Idaho, Nevada, and Utah (May 20 - 29, 2021)

This was a trip for love and adventure! We went to a wedding, which I officiated. We met our goddaughter's fiancé. And Brenda and I took our first trip outside the borders of Texas since before the start of The Great Infection, trying to make up for our 40th anniversary trip to Canada that we didn't get to to do in August 2020 because of the pandemic.

My nephew Matt and his girlfriend Jessica announced their engagement in late 2019, and they set the date for May 22, 2021 in Idaho Falls, Idaho. This was all pre-COVID, and it seemed like a long time for an engagement. But then COVID hit, and we didn't know if we'd be able to go, which was an especially big deal because Matt and Jessica had asked me to marry them. I was greatly honored and happy to marry them (the second wedding I've been asked to do), but didn't know if we'd be able to make the trip because of COVID. Then Brenda and I were able to get vaccinated in January and February 2021, and the pandemic slowed down enough that we could go.

After we left Idaho Falls, we went back to Craters of the Moon National Monument, which we first visited in September 1993 (Notes 44: 35-38). Then we headed to McCall, Idaho for some family time with Brenda's brother David, his wife Beth, and Brenda's sister Debra.

Three of my favorites from Craters of the Moon National Monument (left to right): Wild Buckwheat (Eriogonum ovalifolium var. focarium), Dwarf Purple Monkeyflower (Diplacus nanus), and Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis).

We got to see our niece and goddaughter Jojo and meet her fiancé Cody in McCall. We had a great time with them fishing, hiking, and gathering mushrooms in the woods around McCall, which is a really pretty part of Idaho.

Our trip was May 20 to 29, 2021, and we spent most of the time in Idaho, with travel through Nevada and Utah. Brenda and I went swimming in the Great Salt Lake the day before we flew home. I've wanted to do that since I was a kid, when my brother Mark told me you float like a cork because of the high salinity.

Swimming with the brine flies (Ephydra cinerea) in Great Salt Lake.