So I hacked Eric's email and found reservations at Farragut State Park. SO THERE. Abby was shocked, but I was like, tell me next time, and also, why are you so surprised? I looked up the entire Hunger Games plot line on Wikipedia because I wanted to make sure Katniss and Peeta were okay. OF COURSE I'm going to hack an email.
She was still mad at me, though.
So June 30 dawns bright and beautiful, and we load up the truck and hitch up our awesome '89 tent trailer and hit the road. We drive and drive and drive. Wow, it takes a long time to get to Idaho.
Right about the time we're looking for Farragut signs, we pass by Silverwood Theme Park. And Abby is all smug and like, what a coincidence! A theme park in the middle of nowhere! And Johanna and I were all, huh. Because that was not on our radar at all. WE WERE CAMPING AT FARRAGUT. I'd hacked the email, I knew what we were doing, I'd announced it weeks ago over dinner because maturity is something I'm waiting until 40 to embrace.
Turns out I only had half the story. But it took Eric and Abby a looooong time to convince Johanna and I that we weren't just going camping. Well, that explains why Abby begged me to bring my swimsuit along.
I'd never actually heard of Silverwood before. Turns out it's an amusement park / water park combo plate. I'm guessing the water park is where they make their money, just because the amusement park is more like a glorified county fair with way less dust and really cute timber-y, old time-y decorations. Like this one:
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| Um, that's a wagon filled with flowers, in case it doesn't translate. |
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Eric chose the Farragut campground as our launch site instead of the campground at Silverwood because the latter did not get good online reviews. And as we passed, we could see why: The Silverwood campground is RIGHT by the highway, it's small and the sites are practically stacked on top of each other, and grass is a precious commodity. Plus apparently there's one bathroom for the entire joint. No thanks.
Farragut was beautiful and totally worth the extra ten minutes or whatever it took to get to Silverwood. The sites were spaced out far enough that you couldn't hear what was going on in the other camps, grass was everywhere, the road was wide and paved (which probably explains all the kids on bikes), and the sites, bathrooms and showers were clean and well-kept. This is one of the nicest campgrounds we'd ever stayed at... and it was quiet at night, too, now that I think about it, maybe because of a 10 p.m. quiet policy. I LOVE quiet policies!
One quick note: I never did see a light come on in the showers. We tended to go in the morning, so there was a little light naturally filtering through from above. It was dim, but not dark. We didn't have any trouble seeing what we were doing, but it was a little disconcerting at first.
We went to Silverwood so we didn't spend a lot of time exploring, but Farragut had access to Lake Pend Oreille for boats and fishing, hiking trails, and a small museum. Had we just stayed at the campground, there still would have been things to do. Aside from just reading, I mean. Actually just reading is my idea of a perfect camping trip, although Eric would tend to not agree with me there.
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| My grandpa trained here before shipping out. |
The girls had a blast at Silverwood. It was only in the mid-70s when we visited the water park, and mid-60s and rainy / windy / thunderstorm-y when we visited the amusement park, so that could have been better, but that's Mother Nature's issue, not Silverwood's.
The water park was our favorite. And I only took one picture, which is a bummer.
There was plenty to do for both the seven-year-old Johanna's amongst us AND the almost-13 Abby's. Johanna and I partnered up, and we hit the wave pool, "Polliwog Park," and "Elkhorn Creek." Johanna also did some of the water slides with Eric and Abby, but Elkhorn Creek was our favorite--you sit on an inner tube and let current take you around the circular 2 1/2 feet deep circular course. Johanna has too much energy to be confined to a tube, so she basically just pushed me around and made sure I didn't hit any of the water hazards.
Eric and Abby went on all the crazy slides, all day long. They were pretty wiped out by the end of the day. We seriously didn't make it to closing, that's how tired we were.
Things to keep in mind: You can rent a locker for a few bucks to stow your belongings, but only the person who wears the ID bracelet gets access to that locker. Eric wore ours, so when we were separated and Jo and I wanted something, we were out of luck. You can rent inner tubes and floats, again for a few bucks, but we chose not to do that, and I can't say we really missed out on anything. The park regulations state that you can't bring any food or water in, and we obeyed--but no one else did, and it seemed like no one cared. On entry, they glanced in my bag for about two seconds, which made me wish I'd stuck a water bottle underneath the towels. Drinking fountains were in short supply, although there were all manner of gift shop and food booth.
