"The Hunt"

What would make a group of people with young children DRIVE and DRIVE and DRIVE and DRIVE and DRIVE for 7 1/2 hours, 350 miles one way, through the wide open farmlands of Idaho, to set up our tent (in the pouring rain),
sleep in our tent (in the pouring rain),

drink hot chocolate and cook a pancake breakfast (in the pouring rain),
sit on wet chairs around a soggy camp fire, (in the pouring rain)

The JACOBS' CLAN would and DID!

But WHY?

For this lovely scene?
YES!

That's it?

Let's look a bit closer.
Do you see them?

How about NOW?

What? You can't see them?

Why on earth would we be sitting in the middle of the forest looking so...

DETERMINED?
Still can't see them?

How about NOW?

For HUCKLEBERRIES of course!!

Aren't they beauties?

So again, I ask you. WHO would be so CRAZY?
Well, here are just a few of the them.

(Tyler and Riley)
(Tracen- our newest HUCKLEBERRY ADDICT)
(Dee and Tate -who could not stop eating them-OBVIOUSLY)
(My crazy WET boys)

Leo and Tricia (Dan's parents), Bruce, Christy and boys, Leah and Joel and of course Aunt Pat (it just wouldn't be Huckleberry-ing without her) were too busy picking to pose for pictures.

This is such a great Jacobs' family tradition. I am amazed at how quickly my boys jumped in on the trash talking. They really caught the vision of "what you pick is what you get... cause NO ONE is going to share theirs." LOVE IT!

Each family took a meal to be in charge of. Dan and I decided to make good use of our "DUTCH OVEN cooking skills" and chose to make a beef stew with dumplings. But because of the rain, we ended up cooking our stew on the stove top at the TRENDWEST CONDO that Leo, Tricia and Aunt Pat were staying in. It really saved all of our cans from eternal sogginess. Thank You Leo and Tricia!

It still turned out pretty darn tasty if you ask me.
And of course, what meal is complete without a tasty dessert? Especially one that makes this man salivate before the first bite.
HUCKLEBERRY COBBLER!!!

We actually made this in the dutch oven thanks to the grill on the back porch of the condo.

Mmmmm.... so DELICIOUS!

We then packed up our soggy tent, clothes, shoes, and HUCKLEBERRIES, and drove another 7 1/2 hours, 350 miles through the rain and arrived home in time for the next party (see my grandparents 80th B-day party in the post below).

So... was 15 hours, 700 miles of driving through the "lovely" farmlands of Idaho just to camp in the pouring rain worth it?

ABSOLUTELY!

That's 2 1/2 gallons of HUCKLEBERRY HEAVEN waiting to be individually frozen and used for many more cobblers, put on ice cream, cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, syrups, and whatever else our little hearts desire.

Mmmm.... what perfect little treasures! Definitely worth "The Hunt".

*Unfortunately I cannot devulge the exact location of our treasure finding. It would go against The Jacobs' Super Secret Code of Huckleberry-ing.*