Service on Vacation

This week we took our Summer of Service on the road to Idaho.  Our little family was heading up north for a college reunion at BYU-Idaho so we decided to sneak in a hike or two in the beautiful Idaho outdoors.

I lived in Idaho for four years and somehow never found time to visit Mesa Falls so that was our very first stop.We walked both the lower and upper falls trails. Loved that the trails were so family friendly.

 

The lower falls had a few smaller trails that we explored. Lily has developed quite the trained eye for litter now and we were able to leave the trail looking a little bit better. Even after the Summer of Service is over, I'm pretty sure we will keep up this tradition. Lily and Cort are both so careful not to leave litter since we have begun cleaning the trails.

 

On the trail to the lower falls viewing area we saw a cute little squirrel and we were able to talk about how litter affects the animals and plants. 

 

We spent the second day in Harriman State Park and we were so IMPRESSED by how clean the park was kept. Lily only found a few pieces of litter. Way to go Idaho! 

It was surprisingly easy to incorporate service in to our family vacation. It didn't take any additional time to pick up the litter and we were able to dispose of it in the garbage cans at the rest stop. I like that taking care of the environment is becoming a habit for my children and something that they are initiating when we hop out of the car at the trails.

The areas we traveled through were so stunningly beautiful and it made us feel good to know what we were helping to keep it that way.

Where are your favorite nature areas to visit with your children?