Our amusement park experience was marred a bit by a thunderstorm, which meant most of the rides closed down soon after we arrived. Hey, I'm all for that--I'd rather not be struck by lightening, truth be told. We took the train ride around the park, and Johanna and I had fun shopping in the cute little Victorian village, especially the candy store. The Americano I got at the coffee shop was terrible, but hey, we were out of the rain and thunder, so that was a plus.
We also hit the Theater of Illusion in an attempt to warm up and saw Dave Womach preform--he was pretty amazing, actually, so I'm glad we did.
When the weather cleared, we headed back outside. The roller coasters were almost too fast even for Abby, which surprised me, so they didn't really do a lot of that. Even though it was freezing, Eric and Abby did the bumper boats (and learned you could spray people from the shore, which they found endlessly entertaining) and got soaked. Eric and the girls also did some of the carnival-type rides, like the Tilt-A-Whirl and the bumper cars. Johanna and I liked the antique car ride (wow, she's a bad driver). I learned at the top of the Ferris Wheel that Johanna does not like Ferris Wheels. At least the view was pretty.
Things to keep in mind: We didn't rent a locker for our time at the amusement park. Since you can get your hand stamped and re-enter, we kept snacks in the car and took a mid-afternoon break. Maybe we could have eaten there--the prices were high but not crazy--but with my allergies, I'd just as soon NOT eat out if it can be helped. There were a lot of "fairway" type activity booths that of course cost money, and there seemed to be a gift shop or a place to eat at every turn, but everything else was included in the ticket price.
Overall, Silverwood was a fun destination. We've been to Disneyland too many times for it to seem extraordinary, but for what it was, it was great. Two days were plenty to get our fill of both the water park and the amusement park. The parks were clean and the staff was all very friendly and helpful. (Except for my coffee shop barista, but in her defense, there was a long line of thunder-avoiding people and just one of her and I think she was simply overwhelmed.) The girls especially loved it.
So yeah, we'd go again. Just no more surprise vacations, okay, Abby?
Eric and Abby went on all the crazy slides, all day long. They were pretty wiped out by the end of the day. We seriously didn't make it to closing, that's how tired we were.
Things to keep in mind: You can rent a locker for a few bucks to stow your belongings, but only the person who wears the ID bracelet gets access to that locker. Eric wore ours, so when we were separated and Jo and I wanted something, we were out of luck. You can rent inner tubes and floats, again for a few bucks, but we chose not to do that, and I can't say we really missed out on anything. The park regulations state that you can't bring any food or water in, and we obeyed--but no one else did, and it seemed like no one cared. On entry, they glanced in my bag for about two seconds, which made me wish I'd stuck a water bottle underneath the towels. Drinking fountains were in short supply, although there were all manner of gift shop and food booth.
Our amusement park experience was marred a bit by a thunderstorm, which meant most of the rides closed down soon after we arrived. Hey, I'm all for that--I'd rather not be struck by lightening, truth be told. We took the train ride around the park, and Johanna and I had fun shopping in the cute little Victorian village, especially the candy store. The Americano I got at the coffee shop was terrible, but hey, we were out of the rain and thunder, so that was a plus.
We also hit the Theater of Illusion in an attempt to warm up and saw Dave Womach preform--he was pretty amazing, actually, so I'm glad we did.
When the weather cleared, we headed back outside. The roller coasters were almost too fast even for Abby, which surprised me, so they didn't really do a lot of that. Even though it was freezing, Eric and Abby did the bumper boats (and learned you could spray people from the shore, which they found endlessly entertaining) and got soaked. Eric and the girls also did some of the carnival-type rides, like the Tilt-A-Whirl and the bumper cars. Johanna and I liked the antique car ride (wow, she's a bad driver). I learned at the top of the Ferris Wheel that Johanna does not like Ferris Wheels. At least the view was pretty.
Things to keep in mind: We didn't rent a locker for our time at the amusement park. Since you can get your hand stamped and re-enter, we kept snacks in the car and took a mid-afternoon break. Maybe we could have eaten there--the prices were high but not crazy--but with my allergies, I'd just as soon NOT eat out if it can be helped. There were a lot of "fairway" type activity booths that of course cost money, and there seemed to be a gift shop or a place to eat at every turn, but everything else was included in the ticket price.
Overall, Silverwood was a fun destination. We've been to Disneyland too many times for it to seem extraordinary, but for what it was, it was great. Two days were plenty to get our fill of both the water park and the amusement park. The parks were clean and the staff was all very friendly and helpful. (Except for my coffee shop barista, but in her defense, there was a long line of thunder-avoiding people and just one of her and I think she was simply overwhelmed.) The girls especially loved it.
So yeah, we'd go again. Just no more surprise vacations, okay, Abby?
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