10 minutes from the dock at full speed when we suddenly lost power. The boat was still on but it wouldn't move. Shawn was smart enough to flag down a boat that was following us immediately. Luckily he did because it was the last boat out there besides us. The nice couple in the boat towed us back. It took about 1/2 and hour. Shawn is used to doing this but is usually on the other end- the saving side. We got the boat out of the water (by we I mean Shawn and Gerald) and got the kids packed in to the car.

No this story is not over. The lights on the trailer would not work. Apparently a fuse in our car was not working. We had no light to check it. Again luckily a few campers came by to dump their garbage in the dumpster by the dock. They were on 4 wheelers and were able to shine their headlights on the fuse box. They got 1 brake light working and we were able to use a jump pack to get the lights working in Swan Valley. That did not last long but we made it home in one piece, without being pulled over. It was much later than planned but it all worked out.

All in all, it was a fun trip and makes one heck of a story.